Jenna Michael

Below is a list of commonly asked questions for violin lessons. Don’t see your question below? Feel free to contact me any time!

How old does my child need to be to take lessons?

Great question! It really varies from family to family. If you are a new family, I have children wait until they are 4 years old for lessons. If one of your kids are already enrolled in lessons, I take on 3-year-old little siblings for 15 minute lessons – always added right before or after their older sibling’s lesson. Read more in my blog post that goes in depth about this.

Does my child need a violin to start lessons?

Nope! Although they will need one after a couple weeks. I start most of my students on a box violin, then I recommend renting fractional sized instruments at Meyer Music or Grand Rapids Violins.

Should we buy our child’s instrument online?

I highly recommend NOT purchasing your child’s first instrument, and I especially recommend not purchasing that instrument online unless it’s from a music shop that specializes in instruments from the violin family. There are a lot of violins that you can find for cheap or in fun-looking colors online and they might seem like they are doing the job at first, but the cheap instruments are generally not well made. Especially the ones that are fashion colors like blue or purple, they are often set up in a way that makes it hard to play in tune and with a good tone. When (not if) it breaks, you will be on the hook for paying for repairs. You can rent your child’s first instrument at Meyer Music, which is a local music store with three different locations in the greater-Grand Rapids area. They will fit your child for an appropriate instrument and help with string replacements and repairs. For more advanced students, you can rent finer instruments at Grand Rapids Violins.

How often does my child need to practice?

Each child has their own specific needs. Dr. Suzuki said we should practice every day, and I get a lot of inspiration from him. However, I don’t believe there are many things that we should do every single day (except for shower and eat!). Instead, I think we should practice most days. Whether that is 4 days a week for a Pre-Twinkle student or 6 for a more advanced player, that is a decision that should be made by the teacher with consideration to the student’s needs. I recommend taking one or two days off from practicing each week.

How much listening should we do outside of lessons?

The Suzuki Method is sometimes called the Mother-Tongue method because of Dr. Suzuki’s belief that we should immerse the student in music and through that, combined with weekly lessons from a teacher who can help the student identify scale and arpeggio patterns, they will learn to play music by ear. All of my Pre-Twinkle and Book 1 students will learn to play their pieces by ear and will not use sheet music as a reference to practice at home. Listening to the music is their reference. We must do our listening every day in order to learn the pieces in Book 1. To further explain my point, I invite my students to imagine if they saw their math teacher for 30 minutes for a lesson, did not receive any notes to take home, and then were expected to remember that information in a week. If they are not listening to their music at home, they are putting unfair an impractical expectations on themselves to remember everything from week to week without a reference.

Dr. Suzuki said to listen to a piece for a year before attempting to play it. I find that families who schedule their listening time rather than leaving it up to chance have better success at completing their listening each day.

Where can I find the recordings of the Suzuki Violin music?

Takako Nishizaki has lovely recordings available for free on multiple streaming apps.

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7Df8y0VuRQFjakK7V95akg

Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/suzuki-evergreens-vol-1/378536337

Amazon Music: https://music.amazon.com/albums/B003TXO6P0

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_lDw3npIgHQ8JQdVBIaauJupa4PahWSoHA

Where are you located?

My home studio is located in the Southern tip of Ada, about 25 minutes Southeast of Downtown Grand Rapids.

How much are lessons?

During the school year, I charge $116 a month for 30 minute lessons, $148 a month for 45 minute lessons, and $180 a month for hour lessons. For younger siblings of current students only, I sometimes offer 15 minute lessons for $84 a month. Summer rates vary.