Violin Lessons

Learning to play the violin requires effort and dedication (!), but with time and regular practice you will be able to enjoy making music with one of the most expressive and versatile instruments in the world.

I teach my students the fundamentals of classical technique, to help them achieve good posture and position, efficient use of the bow, and good intonation (playing in tune). I also teach how to read music and provide my students with a variety of printed music in the styles they enjoy most, including Celtic, Appalachian fiddle, and European folk music.

It's important that students feel accepted and encouraged, so I maintain a non-judgmental attitude and I don't mind if you play out of tune or make scratchy noises with your bow. My goal is to help you improve and also to help you enjoy the process of practicing as a form of daily meditation.

Half-hour lessons are taught in my home in Mendocino. Each lesson is $20, payable in advance at the beginning of each month (total $80. per month).

For more information please call Janet Ashford at 707.937.4555 or e-mail me at jashford@jashford.com.

Learning to Play the Violin

Janet Ashford, February 2005


Learning to play the violin is a unique and wonderful pursuit. It involves the acquisition of many important skills, both practical and spiritual. Therefore, be proud of your decision to learn to play an instrument and treasure every bit of progress you make. The skills you learn will serve you in all aspects of your life and will deepen your appreciation of art and the human endeavor.

Musical skills:

1. Learning the time-honored techniques that classical players use to gain control of the bow and acquire skill with the left hand, in order to produce good “tone” and clearly fingered notes that are in tune.

2. Becoming aware of your body as it plays and training your muscles to do new things automatically (as with riding a bike or using a clutch).

3. Learning to read music so that it becomes automatic, as with touch typing.

4. Memorizing tunes so you can play them without looking at music.

5. Learning to play new tunes by ear.

6. Learning to combine rhythm with melody.

7. Appreciating the rise and fall of the melodic line and how it interacts with the underlying harmonic forces.

8. Learning to maintain a confident, steady rhythmic pulse that makes people want to tap their feet or dance.

9. Learning to improvise.

Personal, emotional and spiritual skills:

1. Training your ability to concentrate and pay attention when you practice.

2. Deciding to make music a priority and setting aside sufficient time.

2. Learning to work patiently and with perseverance toward long-term goals.

3. Learning to be kind to yourself and suspend judgment when you make mistakes. These skills—being kind (to yourself and others) and being non-judgmental (to yourself and others)—are perhaps the most important of all.

4. Learning to express emotion through music so that you and others are affected by it. The emotions expressed (happiness and sadness and their variants) are archetypal and as a player you are one of the many people in this world who have served as a vehicle for these feelings throughout history.

5. Preserving your musical heritage by playing the good old tunes, and carrying it forward by composing your own new tunes.

6. Feeling yourself a part of the stream of time, as you join the millions of other human beings who have made music throughout our time on this earth.

7. Feeling open and comfortable playing intimately with other people, forming bonds that are real but unspoken.

8. Contributing to the well-being of your community by playing music for dances, parties, weddings, funerals and other gatherings and celebrations.

Almost a half century of playing

I still remember vividly what it's like to be a violin student and the pressures and pleasures of playing in large orchestras. Here I am posing with the Youth Orchestra at the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts, around 1966 (left, above). I was privileged to attend this summer music camp for seven years and especially enjoyed playing under conductor Daniel Lewis.

I am grateful that my parents got me started playing the violin and paid for me to have lessons during my school years. Playing the violin has turned out to be a lifetime treasure for me. Over forty years later, here I am playing at the reception after my wedding to my second husband in 2004 (above, right). The violin is still central to my life.