Violin and viola models for group tuition

Three violin and viola teachers at the Norwegian Academy of Music were interviewed about the project. These three teachers use their own group/class models that they have developed over several years. Thus they did not participate in the project linked to the horn model, but they do have perspectives on their teaching that are interesting in this context.

Professor Morten Carlsen at the Norwegian Academy of Music is a viola player with 25 years’ experience of teaching the viola and violin. He says he first trialled string classes a few years ago. At the time he found that this form of tuition was very vulnerable. One unmotivated student was enough to ruin the atmosphere during a class. On the back of these experiences he has developed a model that emphasises the need for a good climate in order to create healthy competition and a positive learning environment.

Morten Carlsen’s viola/violin class is made up of all his students. There are usually between five and eight students in these classes, and outsiders familiar with the concept occasionally also attend. The classes are in principle open to everyone.

In the last few years Morten Carlsen has given two regular classes a week, often one technique class and one repertoire class. All the students should in principle be prepared to perform in every class. It does not have to be a big performance, perhaps even just a scale or similar if they have not prepared a piece. The students must always be ready to give technical demonstrations during the classes. For various reasons the groups are occasionally smaller than planned. This leaves more time for each student. The groups are never cancelled. The teacher says that he spends roughly the same amount of time teaching under this model as if he had only taught the students individually. He does not keep a detailed timesheet but is flexible with regard to his time use. Overall, the students are given the teaching hours they need and want. During the classes Morten Carlsen focuses consciously on issues that can – or even should – be taught with several students present. This makes better use of the allocated time, and the time spent on each student is balanced out by the combination of one-to-one lessons and string classes. According to the teacher, the students appear to be very satisfied with the model.

I interviewed one of Morten Carlsen’s students about her experiences with the string classes. The student has played the viola since the age of 16 – preceded by a few years of violin tuition. She had been a student on the music programme in upper secondary school and in NAM’s junior department before being accepted on the bachelor programme in performance at NAM. She was studying for her master’s degree when she was interviewed. This student has studied with Morten Carlsen for eight years.

When comparing herself to other students who had studied with different teachers, she can see the importance of the team building that has been a conscious part of this teacher’s teaching philosophy. He has created an environment in which all the students know and respect each other. This is not necessarily the case with other teachers, says the student. The students will often not know much about each other’s performance skills unless the teacher enables them to get to know each other. The benefit of knowing their fellow students is that the students get involved in each other’s learning processes and come to realise that other students, too, have to work hard before a piece is ready for public performance. It is therefore highly important that the students perform something every week.

The student describes the one-to-one lesson as a meeting between teacher and student. It is a private conversion that benefits from not having an audience. The string classes are more public and aimed at an audience. The student has found that both she and her teacher act differently during these classes. She feels that the student-teacher roles are more prominent in the string classes than in the one-to- one lessons, where the communication is more personal. The different approaches in the lessons/classes are highly valuable and give the students additional perspectives on their learning. However, the string classes are perceived as being student-led. The teacher intervenes if he feels that the feedback is going “off-course”. In such cases he will encourage the students to comment on different elements of the performance, e.g. one student is asked to comment on rhythm, one on sound, one on vibrato. The teacher encourages the students to be specific in their feedback. This particular student found all the classes to be useful, including those where she did not perform. The challenges posed by having to give feedback are positive in themselves. The teacher also helps to further refine and concretise the comments with his input. The student says she has benefited greatly from her fellow students’ feedback over the years, especially when she was a bachelor student receiving feedback from master students.

The student points to the sense of solidarity that develops across different year groups as a result of the string classes. The students become genuinely interested in each other. Receiving feedback several times during the week is also useful. Although the students are competing for the same jobs, she feels there is a healthy kind of competition between them because they have become involved in each other’s development. The students work together to get better.

The string classes were one of the main reasons why this student sought out Morten Carlsen when applying for the master’s programme.

The best thing about this model is that it gives the students much more performance time, according to Morten Carlsen. He points especially to the master students’ need for frequent performance opportunities. They have an extensive repertoire to get through, and they often perform in competitions/auditions. They need to listen more, they need to be listened to, and they need to be inspired. They also need training in how to express themselves verbally and how to analyse. This makes them more aware as performers and better teachers of themselves. By forming an opinion on the performances of others, the students become more conscious of their own playing, too, the teacher finds.

Morten Carlsen says it can be a challenge for a teacher if one student makes rapid progress, while another may feel left behind because they have not developed equally quickly. Teachers have to deal with these sorts of situations all the time. The students must then be taught how to give feedback that reflects each recipient’s level of ability.

One of the aims of Morten Carlsen’s string classes has been to make the students take an interest in each other – so much so that they approach each other outside the string class to seek help and advice. He is also concerned with the students’ independence, that the teachers must put their faith in the students. He says:

«When you are in a not too big a group with only a few people present, and you talk to them, then they’ll put their thoughts into words. They can do it provided we create the right atmosphere.»

Professor Peter Herresthal at the Norwegian Academy of Music is a violinist and has almost 20 years’ experience as a string teacher. His model splits the teaching hours between one-to-one lessons and violin classes. He has an assistant who teaches the students when he is not present. This assistant also assumes some responsibility for the string classes. The assistant was studying for a diploma at the time of my observations. Peter Herresthal feels that due to the way he organises his violin classes, these classes have much in common with the small group lessons under the horn model. He found that the students were good at attending the violin classes at the start of the academic year but that attendance was dropping towards the end of the year. He therefore wanted to try out a model whereby he only gave violin classes when the students had something to perform. This turned out not to be to the students’ liking, however. They wanted a fixed time for the violin classes so that they would not “forget” to turn up. The teacher continues to use this model.

All of Peter Herresthal’s students attend the classes. This way they receive feedback twice a week. The students decide whether they want to perform, and they decide whether they want to comment on their peers’ performances.

During the lessons the teacher has chosen to focus on specific topics and themes of common interest, such as technique, for example. The assistant has played a key role in this respect. The teacher feels that this model makes better use of the allocated time. The one-to-one lessons are more personal in nature, while common challenges are addressed in the violin classes. The teacher allocates 60 minutes of one-to-one tuition to each student, including the master students who are generally entitled to 75 minutes of individual tuition. All master students may, however, request more than 60 minutes if they want and need it. The time not spent on one-to-one tuition is allocated to violin classes, careers advice, conversation etc. The teacher and assistant make most of the comments during the violin classes.

The teacher and assistant have found this model to be working well for the string students.

Professor Terje Moe Hansen at the Norwegian Academy of Music is a violinist and has almost 30 years’ experience as a string teacher, both with one-to-one tuition and classes. Terje Moe Hansen’s model splits the teaching hours between weekly one-to-one lessons and violin classes. The classes are scheduled from week to week in periods when the students are busy with projects.

All of Terje Moe Hansen’s students, between eight and twelve of them, attend the violin classes.

The violin classes are structured around themes:

• One technical part during which the participants discuss common technical challenges
• One ensemble session during which they address issues surrounding sound in an ensemble setting
• One solo section during which the students perform for each other.

Each element during the classes is carefully and systematically planned. Apart from these elements, the arrangement is fairly flexible.

Terje Moe Hansen says it is important that the teacher is familiar with each student’s strengths and weaknesses in order that their strengths can be highlighted in the group setting. One needs to create a climate in which all the participants are expected to help each other become better performers. Terje Moe Hansen has found that the students often learn from each other and give each other advice by repeatedly trying out the same piece. The desire to do well is often reinforced in a group situation. Any challenges mostly relate to the students’ varying levels of ability. The group setting also gives each student an idea of where he is compared to his peers. He says:

«Perhaps the greatest challenge as a teacher is to involve everyone so that no one is shown in a bad light. During the classes I have therefore tried to focus on each student’s strong points – what they’re good at – and have found that this works.»

For Terje Moe Hansen the violin classes are always an addition to the one-to-one lessons. He often takes charge of the violin classes and concedes he could probably get better at involving the students in giving feedback. He says there is still more to be done to allow the students to take greater responsibility. He holds regular meetings with his students during which they openly discuss aspects of the class model that could be improved. It is important that the students feel they are part of the process. Terje Moe Hansen is of the opinion that instrumental classes should be formally timetabled for everyone on a regular basis.