Frequently Asked Questions

How much should I be practicing? Should I do it everyday?

As a musician, you should plan to make practicing a regular part of your life. My teachers growing up used to offer this simple guide: the amount of practice time every day should be, at least, equivalent or more than the duration of your lesson. I agree with this overall and I think this is a great baseline for progressing quickly, but there is a bit more to it than this.

I don’t want my students to define practice and progress by quantity alone. The quality of the practice is what’s most important, and it’s defined by focus. You should have goals you’re working on when you practice, and really listen to yourself in order to make the changes in your playing you want to hear.

In addition to this quality over quantity conversation, I think regularity of practice (having a routine) is better than sporadic, random practicing.

Think of learning an instrument like getting to know a wonderful, lifelong friend. A deep and fruitful friendship can grow from spending quality time together, asking insightful questions, listening sincerely, being honest, working through problems. The same goes for learning an instrument: the more time you spend engaging actively in practicing your instrument, the more comfortable you will be with it, the more you’ll connect with it, the more secrets it will entrust to you…

On the flip side, if you spend no time, very little time, or only a lot of low quality, unfocused time with your instrument, the instrument will remain a stranger to you, and if you’re practicing mindlessly, you may reinforce bad habits and end up feeling stuck and frustrated. Worse, you may doubt yourself and give up.

So, you have to decide for yourself what kind of practicing routine is realistic for you to reach your goals at the pace you want. Not practicing is not an option, but if practicing every day feels unrealistic to you, maybe start by committing to every other day and really making it count with proper focus and practice goals? Or if it feels like an hour of focused practice everyday is difficult, how about setting your goal at 30 min of focused practice a day?

Understand that the pace of your progress is dependent on how much time you engage with your instrument and the quality of that time. With enough attentiveness and time spent together, you can develop a wonderful friendship with your instrument that can last a lifetime.

Do you teach Certificate of Merit?

No I do not. I am not a member of MTAC and I do not administer Certificate of Merit evaluations. I utilize the MTAC piano and violin syllabi as a useful resource for building curriculum for my students from time to time, but the C.M. evaluation system is not a part of my teaching philosophy.

What do I need to bring to my lesson?

You’re responsible for bringing your books, your instrument (except for piano), and I highly suggest a notebook. I recommend having a designated bag for your music materials, so you don’t forget or misplace loose items.

For piano:

• Your current lesson book, sheet music, etc.

• A notebook

For violin/viola:

• Your instrument (violin/viola, bow, rosin)

• Your current lesson books, sheet music, etc.

• A notebook

Do I need to know how to read music before starting?

No, you don’t need to know how to read music when you start. Let me know where you are in your skills and I can teach you starting wherever you are at.

Do I have to play classical music only?

No, I don’t think so. I will say however, that I think classical music provides a great foundation for almost any music you may want to do later on if you aspire to play the piano, violin, or viola. I would add too, that if you’re not familiar with classical music, I’d encourage you to keep an open mind. The more classical music you know the more you understand that it really is such a dynamic and exciting genre of music, and I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out on discovering this.

But there’s plenty of other great music in the world to build your skills with, and we can talk about your preferences.

Do I need a piano at home to study piano?

Yes, you need a piano or a keyboard to practice things you learn in your lesson at home. It doesn’t have to be a real piano, it can be an electric keyboard. If you’re going the keyboard route, get a full size one (88 keys) with pedal capability (electric keyboard pedals are often extra and plug in as an attachment).

There is physics involved in playing the piano, so if possible, I also recommend choosing a keyboard with weighted keys (note, it is not the same as “touch-sensitive”). It simulates the weight and feedback of real piano keys.

How often does a piano need to be tuned?

I refer to the website of my piano tuner and technician Theodore Petroff’s for his advice:

“…in general, a frequently played piano, in a central heated domestic home, will require tuning about two times a year. A less frequently played piano may be tuned once a year. A well-played piano, used for stage performances will require tuning prior to every performance, possibly even twice a day.”

Typically, my students with real pianos at home tune them at least once a year (as do I).

Where/how should I buy/rent a violin?

Selecting an instrument can be tough for people new to it. One thing I will say is that I really don’t recommend buying one online or secondhand on places like Offerup or craigslist. You will want to buy from a trusted string instrument specialist.

The best ones will let you play and try the instruments as part of the selection process. Good ones will often also have wonderful “buy back” programs, where you can upgrade your instrument over time by selling the instrument back to them for credit toward a new instrument.

If you are just starting out, renting can be a great option to just get yourself started before committing to purchasing instrument. After you get some skills under your belt, you will be able to learn enough to be able to hear the differences better when you’re ready to start shopping for an instrument to buy. If you are renting for a child, it can be a great option as well as they grow from incremental violin sizes to larger sizes.

If you are in the South Bay Area, I recommend the locally located The Strings Connection, owned and run by my good friend Cordi Koga. She’s highly knowledgeable and offers rentals as well as string instruments for purchase.

I also highly recommend Robert Cauer Violins, a well known and trusted luthier in the Hollywood area. They offer rentals as well as instruments for purchase. Their website has a wonderful resource section I recommend looking at as well.