VIOLIN CLASSES Beginning May 2008!

Group lessons are affordable, fun and a great way to meet new people—and to just maybe give you that little nudge to keep practicing. Our next session is for adult beginners and will cover posture, holding the violin and bow, basic technique, scales and fun music. You do not need to know anything about the violin or music to attend this class—it is for absolute newcomers!

I'd like to emphasize the word fun—really, even if you've had a bad time with lessons in the past, just forget about that and take this class! We all have a good time making music and you probably won't even notice that every lesson is designed to build your skills methodically and thoroughly. While you're at home, you can access helpful info and pictures, fingerings, sound clips and exercises from the "students' area" of this web site, as well as receive occasional e-mails with tips for improving your playing. We'll be meeting once a week according to the schedule below and each class is about 1 hour long. Students, when ready, will be able to participate in regularly scheduled recitals that are held throughout the year.

One violin course is being offered at this time, class meets on THURSDAYS beginning in May. Please read though this page for more details, to sign up for the class, please click the button at the bottom of this page to send the enrollment & partial tuition fee.

If you've had some experience with the violin (you're not an absolute beginner) and feel that you could join an intermediate or advanced class, please e-mail me and describe your experience, there may be a class that is at your level of playing with room available.

To be kept informed of classes and lessons, or to express interest in future classes, please fill in this form: click here!

Students will need to either rent or buy an instrument (please no electric violins) to take lessons. Also, students should have regular access to the internet as this course relies on support materials found in this site. You may rent a violin through a variety of music stores, or some rental instruments may be available from me @ $50 for the 3 month session, this is on a first-come basis.

Students wanting to rent an instrument should simply search the phone book for the nearest stringed instrument store (look under "violin dealers" or "musical instruments")—all rental instruments at the beginning stage are of about the same quality and good enough to start with. I recommend that you rent or buy from a violin shop / well established music store...as it's not wise to order the Thai dish at a burger joint, the same holds true for violins: beware of stores that do not seem to specialize in stringed instruments. If you're going to buy an instrument and you're a beginner, you should be able to get by just fine with a violin that is $100-$300. On eBay and from some dealers you'll be able to find violins for around and under $100 (which is truly and amazingly cheap, it is possible to find a working violin for less than $100 but I don't personally recommend buying for less than that though, some of these instruments tend to have problems). Do the usual checks if buying on eBay, make sure the vendor's reputation sparkles, and also make sure that the instrument is new and complete with case, rosin and bow. I recommend buying a new instrument (when shopping on eBay at least). In my opinion, used, older instruments that are inexpensive on eBay seem to be a somewhat risky bet and may not be in readily playable condition. Adult students will need a 4/4 or full-size violin. If mail ordering a violin, please make sure that the vendor packs it properly, it should be shipped with some pressure on the front of the instrument to keep the sound post from falling during shipment. If you receive the violin and something is rolling around inside of it, it most likely is the sound post and you'll have to take it to a violin shop and have them reset it.

All students will need to have a violin by the second class, no later.

Places to buy violins online:
Musician's Friend
Gliga Violins
Southwest Strings

Places to rent or buy violins in Manhattan:
Sam Ash Music, 163 W 48th St. New York, NY (212) 398-6052
Strings and Other Things, 1995 Broadway, New York, NY (212) 362-0857

A note about fingernails...kind of a strange thing to consider, BUT some students have been unable to part with their long fingernails so everyone should know.... If you have long nails, taking this course will require that you trim them very short. (It's not possible to have proper left or right hand position without short nails.)

Over the past years, I've been delighted to help people make violin and viola playing a part of their lives.

I’ve been teaching privately for 20 years in Seattle and Olympia Washington, and Eugene Oregon. While in Eugene I taught for the 4J School District as an orchestra director and conducted sectionals and auditions for the Eugene Youth Symphony. I’ve also been on the faculty of the Suzuki Institute of Seattle, Tacoma Youth Symphony Music Camp and director of the Thalia Olympic Music Camp.

Click here to read more about me.

Two classes are being offered at this time meeting weekly on Wednesday or Thursday evenings.

THURSDAY classes are at 5:30pm. Class will begin in May meeting on these dates:

All classes will meet at:

EIGHTH AVENUE STUDIOS
939 Eighth Avenue, 3rd Floor, buzz #307 for entrance to the building
Subways A,C, or 1 to 59th Street Stop. Walk to 939 Eighth Avenue, between 55th & 56th Streets.

Please note that missing class is not recommended and you will need to practice outside of class! As we move very quickly through the materials, if you anticipate missing more than 1-2 classes, you will probably need to schedule a private make-up lesson to keep up with the group:

* If you are interested in renting a violin for the course, please select "rental violin" below. Please note a limited number of instruments are available and this fee may be refunded to you if all instruments become reserved.

As these are group lessons with limited class size and a meeting space provided, I ask that students please commit to the full session in which you wish to be enrolled. Fees for group sessions are not refunded if you have to miss a session or decide to drop anytime during the session for any reason.

Please click one button below to select your class and submit the fee below. This fee is required to reserve your place and attend the first class.

Reservation / Partial Tuition Fee for Violin Lessons: $150, $200 if reserving a rental violin.
Please read this cancellation policy: There is a $50 cancellation fee. Your reservation fee is only partially refundable until 14 days before the first class. You must cancel within 14 days prior to the first class to receive a partial refund. If canceling your enrollment inside of 14 days prior to the first class, your full $150 or $200 fee, or portion of, may be forfeit if your vacancy cannot be filled in time for the first class. Thank you for your understanding.

Payments accepted are Visa, MC, Discover, AMEX and eChecks online.

To reserve your place in the class, it's preferable to use one of the buttons above as this will immediately secure your place in the class. If you prefer to send a check, please make checks payable to Ed Davis and send to:

Ed Davis
452 W. 47th St., Apt. 3b
New York, NY 10036

If paying by check, please indicate the class you are signing up for (for example "May Thursday 5:30PM Class"), also include your name, phone number and your e-mail address. Keep in mind if checks are received after the class is full, they will be returned to you or you'll be contacted about alternative classes if available. I'll let you know if your place in the class is successfully reserved, so be sure and include your e-mail address and/or phone.

If your paypal e-mail address is not your preferred e-mail address, please indicate what e-mail you'd like used in the "notes" portion of your paypal payment.

Enrollment is on a first come basis and classes fill quickly.

Remaining tuition for the class will be due at the first class. For more info, please write!

Ed Davis
info@stringschool.com