Celestial Resonance Violin Studio--Celeste Ellis Whiting

Practicing

Practice makes better, not perfect.

The basic purpose of practicing is to learn material presented by the teacher. In order to truly make something your own, you have to do it. It is not enough to understand it with your mind. True understanding comes in the doing.

I can explain the idea of horseback riding without actually ever riding a horse. But the experience of riding a horse will teach me things through using my muscles and instincts about animals. Riding the horse allows me to test my assumptions, and refine and deepen my understanding.

Practicing is also about solving problems. Your assignment will contain specific instructions about what to play and how much, but it will also include opportunities to solve problems in technique and other areas.

Basic Tips:

Know what you need to practice and why.

Be sure to practice every day.

Practicing involves lots of repetition, but not without thought.

Keep track of what you have practiced on your practice log.

How long should you practice?

In the early stages of learning, practice sessions should be brief, but frequent. Playing violin is a physically demanding activity and uses muscles most people hardly use in ways unique to violin playing. If you ever experience pain. STOP what you are doing. Call the teacher if the pain occurs again or if the pain persists after playing.

After about a month, most students are capable of practicing for 30-40 minutes per day. Very young students do well with several short sessions per day.

Celeste Ellis Whiting, B.M., M.S., is a graduate of the University of Illinois School of Music in Urbana-Champaign. She has also studied at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, and the Meadowmount School of Music in New York. Her primary teachers include John Fredrickson, Catherine Tait, and Alberto Jaffe.

Her violin and music history studies are supplemented by graduate work in music librarianship and bibliography at the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (University of Illinois).

For the last ten years, she has devoted her work to teaching individual students of all ages and ability levels. The threads that run through all these teaching relationships are a deep awareness of the student as a whole person in a complex world and a simple willingness to honor and cultivate a student's genuine desire to learn to play violin. Central to the teaching practice are compassion, challenge and respect.

An experienced reference librarian, she draws upon a world of resources--print, digital, and audio--to create a rich learning experience for students of varying ages, skill levels, and interests.

Conveniently located on the westside of Ann Arbor.

Call today to schedule a lesson or ask about instruction.

(734)998-1097

Contact Celeste by email with any questions or comments.