Violin and Viola Lessons

When a student is just beinning violin lessons, there is so much excitement and so many new things: new things to learn, new things to touch, new things to hear, new ways to move. All these new things make lessons interesting and engaging, but after a little while, they have the potential to become frustrating or intimidating. This is why I love the box violin!

With the box violin, students learn a lot of the basic principles from rest position, to the parts of the instrument, to how to ballance the violin on their shoulder. When they make it themselves, they also get an interactive experience learning parts of the violin, so the process is creative, fun and more memorable. Once the instrument is made, they work on how to put the violin on their "table" and how to keep it ballanced so it stays there effortlessly. There is no worry about dropping or hurting the insturment, to they can be relaxed and confident while they're learning!

While all of this is going on, the initial feeling of motivation and excitement continues because they have a clear goal of getting their real violin. Even as they are engaging in so many new and sometimes challenging tasks, they are excitedly looking forward and are driven to master each skill. They learn to keep their violin safe and how to move comfortably with the instrument, so that when they get their real violin, there is no concern of damage or worry, nor is there excess tension associated with the fear of dropping the violin. Then, when they earn their real violin, there is already a concept of respect for the instrument and an understanding of the joy of comes from meeting a challenging goal.

Every box violin is very different and allows each child to demonstrate his or her individuality right from the start. Here are some examples if you need a little inspiration!