How to Teach the Violin

If you know how to play the violin relatively well, then teaching others what you know is a great way to turn around and give back to others and help people like you fulfill their dreams. Not only that, but teaching something like the violin can be a great way to make a bit of cash on the side, or even a way to support yourself full time. Whether you have former experience as a teacher or not, anyone can become an effective violin teacher if they know and follow a few simple pieces of advice.

The most important thing to do if you want to be an effective violin teacher is to find or create a curriculum and stick to it. You need to religiously follow your program and make sure your students do too, or else your class will be much less efficient and progress more slowly. Make room in your curriculum for some improvisation, flexible time slots, and fun activities, of course, but don’t improvise the entire course.

When deciding what you, as the effective violin teacher, should use for your curriculum material, you can take one of two paths. There are thousands of violin instructional books and courses available for purchase, and you can always buy and teach from one of these. The advantage to that is that all the work is done for you by some other effective violin teacher or group who has gone before you. The disadvantage is that everything is set in stone and more generic than making a course of your own would be. Designing your own program means much more work, yes, but it also means more efficiency, because you know how you and your students work best.

You can be an effective violin teacher today, with only a bit of preparation, courage, and determination. In teaching violin, like anything else, there will be ups and downs, but with time you can be an expertly effective violin teacher.

Photo Credit:Tom Brandt