TEACHING VIOLIN & VIOLA TECHNIQUE: SOLUTIONS FOR COMMON TECHNICAL PROBLEMS
Clinician(s): Karen Chan
Teaching beginning violin and viola students often comes with familiar challenges: tight left-hand grips, stiff shoulders, reluctant bow arms, and tone that’s anything but resonant. In this session, we will explore practical strategies to develop healthy, relaxed technique in your string students from the start, as well as methods for addressing common technical problems in players who need adjustment. Attendees will learn how to help students hold their instruments correctly, align posture and hand position, and release tension to allow for fluid movement and better sound production. The session will include demonstrations of simple, classroom-ready exercises to prevent bad habits before they start and to correct existing issues with bowing, left-hand setup, and overall alignment. By the end of this clinic, you will have a toolkit of solutions to transform tense, restricted playing into relaxed, resonant, and confident musicianship.
Session Handouts