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Transformation through the Violin

Are You Listening to Your Violin Teacher?

During your lessons (or practice) are you listening to your violin teacher? Are you on constant autopilot or are you truly, fully present in the moment?

In today’s over scheduled world, we frequently divide our attention between non-stop internal dialog and a slew of external distractions such as cellphones and e-mail. We’re walking around in a semi-zombie autopilot state.

Are you paying for a teacher’s time, and then proceeding about your week ignoring what what was offered to you on a silver platter? Just one tiny nugget from a perceptive teacher can save you months, even years of frustration.

Here’s your transformation: 

Train yourself to be present and attentive during your violin lessons and/or practice time and let that skill of mindfulness effortlessly take hold across other parts of your life.

By Bill Alpert

Bill Alpert is a performer, teacher and author with a unique focus on personal development and mindfulness viewed through the lens of violin study. Mr. Alpert's resume includes recordings, performances and film scores with artists such as The Moody Blues, Pepe Romero, Tina Turner and Johnny Mathis. The co-founder of the award winning Alpert Studio of Voice and Violin in California, he is professionally active in the American String Teachers Association and the Suzuki Association of America.

2 replies on “Are You Listening to Your Violin Teacher?”

HI! I love your emails. I have the greatest teacher. He is very strict and demands this of me. I love music, piano, violin and more later, but you are correct in saying that we have to divide time in our minds constantly in this world, because of the many demands on us to survive.
He litterally, will yell at me, if I am ‘1/2 there’, and it has poured over into my mind everytime I practice. What you are saying is imperative to everything in life (even going to sleep at night), and not only for my forward motion, but for my mental health…one thing at a time!

Exactly right; multi-tasking usually means we are doing everything badly! Music teaches us that, because our progress (or lack thereof) becomes an immediate feedback loop. Congrats on your wonderful violin journey, Patricia!

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