Alison is a great teacher - she is teaching my daughter violin and had her playing a couple of Christmas songs well after only two months of lessons. She is very focused, but when my daughter doesn't pick up on something right away, she will take a break and switch to something else briefly so they can come back to it later with fresh eyes. In addition to teaching the fundamentals, she usually throws in something fun or advanced (like a trill) once in a while, which keeps my daughter excited about and challenged by her lessons. She's patient, and she also makes the lessons fun. She gives great pointers on how to practice and what things you need to have at home to practice (e.g. music stand, metronome).