Music is more than an art or a profession; it is a way of life in many respects. It fine-tunes our personalities and who we are as people, and gives us yet another way to express ourselves. One of the greatest string pedagogues of all time, Shinichi Suzuki once said, " Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart. " Music is such a powerful tool for people because it gives them the ability to improve themselves from the inside out. Suzuki's philosophy of improving people's lives through music is always in the back of my mind when teaching. By allowing music to be a part of one's life in a meaningful way, we can all improve our general well being as people.

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 There are two parts to my teaching philosophy. The first part is that no one student learns the same way or has the same goals. Therefore I believe in teaching each student as an individual according to their own strengths and weaknesses, and teaching them in a way that will help them to become completely independent learners who will achieve their musical goals during and after school.

           

Secondly, music is about people, and communicating on a deeper level than words can express. Whether it is teaching, performing in an orchestra, working in a chamber group, or performing a solo, music has always been about the people and sharing ideas in a universal way. Musicians are tempted to isolate themselves in a practice room until they can play every note perfectly, but music is rarely perfect and is meant to be shared.  My expectations for my students are that they will share their music so that others will enjoy it as well.

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