For a year now I (41F) have been 're-learning' how to play my violin/fiddle (I played from ages 9 to 13).
My goal from the outset was to learn irish/celtic fiddle music. The teacher I've been working with was the first one I found when I first set out to play again, and her bio emphasized her enjoyment/focus on folk music (including irish/celtic music).
Her teaching method, which worked fine for re-learning via the String Builder method books, is to have me sightread the tunes/pieces in the book. She then makes comments/suggestions about what's wrong, how to improve & etc. I play those tunes for homework the next week, and then play them again for her at my next lesson. This cycle repeats until she deems me to have played the tune properly, or have sufficiently grasped the technique.
With my recent completion of the method books, I am now starting a book of fiddle tunes she recommended (Fiddle Tunes for the Violinist, by Betty Barlow). Her teaching method has remained the same, though no longer seems to be as successful/motivating as it was when I was advancing through the method books.
When I first began the book of fiddle tunes, I asked my teacher if she could explain the differences between a tune labeled as a 'hornpipe' vs a tune labeled as a 'reel'. Her explanation was only that they have slightly different feels/flavors.
My practice time is limited to 20-45 minutes once or twice a week after work, and another 30-60 minutes over the weekend.
I asked her point blank how I could be more efficient with my limited practice time, and her answer was a helpful 'if certain measures are more difficult, practice those more'.
TL;DR I think I've outgrown my teacher's skillset. I need advice on how/when to look for a new teacher, and on how to make the most of my practice time as a adult fiddle student.
Submitted January 09, 2019 at 11:28PM by rose_thorns https://www.reddit.com/r/Learnmusic/comments/aeeg6e/when_to_look_for_a_new_teacher_how_to_keep/?utm_source=ifttt
Javier Rodriguez
Wednesday, January 9, 2019