Memories of your teachers

[lwl]

Many of us here on the Fingerboard have been blessed with good teachers whom we remember with affection -- and a few have been cursed with sufficiently bad teachers to have a few tales of hilarity about them, too.

Would anyone care to share a story of two about a teacher of theirs?

[Professor Viola]

I had the sweetest Viola teacher. She never got the least bit frustrated with me and I was so happy to have someone so patient.Unfortuneately she went back to college to study law. I miss her.

[Rosie]

I went through several teachers during my first few years, trying to find a personality that I could get along with. Well, I we found the perfect teacher who I absolutely loved. We got along so well, and my playing seemed to be progressing better because I was excited about lessons. Stayed with her several years until I became serious about my music, and realized that she didn't know how to teach advanced technique -- I was almost at the same playing level as she. I was moving right along through repertoire stuff but not honing in on anything. So sadly, I decided to go. I still see her around and we're friends, but I wish I hadn't kept taking lessons from her for as long as I did. I thought my next teacher would be much better but she's presenting the same problems (and I like her just as much).

[Theresa]

I've written here a lot about Mr. Wallack.

He was a wunderkind in New Jersey as a child before WWII.

He fought in WWII and during his tenure was everything from a med. assistant to a MP to a cook to the leader of a bagpipe corps of which he had either one or two days to learn to play bagpipes.

I'll write more later! Have to go.

Best regards,

Theresa

[renaissance]

My violin teacher in college was Italian, and he loved sex, violin and fishing. We never knew for sure what order. One year the profs went on strike. I was sure he would cross the line so I took my violin and went to my lesson. To my surprise, he was outside the building with his sign practicing his casting, wearing his fishing hat and vest. He very quickly took my music and gave me some things to work on, all the while glancing around to make sure nobody could see what he was doing.

Several years after I left college, his obituary was in the newspaper. I found out that he died doing what he loved best.......he apparantely walked out to the lake to fish and then had to be carried back out.

He was quite a memorable character, and an outstanding violinist. I miss him.

[Stringray]

Hm....I like my teacher; as in, admire him, respect him a great deal because of his passion for music, and to a certain extent, teaching. But, one thing I find funny is that, everytime I go for his lesson, the music just doesn't flow out of me; I don't perform my best and sometimes my fingers just stiffen and the running notes or good intonation can't be executed well.

Could anyone possibly tell me the reason why? However I don't want to change to another teacher because of my much respect and admiralty for him... I've had a bit of difficulty wanting to be under his tutelage (at first). I started lessons with him only this year, so I might need more time to get used to him.

[lwl]

My violin teacher in college was a superb violinist with an amazingly good memory and terrific technical command of the instrument.

Quite old by the time I met him, he had a lifetime of playing with the great conductors and soloists, and his studio walls were covered with personal snapshots of himself with musician after musician.

He passed me the old Russian tradition -- I was always struck by how much, decades later, he still clearly loved his own teacher -- and in refusing to accept anything but my personal best (and resetting the bar weekly on what that best was going to be!) he forced me to develop a self-discipline that I never had before, either as a violinist or as a person. He prided himself on being more stubborn than his students, and our exchanges often went: "I can't!" // "You can. You *will*." And, in the end, he did win. His blisteringly sarcastic comments still linger in my memory whenever I am tempted into violinistic sloppiness.

I will always remember him with a cigarette dangling out of his mouth, explaining something while ripping off a Paganini Caprice from memory with absolute technical precision -- after having a couple of drinks!

[Jason Fruit]

I didn't realize how good my first actual teacher was until I moved on and tried to find a new one (I was originally an autodidact, for 8 years). She has an analytical mind, the ability to adapt her technical principles to different physiques, the psychological understanding to know how and when to communicate her ideas to her students, and the musicianship and humility to recognize good ideas that differ from her own. Additionally, she has an almost religious devotion to the violin and her teaching, and the willingness to give extra work and time to those students who apply themselves. She always taught with the idea in mind that someday I would have to be my own teacher, and she never was offended by the question, "Why?". I strongly recommend her to anyone who is willing to attend a third-rate university with a starred-first-rate violin/viola professor. Write me if you're curious about the name.

Since I left, I have gone through two bad teachers and one mediocre one. . . finally, I decided to bite the bullet and go back to self-instruction. Good teachers are a rare commodity, and great ones are almost unique.

Jason R. Fruit.

[This message has been edited by Jason Fruit (edited 08-15-2001).]

[cremona]

My teacher has a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor. He plays in the symphony here (Atlanta), and so he's in regular contact with the people the judge our youth orchestra auditions and such...well, I remember last year, I kept begging him to let me know what seat I made, and he said to me "OH!! About that, yeah...they asked if you would play viola this year."

A few weeks ago, I was talking to him about what I was going to play for college auditions, and he had a student walk in or something so he really had to leave. Being the persistent one that I am, I was like "WAIT!! What about Bach?" and he said "OHHHH I don't know, Alvin!!!!! C Major Fugue and Chaconne!!!" hehe....well....at least I thought it was funny...