Discover Glee’s Journey
With a profound passion for music, Mr. Glee (a name his second-grade students, now high school seniors, coined for its musicality) is a distinguished figure in violin and viola education. He uniquely understands the body's harmony with the instrument through studies with acclaimed mentors, including a disciple of the influential D.C. Dounis technique. A founding member of the New England Youth Ensemble, he performed internationally for a decade and now inspires students in the Upper Valley, specializing in tonal and vibrato development across all string ensemble levels, and conducts MUSE (Mosaic Union String Ensemble).
““Whatever your hand finds to do, do it
with all your might…”
I believe this ancient wisdom from Paul of
Tarsus, still holds true today just as it has for
thousands of years, especially if you want
to live life to the fullest. I find the same
philosophy is very useful when it comes to
teaching others how to play an instrument”
Making the First Violin Experience Shine
Making a child's first encounter with the violin or viola truly enjoyable, starts with creating a warm and friendly environment. As Glee shares, students of all ages thrive with teachers who are genuinely fun and engaging, and incorporating humor is always a top priority. The biggest compliment I receive from students after I let them know that their hour lesson has come to an end is, “What, all ready? I thought it’s been like only 10 or 15 minutes”. To be honest, the time flies by all too quickly for me too because I’m having just as much fun interacting with my students as they are with me. It's this shared delight that truly ignites a lasting love for music.
More Than Just a Teacher: A Lover of Life
Glee attributes his effectiveness to his deep love for people, music, and life in general. He's an avid enthusiast of everything from windsurfing and flying airplanes to fixing cars. This zest for life, coupled with his technical understanding & ability to connect with individuals, is what he finds most helpful.
Building Foundational Skills
For Glee, establishing crucial foundational skills early on is paramount. This begins with:
Mastering proper sitting and standing posture, ensuring the violin rests comfortably with a correctly fitted shoulder rest. He emphasizes a relaxed left hand in 1st position with a dropped wrist, fingers gently curved over the fingerboard and strings like "breaking ocean waves," alongside a properly relaxed bow hold. His teaching approach for these techniques involves engaging, fun repetition, often timing students with their eyes closed to challenge them to beat their own records getting into playing position.
Cultivating a beautiful, clean, clear, and connected tone with great intonation. Glee achieves this by creating specific exercises for drawing the bow straight across the strings and teaching students the scales relevant to the pieces they're currently working on. He also strongly encourages playing simpler pieces across different strings and always accompanies students with the piano during lessons, ensuring a rich, supportive learning environment.
Nurturing Home Practice
To tackle common challenges and ensure a nurturing home environment, Glee equips parents with key strategies. These include weekly lesson sheets, practice calendars for tracking progress, and stickers to celebrate completed tasks. He strongly advocates for incorporating piano accompaniments into practice sessions via digital devices and teaching both students and parents how to utilize these modern tools. These elements combine to create an engaging and consistent learning experience.
A Story of Rekindled Passion
Glee recalls a particularly rewarding experience with a 10-year-old who had given up violin lessons. After an initial "hour" lesson stretched to over two, the girl didn't want to leave. Later that evening, her mom called, exclaiming her daughter thought the lesson was "Awesome!"
Glee humbly notes, "The other teacher is a wonderful teacher, but sometimes it’s all about the chemistry." This moment underscored the profound impact of a strong teacher-student connection.
Teaching Young Children
Not all music teachers are cut out for teaching young or beginning students," Glee observes, emphasizing the need for a special kind of patience. For him, the most rewarding experience is when his students learn and their eyes light up with joy—witnessing their unique personalities and the smiles on their faces is a truly priceless privilege.
The Magic of Consistent Practice
One surprising lesson Glee has learned is that everyone can learn to play an instrument, regardless of initial inclination. There's no magic, only consistency with practicing. Though the violin pushes a student’s multi-tasking abilities to the max, consistent effort transforms difficult tasks into automatic abilities, much like riding a bike. The real "magic," he believes, happens within the brain's incredible capacity to adapt.
A Quality Instrument Matters
Glee firmly believes that a good first instrument is crucial. A quality, great-sounding instrument encourages practicing and fosters happier students, profoundly impacting their learning experience. A poor-quality instrument can be frustrating, difficult to play, and detrimental to their progress and enjoyment.
“The true magic of music isn’t just in the notes played, but in the joy shared, the character built, and the understanding that everyone can learn if they approach it with delight and consistent dedication.”
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