Private Lessons

Dr. D's Three Teaching Approaches

Dr. D enjoys integrating each of these approaches according to each student's personal goals


NON-CLASSICAL MUSIC CURRICULUM

For non classical music styles, I recommend my students subscribe to FiddleQuest.com and choose me as their teacher upon registration.  If Suzuki, Wartberg, Sassmannshaus methods teach “high-class” etiquette and rules for studying and performing classical music, FiddleQuest.com is a musical playground where students learn tunes without rules and they can explore learning tunes in a spirit of play more similar to how we first learn to speak as infants. Just think about it, we don’t ask a baby to say please and thank you before they learn to make basic sounds and then basic words and phrases. Sentences and formalities come later. Because students learn violin at an age where they are able to speak in conversation, read out loud or silently, and write, this informs my fluid approach to supporting each of these skills in music lessons. However, I feel strongly that the most important priority should be helping students make music conversationally so to speak. This means they can play extemporaneously by ear without sheet music and they also play music socially. Playing music “academically” has its place as does advanced scholarship for completing undergraduate, masters, or doctoral degrees. But I think its fair to say joy comes from our social lives. Work and academic achievements can feel frivolous in a vacuum without social connections. We are firstly social beings made for connection, and spontaneous conversation skills are essential for our social interactions.

*I highly recommend purchasing a high-quality audio bluetooth speaker like the Bose Sound Link for practicing with FiddleQuest recordings as well as recordings included in the classical materials listed below. 

CLASSICAL MUSIC CURRICULUM

According to their level, I highly recommend    for my students to purchase the following books:

Suzuki Violin School, Volume 1: Violin Part (Book & CD) Paperback – July 1, 2020

and

Kerstin Wartberg Step By Step Book 1a

Kerstin Wartberg Step By Step Book 1b

——

Suzuki Violin School, Volume 2: Violin Part (Book & CD)

and

Kerstin Wartberg Step By Step Book 2a

Kerstin Wartberg Step By Step Book 2b

——

Suzuki Violin School, Volume 3: Violin Part (Book & CD)

and

Kerstin Wartberg Step By Step Book 3a

Kerstin Wartberg Step By Step Book 3b

——

Alfred Suzuki Violin School Violin Part & CD Volume 4

and

Kerstin Wartberg Recital Training Book 1

——

Suzuki Violin School, Vol 5: Violin Part, Book & CD International Edition

and

Kerstin Wartberg Recital Training Book 2

——

Another option is to buy all the Suzuki Books 1-8 and CDs in a bundle. 

Suzuki Viol in School Volumes Set (8 Books with CD) - Volume 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 

I recommend this for parents who read music and would like to listen to repertoire from Volume's 1-8 while watching the violin sheet music score.

ADDITIONAL KERSTIN WARTBERG BOOKS with RECORDINGS

Kerstin Wartberg My First Technique Book

Kerstin Wartberg My Second Technique BookKerstin Wartberg Enjoying Violin Technique

Kerstin Wartberg My First Note Reading Book

Kerstin Wartberg My Trio Book (Mein Trio-Buch) (Suzuki Violin Volumes 1-2 arranged for three violins): Score


The Suzuki and Wartberg books provide the curriculum for developing a robust and expressive foundation in classical music. Both Suzuki and Wartberg materials encourage the classical music student to priorities ear training skills over note reading skills. It’s not that note reading skills are unimportant, but rather note reading skills are best learned after ear training skills have be established. This is after all how we learn our native speaking language—aural skills are primary and reading and writing skills are secondary.


For note reading, I recommend my students purchase the following books according to their level:

Sassmannshaus Early Start on the Violin Book 1

Sassmannshaus Early Start on the Violin Book 2

Sassmannshaus Early Start on the Violin Book 3

Sassmannshaus Early Start on the Violin Book 4

Sassmannshaus Violin Recital Album Volume 1

Sassmannshaus Violin Recital Album Volume 2

(Both Volumes include a solo part, violin accompaniment part, and piano accompaniment part)


ADDITIONAL BOOKS


Evelyn Avsharian Books for note reading, musicianship, and technique

Barbara Barber Books for scales, solo repertoire, and technique

Bornoff Patterns in Positions for Violin

Bornoff Patterns in Melody for Violin - Book 1 

Bornoff Patterns in Melody for Violin - Book 2


For classical technique, I recommend my students bookmark violinmasterclass.com where they can watch gold standard violin technique tutorials and demonstrations.

Below please find an index of pieces in the Suzuki Books 1-5 and an index of tunes found through the FiddleQuest dynamic web app.


Suzuki Violin Repertoire


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 1

* No. 1 Twinkle - Variations and Theme / Shinichi Suzuki

* No. 2 Lightly Row

* No. 3 Song of the Wind

* No. 4 Go Tell Aunt Rhody

* No. 5 O Come, Little Children

* No. 6 May Song

* No. 7 Long, Long Ago / Thomas Haynes Bayly

* No. 8 Allegro / Shinichi Suzuki

* No. 9 Perpetual Motion / Shinichi Suzuki

* No. 10 Allegretto / Shinichi Suzuki

* No. 11 Andantino / Shinichi Suzuki

* No. 12 Etude / Shinichi Suzuki

* No. 13 Minuet 1 / Johann Sebastian Bach

* No. 14 Minuet 2 / Johann Sebastian Bach

* No. 15 Minuet 3 / Johann Sebastian Bach

* No. 16 The Happy Farmer / Robert Schumann

* No. 17 Gavotte / François-Joseph Gossec


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 2

* No. 1 Chorus from Judas Maccabaeus / Georg Friedrich Händel

* No. 2 Musette / Johann Sebastian Bach

* No. 3 Hunter's Chorus / Carl Maria von Weber

* No. 4 Long, Long Ago and Variation / Thomas Haynes Bayly

* No. 5 Waltz / Johannes Brahms

* No. 6 Bourrée / Georg Friedrich Händel

* No. 7 The Two Grenadiers / Robert Schumann

* No. 8 Theme from Witches' Dance / Niccolò Paganini

* No. 9 Gavotte from Mignon / Ambroise Thomas

* No. 10 Gavotte / Jean-Baptiste Lully / Marin Marais

* No. 11 Minuet in G / Ludwig van Beethoven

* No. 12 Minuet / Luigi Boccherini


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 3

* No. 1 Gavotte / Giovanni Battista Martini

* No. 2 Minuet / Johann Sebastian Bach

* No. 3 Gavotte in G Minor / Johann Sebastian Bach

* No. 4 Humoresque / Antonín Dvořák

* No. 5 Gavotte / Jean Becker

* No. 6 Gavotte in D Major / Johann Sebastian Bach

* No. 7 Bourrée / Johann Sebastian Bach


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 4

* No. 1 Concerto No. 2 in G Major, Op. 13, 3rd Mvt / Friedrich Seitz

* No. 2 Concerto No. 5 in D Major, Op. 22, 1st Mvt / Friedrich Seitz

* No. 3 Concerto No. 5 in D Major, Op. 22, 3rd Mvt / Friedrich Seitz

* No. 4 Concerto in A Minor, Op. 3, No. 6, 1st Mvt / Antonio Vivaldi

* No. 5 Concerto in A Minor, Op. 3, No. 6, 3rd Mvt / Antonio Vivaldi

* No. 6 Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, 1st Mvt, Vl 2 / Johann Sebastian Bach


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 5

* Gavotte I and II from Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012 / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Concerto in A Minor, Op. 3, No. 6, 2nd Mvt / Antonio Vivaldi

* Concerto in G Minor, Op. 12, No. 1, 1st Mvt, Allegro / Antonio Vivaldi

* Concerto in G Minor, Op. 12, No. 1, 2nd Mvt, Adagio / Antonio Vivaldi

* Concerto in G Minor, Op. 12, No. 1, 3rd Mvt, Allegro / Antonio Vivaldi

* Country Dance / Carl Maria von Weber

* German Dance / Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf

* Gigue from Sonata in D minor, Op. 2, No. 7 / Francesco Maria Veracini

* Concerto for Two Violins in D Minor, BWV 1043, 1st Mov. Vl 1 / Johann Sebastian Bach


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 6

* La Folia / Arcangelo Corelli

* Sonata No. 3, 1st Mvt, Adagio / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 3, 2nd Mvt, Allegro / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 3, 3rd Mvt, Largo / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 3, 4th Mvt, Allegro / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Allegro / Joseph-Hector Fiocco

* Gavotte / Jean-Philippe Rameau

* Sonata No. 4, 1st Mvt, Affettuoso / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 4, 2nd Mvt, Allegro / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 4, 3rd Mvt, Larghetto / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 4, 4th Mvt, Allegro / Georg Friedrich Händel


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 7

* Minuet / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* Courante / Arcangelo Corelli

* Sonata No. 1, 1st Mvt, Andante / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 1, 2nd Mvt, Allegro / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 1, 3rd Mvt, Adagio / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Sonata No. 1, 4th Mvt, Allegro / Georg Friedrich Händel

* Concerto No. 1, 1st Mvt / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Concerto No. 1, 2nd Mvt / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Concerto No. 1, 3rd Mvt / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Gigue / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Courante / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Allegro / Arcangelo Corelli


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 8

* Sonata in G Minor, 1st Mvt / Henry Eccles

* Sonata in G Minor, 2nd Mvt / Henry Eccles

* Sonata in G Minor, 3rd Mvt / Henry Eccles

* Sonata in G Minor, 4th Mvt / Henry Eccles

* Tambourin / André Ernest Grétry

* Largo / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Allegro / Johann Sebastian Bach

* Largo Espressivo / Gaetano Pugnani

* Sonata in E Minor, 1st Mvt / Francesco Maria Veracini

* Sonata in E Minor, 2nd Mvt / Francesco Maria Veracini

* Sonata in E Minor, 3rd Mvt / Francesco Maria Veracini

* Sonata in E Minor, 4th Mvt / Francesco Maria Veracini


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 9

* Concerto No. 5 in A Major, 1st Mvt / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* Concerto No. 5 in A Major, 2nd Mvt / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* Concerto No. 5 in A Major, 3rd Mvt / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart


Suzuki Violin School, Volume 10

* Concerto for violin in D Major, 1st Mvt / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* Concerto for violin in D Major, 2nd Mvt / Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

* Concerto for violin in D Major, 3rd Mvt / Wolfgang Amadeus MozartFiddleQuest Songs and Pieces


FiddleQuest.com Core Curriculum


Level 1

1-1 Blueberry Jam

1-2 Are You Sleeping? (Level 1)

1-3 It's Raining Medley

1-4 Stanley's Jig

1-5 Little Liza Jane (Level 1)

1-68 Bows of Rainbows

1-7 Rubber Dolly (Level 1)

1-8 In The Jungle (Level 1)

1-9 Mississippi Hot Dog

1-10 February Birthday

1-11 Run Puppy

1-12 Jump Stanley

Level 2

2-1 First Finger Song

2-2 The One-Two Step

2-3 Are You Sleeping? (Level 2)

2-4 Walking Up and Down The Stairs

2-5 In the Jungle (Level 2)

2-6 Boil 'em Cabbage Down

2-7 Mary Had A Little Lamb

2-8 D Major Scale (Level 2)

2-9 Twinkle

2-10 Lavender's Blue

2-11 Row Your Boat

2-12 Eight Bows of Arpeggios

Level 3

3-1 Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

3-2 When The Saints Go Marching In

3-3 Rubber Dolly

3-4 Little Liza Jane

3-5 The Britches Full of Stitches

3-6 The Crawdad Hole

3-7 The Fox

3-8 Cripple Creek

3-9 You Are My Sunshine

3-10 In the Jungle

3-11 Halls Liten Vals

3-12 Octopus's Garden


Level 4

4-1 Arran Boat Song

4-2 Amazing Grace

4-3 Folsom Prison Blues

4-4 Angeline the Baker

4-5 Old Joe Clark

4-6 Soldier's Joy

4-7 Bonaparte's Retreat

4-8 Kerfunken Jig

4-9 Swallowtail Jig

4-10 The Road to Lisdoonvarna

4-11 Red Haired Boy

4-12 Knocking Polka


Level 5

5-1 Lochaber Badger

5-2 Corrina, Corrina

5-3 Pig Ankle Rag

5-4 Tam Lin

5-5 Fisher's Hornpipe

5-6 The Wind That Shakes The Barley

5-7 Ashokan Farewell

5-8 Through the Gates

5-9 Drowsy Maggie

5-10 Red Prairie Dawn

5-11 Return From Helsinki

5-12 Disconnect


Level 6

6-1 Old Chattanooga

6-2 The Big Sciota

6-3 Valley of the Moon Reel

6-4 Farewell To Ireland

6-5 On the Wings of a Scorie

6-6 La Vie En Rose

6-7S weet Georgia Brown

6-8 Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring - Bach

6-9 Teppo's Waltz

6-10 Stan Chapman's Jig

6-11 Coleraine

6-12 Wooden Whale


Level 7

7-1Connaughtman's Rambles

7-2The Old Favourite

7-3Silver Spear

7-4Blues in the Garage

7-5New Five Cents

7-6Twin Sisters

7-7Muineira Vilanova

7-8Fox (Galicia)

7-9Halls Lilla Vals

7-10Polska Fran Overmark

7-11Take Five

7-12Tipsy Gypsy


Level 8

8-1Highlander's Farewell

8-2Jenny Dang The Weaver

8-3Catharsis

8-4Tornlund

8-5Polska efter August Nyholm

8-6Bucking Done

8-7Coon Dog

8-8Vivian Williams Waltz

8-9Reel de Roberval

8-10La Grande Gigue Simple

8-11East Tennessee Blues

8-12Forked Deer


Level 9

9-1 All of Me

9-2 Blue Monk

9-3 Gravel Walks

9-4 Musical Priest

9-5 The Banshee

9-6 Maiden's Prayer

9-7 Back Up and Push

9-8 Eilidh's Trip in Germany

9-9 The High Drive

9-10 Samothrakitikosballos

9-11 Jokijenkka

9-12 Festivals


Level 10

10-1 Pirttikosken Polkka

10-2 Brilliancy

10-3 Meditation from Thais - Massenet

10-4 Bistro Fada

10-5 Cotton Patch Rag

10-6 Cello Suite No 1 in G Major, Prelude - Bach

10-7 Orange Blossom Special

10-8 Mississippi Waltz


FiddleQuest.com Bonus Songs


Level 1 Bonus Songs

Aikendrum (Level 1)

Amazing Grace (Level 1)

Arran Boat Song (Level 1)

Boil 'Em Cabbage Down (Level 1)

Camptown Races (Level 1)

Canon (Level 1)

Folsom Prison Blues (Level 1)

Lavender's Blue (Level 1)

Mary Had A Little Lamb (Level 1)

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (Level 1)

The Crawdad Hole (Level 1)

You Are My Sunshine (Level 1)


Level 2 Bonus Songs

Aikendrum

Angeline The Baker (Level 2)

Canon (Level 2)

Cripple Creek (Level 2)

Hokey Pokey

Lightly Row

London Bridge

My Bonny Lies Over The Ocean

Puff the Magic Dragon

Shuffle on the One

Styrmanschottis

Two Steps Up

Wake Up!


Level 3 Bonus Songs

A Carolina

Camptown Races

Canon (Level 3)

Froggy Went A Courtin'

Go Tell Aunt Rhody

I'll Fly Away

Lazy John

Long, Long Ago

May Song

My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean

Oh How Lovely Is The Evening

Oh, Susannah

Old Dan Tucker

Puff the Magic Dragon

Shenendoah

Song of the Wind

The Piper's Wierd

The Skye Boat Song

The Yellow Submarine


Level 4 Bonus Songs

After The Battle of Aughrim

Bach Minuet No. 1

Canon (Level 4)

Crested Hens

Down in the Valley

Edelweiss

Five Foot Two

Happy Birthday

Hia Hia Svardotter

Josefin's Waltz

La Fee Des Dents (The Tooth Fairy Jig)

Mairi's Wedding

Make You Feel My Love

Mamma Mia

Skepparschottis

Swing Low Medley

The Boy's Lament for his Dragon

The House of the Rising Sun

The Water is Wide

Wayfaring Stranger


Level 5 Bonus Songs

A Million Dreams

Bach Minuet No. 2

Bach Minuet No. 3

Bill Malley's Barndance

Canon (Level 5)

Danny Boy

Florida Blues

Gavotte

Groddapolskan

He's a Pirate

Hia Hia Svarmor

Miss Elizabeth Garland

Over The Rainbow

Pasodoble de San Roque

Salt Spring

Sand

Tennessee Waltz

The Dog and the Rabbit

The Happy Farmer

Turkey in the Straw


Level 6 Bonus Songs

Ain't Misbehavin'

Andante - Gluck

Ave Maria - Schubert

Blackberry Blossom

Bruremarsj Fra Lom

Bundle and Go Set

Canadian Waltz

Canon (Level 6)

Eleanor Rigby

Fairy Dance / Devil's Dream

Follingepolska

Fox Hunter's Reel

Georgia On My Mind

Harvest Home

Irish Washerwoman

Jig Runrig

Kusen

Loch Earn

Maid on the Green

Rolling Waves

Sound of Silence Medley

Spootiskerry

Summertime

That Would Be Enough (from Hamilton)


Level 7 Bonus Songs

Barrowburn Reel

Bony Crossing the Alps/The Maids of Clare

Canon (Level 7)

Cuckoo's Nest

Firework

Foliada de Monoforte

Happy Hollow

Hommage à André Alain - Issoudun

Polska efter Kristian Oscarsson

Polska efter Ljuder-Anders

Rustem

The Hole in the Hedge / Seamus Cooley's Jig

The Lark's March

The Lark's March Medley


Level 8 Bonus Songs

Black Eyed Susie

Canon (Level 8)

Fanfare Miro

Flying Home to Shelley

Johnny Wilmot's Fiddle

Julie Delaney's

Life Is All Checkered

Lost in the Loop

MacArthur Road

Polonessa Spoof

Rabbit Under A Collard Leaf

Take Me Back to Georgia

Tennessee Quick Cash

The Bachelor-The Flogging Reel

The Swan - Saint-Saëns

Two Wooden Nickels


Level 9 Bonus Songs

Bach Partita No 1 in Bm, Double

Big Mon

Bill McEvoy's

Chandelier

Concerto in A minor, Largo - Vivaldi

Crossing the Minch

Goodbye Girls I'm Going To Boston

Kashmir

Ornithology

Reel Carnaval

Test Taker

The Blackberry Blossom

The Cocktail

The Devil in the Kitchen

The Fairest Rose

The Heights of Muingbhathá Medley

The Lament for O'Donnell Medley

Trip to Dingle

Up Da Stroods

Wheel Hoss


Level 10 Bonus Songs

Allegro in G major - Handel

Bluegrass in the Backwoods

Blues for Alice

Bulgarian Red

Donna Lee

Farmors Brudpolska

Jerusalem Ridge

La Folia - Corelli

Mortgage Burn

Mountain Road

Partita 3 in E Maj, Prelude - Bach

Quinn's (medley)

Ride the Wild Turkey

Schindler's List

Siobhan O'Donnell

Sonata No. 1, G minor, Adagio - Bach

The Sweetness of Mary MSR

Union Street Session

Yellow Dog Blues