With regular practice, all of the beginners at my violin studio quickly learn to sound good. They progress at their own pace, which depends on a combination of effort and natural musical talent. If someone is musically gifted, learning violin is that much easier. An example is Ellie Wang, who came to my studio as a beginner in late May 2014. Here is her performance of Rieding’s Violin Concerto, mvt. 1, at our last recital on November 15:

Congratulations, Ellie, for achieving such beautiful results in less than 6 months!

We congratulate Stanislav’s beginner violin students Angela and Henry Ma, from Easton. After studying violin for just 8 months, Angela has been accepted into the Easton Middle School Chamber Orchestra, her school’s Honors orchestra. And after taking violin lessons for only two months, Henry has been advanced to 5th grade violin class from his 4th grade violin class, at the recommendation of his music teacher. Angela and Henry look forward to their future as young violinists. Congratulations, Angela and Henry, we are so proud of you!

From an educator’s point of view, what is the most common mistake that parents with good intentions make because of ignorance? It is allowing your child to give up easily.

Learning is a messy, organic process. Everyone learns at a different pace. One common factor in learning anything however, is that hard work is unavoidable.

Whenever your child begins learning a new subject such as math, science, programming, a new language, or the violin, their enthusiasm level soars. Basic concepts are simple and easy to grasp, everything is fresh and new = this is fun!

Then comes a tough time (trough), where simple things just aren’t so simple anymore. Concepts become more complex and harder to understand = this is not fun anymore.

With work and perseverance, learners eventually master the more advanced material and gain confidence. Advanced concepts become easy, they get to apply the knowledge in new and interesting ways = this is way more fun than it was before!

However, when the going gets tough, many children tend to push back. They cry. They throw tantrums. At this point, and out of misplaced protectiveness, many parents simply give up.

The idea that natural talent is all you need to achieve your goals, and that natural talent means everything will come easy is false, but many parents still hold on to it.

The trough is a natural and inescapable part of human learning. What’s more, it’s not just that one trough, but a series of troughs in any given discipline. We have never met a so-called child prodigy (including Stanislav himself) who did not experience tough times or did not have a lot of hard work and perseverance behind his/her achievements. Not one.

Our job as parents is to guide and shape our children’s development, boost them up during the high points, and support them as they work through the low points. And at the end, they will discover just how incredibly fun it is to play the violin well!

(this article is paraphrased from a longer one by Ryan Chew, school owner and educator).

Our instructor Stan Antonevich has been called demanding and tough, but his students understand that it comes from caring about them, and from believing that they can all learn to play violin well, if they work at it. Here is a wonderful article that shares a similar philosophy.

An interesting article from The Wall Street Journal.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-tough-teachers-get-good-results-1380323772

We congratulate Stanislav’s student Yiqing Rose Chen! Today, we learned that Rose has been accepted to the Music Horizons program at Eastman School of Music for the Summer of 2014. This internationally acclaimed program is for high school students of advanced performance levels, who are seriously considering a career in music. Congratulations, Rose!

Our studio is delighted to announce that our instructor Stan Antonevich will be soloing with the New Philharmonia Orchestra on Saturday June 14. The concert will be at 7:30PM in Newton Center. A great way to start the summer!

New Philharmonia Orchestra website

Tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day, I am going to a violin recital by my student Subaiou Zhang. Subaiou is currently studying in the Masters’ of Music Program at BU on High Merit Scholarship.

WHEN: Friday, February 14 at 8:30pm (FREE)
WHERE: Concert Hall of BU College of Fine Arts, 855 Comm. Ave., Boston
PROGRAM: J.S. Bach, Sonata for Solo Violin No. 1 in G minor; César Franck, Violin Sonata in A major; Saint-Saens, Introduction and Rondo Cappriccioso

It’s a very beautiful and challenging program. I hope she is not as nervous as I am for her. Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!