Name: CHEC Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference
Start: 2025-06-12T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-06-14T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Denver, CO

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This topic has 15 replies, 9 voices, and was last updated 14 years ago by suzukimom.

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May 22, 2011 at 7:18 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
My daughter asked for a violin for her birthday (last September). We got it for her along with an instructional dvd (The ABC’s of the Violin). We have no idea how to play, so as parents we are no help at all. She needs something to help her progress. Any suggestion?
May 22, 2011 at 9:57 pm
RobinP
Participant
My boys and I are involved in Suzuki violin. The oldest 7yo and I are in book 3 and the youngest 7yo is half way through book 1. I can’t recommend Suzuki instruction highly enough. His philosophy for music instruction is brilliant. In fact, our teacher and I often talk about how much Suzuki and CM have in common. She studied with him for 3 1/2 year in Japan and is very knowledgable.
My degree is in piano. The violin is harder! Every nuance of the fingers, wrist, arm, affects the tone. I can’t imagine trying to learn it without an instructor.
May 22, 2011 at 10:23 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
My husband plays guitar and he said the violin is extremely hard to play! We do not have the funds for private instruction right now so dvd is the only option for us. This was her idea so we thought we would encourage exploration a this point. More formal instruction may be in the future is she shows sincere interest in learning.
Since Dad is an awesome guitar player, that will most likely be what our kids end up being more experienced with.
May 23, 2011 at 4:50 am
my3boys
Participant
My 8yo is learning the violin right now as well, has for about 8 months. He is doing so well with the Suzuki method, but does have a teacher to guide him. He has taken so well to it that I’m anxious to see where he will be in the years to come.
Good luck to you.
May 23, 2011 at 5:01 am
suzukimom
Participant
My kids are using the Suzuki method as well, and are doing well… but it is expensive.
I found an online suzuki teacher out there doing Book 1 only for about $50 a month… (that won’t work for us as my son is out of book 1… but even so with 2 kids doing it it would be $100 a month, and right now we pay about $150 a month for the 2 kids for live instruction and that includes group lessons as well as the indiv lessons… so it doesn’t seem like a fantastic deal…)
Some suzuki program have bursary funds available.

May 23, 2011 at 9:23 am
chocodog
Participant
I saw an online program for Eric Lewis master violin pro. I was wondering if anyone has tried his methods. The DVD’s lessons are under $30 for all of them . Which is very affordable. I just was wondering if anyone out there has tried his method and could give me positive or neg. feedback Thanks…Chocodog.
May 24, 2011 at 1:45 am
amandajhilburn
Participant
I have never heard of any of these things mentioned. 😉 I’ll google them and check them out. Thanks everyone!

Amanda
http://teachthemdiligently-amanda.blogspot.com/
May 24, 2011 at 2:26 am
LillyLou
Participant
Amanda,
This is what we use. http://www.ebaru.com/
May 24, 2011 at 4:03 am
Questa7
Member
I’m going to poke in here to agree with Robin and take what she said a slight step further–I am a pianist and former piano instructor who has taught in private music academies along with music instructors of all types. I don’t want to be a wetblanket AT ALL, but I can not stress highly enough that trying to learn certain instruments without proper formal instruction can both damage one’s chances of playing well in the future, and possibly lead to hand and wrist problems.
A lot of instructors find themselves having to “unteach” someone who tried to learn on their own and then realized they need a teacher. A lot of the process learning the violin has to do with physical example, touch, and positioning…most violin teachers use an extremely hands-on approach, and just a half-inch repositioning in one direction or the other, or a slight change in angle, can make all the difference in the world.
That said–I think that certain teach-yourself or teach-your-child piano programs (and possibly programs for other instruments as well) are excellent for musical enrichment programs; but that, in general, if one wants to learn to be proficient at an instrument, they are best avoided in favor of formal instruction.
I am very sorry to be so negative. ): I would just hate to see your little one disappointed down the road. I have known teachers who are willing to exchange lessons for childcare, or lessons for housekeeping…if private instruction is not possible for you financially at the moment, is there any chance you know someone who might work with you on that type of exchange basis??
May 24, 2011 at 4:14 am
Sue
Participant
I think it would be a wonderful church ministry to find good quality instrumental teachers (perhaps even college students) who would be willing to teach small group lessons once a week for a reasonable fee. The ministry might even be able to hold fundraisers from time to time to cover the cost of making the lessons available on a sliding scale or offer scholarships to those who cannot afford private lessons.
It would take some work on the part of whoever would head up such a ministry, but it would be well worth it.
May 24, 2011 at 4:37 am
Questa7
Member
Sue_mom–What a wonderful idea! Brilliant, actually. That is definitely something I would love to be part of if it existed. Hmmm, something to stew on…
May 24, 2011 at 7:28 am
my3boys
Participant
What Questa mentioned is why we use an instructor. I could not have done what I know our instructor has done for our son. Other subjects I feel much more confident about, but music is just not my thing. We just had a talent show for our year-end party and he even came to watch one of his “star pupils.”
Good luck with whatever you choose.
May 24, 2011 at 11:04 am
RobinP
Participant
I agree with Questa completely. I taught piano for 15 years, stopping when we began homeschooling. There were SO MANY children who came to me from “the cheap teacher they found” or from trying to teach themselves the “basics.” They had to unlearn everything and most often wound up quitting because it was so frustrating. I even came to the point of refusing to take such students. The violin is much more difficult than the piano. We drive an hour each way twice a week (for private and group instruction) for very expensive lessons. It’s been worth every mile and every penny.
I think Sue’s idea for a minsitry of this sort is brilliant as well. Maybe you could suggest this to some talented teacher in your area? Our teachers founded the Academy of Strings Foundation, which is a non-profit organizational branch of the music school. The address is academyofstrings.com if you want to check out their program. It funds many music outreaches in the area.
May 24, 2011 at 12:56 pm
houseofchaos
Participant
I am going to chime in here and direct you to Valerie Gardner’s site,
https://www.violinvirtuosity.com/
I do agree with the others that it is nice to have an instructor. For us, it is not possible financially or otherwise (we really live in the middle of nowhere, and simply can’t drive all across the countryside for lessons – it would be two hours one way for us – we’d have to skip suppers for a week just to afford the gas in our 15 passenger van).
Our children have no formal instruction in either piano or violin, except what I have been able to give them (I am decent with piano, do not play vioin), and what they can use from instructional dvds. If you are dedicated with good attention to detail, it is possible to help your own children, with some decent resources.
Valerie Gardner is a professional violinist and teacher in Georgia, and a fine lady. I cannot recommend her dvds highly enough! (Although I’m sure it would be even better to be her student).
After our son had been playing a little less than a year, we sent a short video clip to Valerie of him playing and she was amazed at how well he was doing. He has played in local festivals and has had several teachers from our province approach asking where he learned to play so well, since he isn’t a student of any of the teachers around 🙂
He is very dedicated and works hard, but I just wanted to share that it is possible to play (even fairly well) without an instructor. Our son was eleven when he started to play. Before he even picked up a violin, he did practice exercises learned from Valerie’s instructional dvd’s for about two months.
Our daughter is ten, and also plays, though her hand position is more of a struggle. I do need to spend more time with her.
All of our children play piano and have been asked to play at church and other places. Again, they have had many comments (even from piano teachers) about the quality of their playing.
So, if you can’t arrange for lessons, take heart! Your child may still be able to progress and enjoy music….
I should add that we are not aiming to be concert pianists or violinists here, just to enjoy music and use our talents for God.
Just my two cents, for what it’s worth.
Gaeleen
May 25, 2011 at 5:48 pm
amandajhilburn
Participant
Thank you Gaeleen. Your post was an encouragement since there is NO WAY we can afford lessons from a private instructor and I do not know anyone who teaches in our area to bargain with.
We too are not aiming for concert level playing, but a fun exploration of different instruments at this point. Like I said before, my husband plays guitar very well. He taught himself when he was young.
I will also look into the link you posted.
Thanks again,
Amanda
http://teachthemdiligently-amanda.blogspot.com/