Creativity in the art of teaching the violin.

My mom was a music professor in South Korea and instilled a true love for classical music since I was little. She encouraged me to play the violin starting when I was just six years old and I've been playing in orchestras, churches, and nursing homes ever since. It wasn't until I was in high school that I began to teach violin.

At first, I found it extremely difficult to engage students-most of them in elementary schools-during individual private lessons. I started to think that perhaps, strictly following the Suzuki books and other prominent violin exercise books were not enough. With this in mind, I decided to incorporate my creativity into the music lessons. For instance, I drew small cartoon characters such as a bunny or a puppy on the side of the music sheet. Then I explained to the students that the small bunny or puppy would be super happy if he or she would play the music two times. Incorporating this kind of creativity definitely improved the students' level of commitment and attention during the lessons. By doing this, the students seemed to not only enjoy every second of the violin lesson but they also saw tremendous improvements in their skills. Another profound thing I realized was that I also seemed to enjoy teaching violin by using my creativity to explain certain techniques, scales, fingering exercises, etc. 

Throughout past few years teaching violin, I developed a genuine passion for using fun and creative ways to help students learn the violin. I found that this makes it easier to engage students in learning to play the violin, which can often times be difficult and frustrating. This can be especially important and useful for teaching younger kids in elementary and middle school, whose attention spans are often more limited than the older students. I'm excited to keep pursuing my love for the violin and discovering innovative, exciting ways to help students fall in love with the violin.