Vivace Strings Suzuki Studio

11/30/2025

Starting Monday!! A practice challenge for the month of December. Which team will win?

08/08/2025

I am accepting new students in Greentown for
Violin (all levels)
Beginning Viola
Beginning Piano

I teach with a high level of excellence ensuring every student is given all of the musical tools necessary to play their instrument well. If you are looking to start learning or need help stepping up to the next level I would love to work with you. Contact me by phone (765-480-9423), or by email at: [email protected].

08/02/2024

Keep a pleasant face even when you make a mistake. Facial expressions make a difference to the audience.

I remember my teacher repeatedly reminding me to not make faces when I made mistakes on stage.

I eventually stopped doing this. But I always wondered…how big a deal is this really?

A 2017 study (Waddell & Williamon) recruited 53 musicians and 52 non-musicians to serve as audience members, and asked each group to watch and evaluate video of the same performance - but with a few modifications to each video.

Two of the groups saw videos in which the pianist stops playing and fumbles around for a moment before resuming. It’s an obvious enough mistake that even non-musicians noticed that something went wrong.

In one version of the video, the pianist makes a face, shakes his head, and looks frustrated.

In another version of the video, he has no reaction to the mistake at all.

So…how would this affect the audience members’ impressions of the performance?

To find out, the researchers used a continuous rating system. Where listeners rated the performance from the beginning and made adjustments as their impression changed.

The mistake led to a drop in performance rating of ~7 points when the pianist made no face.

But it led to a ~19 point drop when he did make a face!

Also, when the pianist made no face, his final score was pretty much the same as his performance score before making the mistake.

As in, the audience seemed to forgive/forget the mistake, and didn’t penalize him.

However, when he did make a face, his final score was significantly lower than his score prior to the mistake.

It’s as if the mistake stuck in the listeners’ minds more deeply, and was reflected in a lower overall score.

So…if your teacher ever gave you the same advice that mine gave me, it’s because they are totally right!

An audience is often more forgiving than we might expect – so long as we can keep our face from ruining the moment for them!

Get all the nerdy details here: https://bulletproofmusician.com/why-every-performer-needs-a-good-poker-face/

05/17/2024

This is why I have my violin and viola students work on hovering fingers and finger independence. We aim to play like the great violinists.

Consistency in the left hand is one of the cornerstones of violin playing. A solid left-hand setup can help facilitate more consistent intonation and greater...

02/16/2024

I am excited to now offer Beginning Viola and Piano lessons in addition to Violin lessons! Openings are currently available. Contact me to book your spot.

08/31/2021

I am still accepting new students. Contact me for more info or to book lessons.

06/14/2021

Here's a little motivational quote that I Iove and now have displayed in my violin case. I hope it inspires you as much as it inspires me to keep working hard and pressing toward new and greater goals.

"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."
- Winston Churchill