Information About Vanessa - Wigston teacher

Personal Description:

Hi! A little bit about who I am.
I trained Initially as a professional actress, but growing up in a house full of musicians had made music so deeply ingrained in me that I was bound to combine the two at some point.
I passed grade 8 violin with distinction at age 14 and from then my mother (who was head of music at a local high school) passed on to me pupils who weren't quite making the grade with their existing peripatetic teachers to see if I could do anything with them! I managed to help them through several ABRSM grades and it was then that I learned no teacher should ever give up on anyone!
Throughout my time at Cygnet Training theatre in Exeter at age 18, I taught pupils of all ages the violin each evening after class which gave me even more experience and I have been teaching violin and Music Theory too up to ABRSM Grade 5 ever since! That's 41 years to date!
After Drama School (Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art) and alongside (still) teaching the violin, I ran under 5s music and movement classes for singing Sally's in Leicestershire for 11 years, then set up and ran my own music and movement classes for primary aged children for the 12 years that followed, going into schools, nurseries and entertaining at children's birthday parties. During this time, I really learned how to creatively engage the youngest of children and I developed a particular interest in teaching children as young as 3 to play the violin.

Tutoring Experience:

My teaching experience has spanned 41 years and, for the last 23 years, has included the youngest of children. This latest experience led me to train as a "stringbabies" teacher. This is an approach that teaches very young children general musicianship and to read and write music through a system of shapes.I used this method for a few years before devising my own method based on years of enthralling children through storytelling, drama and movement.
I find children totally relate to the 'rhythmic' fun of exercises within the story and to the characters they meet at the castle along with their adventures beyond the rainbow. They are excited to practise… which is HUGE! and they progress quickly, excited to be involved in what happens next.

Tutoring Approach:

Music making should be fun! … especially for very young children who have yet to feel the full force of the overly serious side of life! I try to make lessons as exciting and as inspiring as possible through my engaging story based method, tinged with some of Shinzu Suzuki's technical exercises and repertoire. The older children, too, appreciate the gentle, encouraging and empowering approach I adopt towards my teaching.
Music is an expression of the soul and I aim to introduce children of all ages to this new language in a way that goes beyond the 'academic' symbols so that they 'feel' it, can move to it and become it.
I teach beginner to intermediate (ABRSM Grades 1 to 5) in both Violin and Theory. I enjoy working with that initial spark of excitement and encouraging it to grow. These are the best years of a young violinist's life.