Bruce Rubenstein wrote: > > I come from a family with several musicians. You don't play classical > music without solid technique.
True enough. My daughter started taking violin lessons at the age of 9. At the time we had hoped that she would study with Mrs. Kim, a Korean string musician who teaches Suzuki method and has trained some excellent violinists. Unfortunately, there was a waiting list, so we hired someone else. After three years, we got to the top of the waiting list. Mrs. Kim interviewed my daughter and agreed to take her on. But, although my daughter had progressed through the first five books of Suzuki with the other teacher, Mrs. Kim insisted that she start over again with Suzuki book one and lessons in basic technique. She said that my daughter had developed some minor flaws in her technique that would limit her down the road. That was six years ago. Today my daughter is an excellent violinist, who has won numerous honors in solo competitions and is a member of the Michigan State University orchestra. She still practices scales and position exercises, and occassionally visits Mrs. Kim for a critique of her technique. Paul Stenquist
