I have been teaching Suzuki violin and viola for 20-some years --  I lose count! 

 

I started my music study at age 7, first on piano and then two years later adding violin.  By today's standards, I was an "older student."  My parents bought piano lessons for me, but violin was offered in the schools and I didn't have private instruction on it until well into high school.  But I loved it and my parents would beg me to stop practicing!  It's so wonderful that Suzuki children start music study at a very young age while that rapid learning phase of development is in full swing. 

 

I start students on violin as young as 3 and 4 years of age.  Often I start very young students in a "shared lesson" which may involve 2-4 students in the same lesson.  Like any discipline or study there are the "I don't want to practice" moments, but Suzuki method provides a loving support system that helps children, and parents, work through those obstacles to the greater reward of becoming a confident player and person.  It is my greatest aspiration to give that joy and confidence to my students!