I’m often asked how I decided to learn to play the violin. The truth is that I didn’t make the decision at first! My parents both played the flute, and they wanted me to start an instrument once I was old enough to hold one. Violin is one of the rare instruments that you can learn at a very young age, because they make very small student versions, and so at the age of 4 I began to learn to play violin. You may have heard of the Suzuki Method, started by Shinichi Suzuki in the mid-20th century. For some reason, many of the American teachers that he taught settled in the Midwest. I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, and there was already a strong group of Suzuki teachers and students there by the time I picked up my first violin.

I’m often asked how I decided to learn to play the violin. The truth is that I didn’t make the decision at first! My parents both played the flute, and they wanted me to start an instrument once I was old enough to hold one. Violin is one of the rare instruments that you can learn at a very young age, because they make very small student versions, and so at the age of 4 I began to learn to play violin. You may have heard of the Suzuki Method, started by Shinichi Suzuki in the mid-20th century. For some reason, many of the American teachers that he taught settled in the Midwest. I grew up in Lexington, Kentucky, and there was already a strong group of Suzuki teachers and students there by the time I picked up my first violin.

Nathan Cole was recently interviewed by Violinist.com about his online violin lessons here at the ArtistWorks Classical Campus.  He also talks about how he got started learning how to play violin using the Suzuki method (at age 4!), his first violin audition, playing with the LA Philharmonic, and a whole lot more! Check it out here!

Our resident classical guitar teacher Jason Vieaux was interviewed recently by KING FM in Seattle Washington. The interviewer Sean MacLean is obviously a big fan of Pat Metheny because starts off with asking Jason about his Pat Metheny tribute CD, "Images of Metheny", which came out in 2005.  They discuss the influence Pat Metheny has on Jason's playing and how it manifests with his classical guitar playing. When asked why he chose to do a Pat Metheny tribute CD, here's what Jason said:

"The emotional content of the music I think is sometimes missed by a lot of his detractors, because the music on the surface sounds very nice a lot of the time. But there's just something about it… I think a lot of emotions are evoked in the best of his music, and they're very subtle." - Jason Vieaux

Check out the classical guitar performance below and click here to listen to the interview.

ArtistWorks:  How long have you been teaching piano lessons? 

Christie: I started teaching piano when I was 9 years olds - so (not to give away my age or anything)  31 years.

AW:  What age do you recommend people start taking piano lessons?

Christie:  5 years old if a parent can sit and practice with the child daily.  8 years old if the child is going to mostly do it on their own.  The most important training for Classical piano is the first few years when muscular and musical habits are formed.  These things can be learned later, but poor habits are hard to break and strong old habits make you sound like a genius. 

AW:  If someone has already been taking piano lessons with someone else, is there anything they'll need to know about the Peery Method and your style of teaching?

ArtistWorks:  How long have you been teaching piano lessons? 

Christie: I started teaching piano when I was 9 years olds - so (not to give away my age or anything)  31 years.

AW:  What age do you recommend people start taking piano lessons?

Christie:  5 years old if a parent can sit and practice with the child daily.  8 years old if the child is going to mostly do it on their own.  The most important training for Classical piano is the first few years when muscular and musical habits are formed.  These things can be learned later, but poor habits are hard to break and strong old habits make you sound like a genius. 

AW:  If someone has already been taking piano lessons with someone else, is there anything they'll need to know about the Peery Method and your style of teaching?