Philosophy of Teaching

Teaching, similar to performing,  is my big passion. I have been teaching for over 20 years as both a private instructor as well as a classroom professor. The bulk of my teaching experience is individual, one on one lessons, however I have also taught string technique classes in the team with the other string fellow faculty. For a number of years I also taught a music history survey course to music majors at the University of Missouri St. Louis. I have also taught a Music Appreciation course designed for non-music majors at the same institution. 

Knowledge is application. I believe in any field, and its true in music too, whatever we learn we need to be able to apply it in practice. Whether we talk about composer’s life in music history or a roman numeral number in music theory or a dynamic in a musical piece, everything has to connect and resonate with the person learning it. In my teaching approach I like to point out that composers though long dead, were people, human beings, just like we are. Why is it important to remember? Well, because they had experienced similar emotions as we are experiencing now. They went through highs and lows, easy and and not so easy days, they had wins and losses, they were loved and loved themselves. All the spectrum of human emotions was not foreign to them and they captured the array of these emotions with their pens and papers. Their music live to this day because they were humans and could share their emotions through centuries with us. We in turn can continue their legacy through either studying about them, performing their music and of course teaching it to the next generation. 

The way I like to structure the classroom activities is by building curiosity and self motivation. 

I often break out students into teams and start our discussion by asking questions and bringing different ideas. Students then in turn each have a chance to respond and offer their point of view. During the class I often engage my students by playing various recordings of pieces being studied at any particular time frame. We then compare recordings. What makes them similar, what is different? 

Music exists outside of the printed sheets and notes. Just like words in a story are means of expression of different kind of emotions, sounds are expression of music. When I give a lesson to a student I always start by introducing the music aspect of playing first, the meaning of a piece, the story behind a composer’s work before digging into the details and technical aspects of a piece. One does not have to wait until one’s technical skills are at a certain level and proficient enough before beginning to understand a musical concept of a piece. True, there are certain things that need to be accomplished first before one can fully express their emotional self in music. However, in order to speed up the process of self discovery and understanding one should not delay the absolutely vital mechanism of embracing the musical aspect of playing the instrument.

Critical to this process are two things: singing and breathing. I cannot emphasize strongly enough to all my students how important it is to sing before playing a phrase or passage and to breathe while playing this phrase or that passage. The internal connection between hearing and feeling the music is made that way and as such it is much easier and more effective to pass the meaning of the music to the listener.

Teaching is a two-way street. As a teacher, I strive to share my experience and my knowledge with the students. I try to engage in everything they do musically and professionally, what they have to offer both as players and as people. Being absolutely committed to their journey of learning and self discovery, I am ready to face both their successes and their failures and to help guide them through often challenging situations in this profession. In return, I expect the same commitment from them to me, their chosen field, and their practicing and performing.

For me it is very valuable when students express their musical ideas, it is important to know they have thought about the music they are working on and have ideas and conceptions of their own; let the ideas be wrong, for we can correct them together. Starting from wrong ideas and making our way to the right ones is better than having no ideas at all. If students always rely on the teacher to supply them with a ready-made idea, one that is already developed, already “chewed on” that they just have to swallow, they will be utterly helpless and will never learn how to work on their own without a teacher. The process of practicing is the process of self-observation. It is a process where there should not be one movement or one note played without a clear purpose or idea behind it. Every little thing counts when it comes to playing an instrument.

I strive to direct my foremost attention toward the student’s psychological process of adapting to musical and technical requirements and of assimilating new material. This is where I determine what is useful to the student, where I may speed forward in the learning process and from what piece I should temporarily abstain. I often have different scenarios or methods ready for a student to try out. Based on a detailed study of a student, their playing habits and their relationship with the instrument, I chose the most effective and efficient path leading to the desired result. This system allows me to switch to another approach kept in reserve if the chosen path turns out to be too easy or too difficult.

It has been my great fortune to study under some of the most incredible, world-famous teachers of the 20th century, both in my native Russia as well as in the United States. The great violin traditions that shaped our discipline were passed on to me through the teachings of those outstanding musicians, teachers and colleagues. I am passionate about passing on those experiences to my students.