Violin with Melissa M.

I began playing violin in elementary school, and immediately knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. My first words as a baby were lyrics because I sang before I spoke. I played violin until 11th grade when I fell in love with the sound of the viola. I studied music performance and music education in college and I have a bachelors degree in both. I have played professionally in orchestras, quartets, as a soloist, and in many rock and folk settings. I have even put my violin and viola through a distortion pedal and a wah wah pedal in heavy metal/punk music. I have over 17 years of teaching experience and am a licensed teacher in the state of virginia. I have taught in a classroom as well as privately, and have also taught students with autism. As a student of mine you can expect to improve your playing skills week to week. I can teach from the very first lesson on. Students will learn techniques to improve their playing and will play fun music. If you are interested in learning improvisation, I can help with that, too. I enjoy teaching violin, viola and cello. I am most passionate about teaching students to become independent, critical thinking musicians who will be able to rely on their own knowledge to learn new music as they go along. I stress music reading, ear training, and strong fundamentals in playing. I am very encouraging, love spreading my love of music. Just a quick note: I do like to do my business through this website. If you send me an email trying to get me to personally write to your email, I will not respond.