Mária Vojtovičová
violinist/violist
Teaching method
During her studies Maria got familiar with theoretical and practical parts of the various violin teaching methods such as Color Strings, Suzuki method, Traditional learning, Mimi Zweig´s String Pedagogy, Kodály´s school or Russian violin school. However in her teaching she likes to use this knowledge as a toolbox from which she can pick the parts that would fit every particular student the best.
Everybody learns at their own pace, prefers different teaching and learning methods, is driven by their own motivation and aims for different goals, comes from very different backgorund and every one of those aspects is important in the teaching and learning process.
That is the reason why Maria does not focus exclusively on one method of violin teaching but adapts the constructive approach based on open communication between the teacher and student and finding the most comfortable way of learning to play the instrument depending on the student´s wishes, needs and abbilities.
Therefore the most important qualities in teacher as a human being are empathy, creativity, kindness, spontaneity,
adaptability, organization skills, predictability and patience.
Violin playing is creative process and Maria also supports and encourages students to nourish their own creativity by creating their own compositions and through the improvisation .
Improvisation is one of the very effective and entertaining ways how to learn more about the instrument, to discover and master different techniques and sound and to find more comfort in playing the instrument and expressing one´s own personality through the music. Improvisation is creative process happening at the very moment, there are no limits, no wrong notes and the inspiration can be taken from anything and anywhere. Maria believes improvisation exercises should be a part of every musician daily routine same as scales and other technical exercises because it teaches players to listen more, to be present in the moment, to focus better and it is a great way to explore one´s musical identity withouth the fear of failing.
Maria is the friendliest teacher one could get, with great passion for both performing music and teaching it. My instrument was the violin which I knew nothing about except for its name, but after few courses and advices I fell in love with this amazing instrument. Maria did a great job helping me feel comfortable with holding the instrument and confidence in playing it . She even provided me with one of her own violins so I could practice on my own and improve personally. I recommend her to everyone who is interested in learning to play violin even with as little knowledge as I had .
-Alam