Watt Violin Studio

09/24/2026

Working on a straight bow. Still need to make bow pinkie round.

09/16/2026

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate Wednesday to combat stubborn inflation. That will make it more expensive to borrow money to buy a car or carry a balance on a credit card.

07/08/2026

You shouldn't skip summer music lessons. Here's why…
As the school year ends and summer begins, daily routines are bound to change.

Families take vacations, plan new activities for their kids, and go on day trips to take advantage of the sunny weather. While it’s important to make room for summer fun, it’s also important to keep up with your child’s regular routines outside of school.

If your child is taking regular lessons to learn an instrument, it may be tempting to put them on pause to make time for other activities. However, skipping summer music lessons can cause your child to lose progress with their instrument.

Take 2 steps forward – not 1 step back
Summer vacation may seem like it passes in the blink of an eye, but it actually lasts for nearly all of July and August. A good music teacher will emphasize the importance of consistency in practicing an instrument, and taking summer music lessons is a great way to keep your skills sharp year round. Even if you're on vacation and don’t have your gear, there are ways to practice without your instrument.

Keep the momentum going
Skipping music lessons in the summer may be gratifying at the time, but it comes at the cost of your hard earned skills. It could take days, weeks, or even months to recover the knowledge and technique that faded during your time away from your instrument. If you want to maintain your musical progress and save yourself hours of relearning, it’s important to continue practicing throughout the year.

It could take days, weeks, or even months to recover the knowledge and technique that faded during your time away from your instrument.

06/04/2026

06/03/2026

05/07/2026

The piece is memorized, polished, you've even performed it a few times - then some weird glitch starts happening: a memory slip, a missed shift, a bungled string crossing. What do you do? Here is a five-step process for ensuring you fix the problem and it all goes correctly in performance. By Laurie Niles, with video.

I was helping a student with an upcoming audition, working on a well-learned and memorized piece, when a strange thing started happening: a couple of "new mistakes" were worming their way in. This is often the case - something is memorized, polished, you've even performed it a few times - then some....

05/04/2026

It's time to begin scheduling Summer Term lessons! Unlike during the school year (Fall and Spring Semesters), during the summer you may schedule as many or as few lessons as you choose at times convenient for you (lessons do not all have to be the same day/time for the summer). To maintain current skills I suggest two lessons each month for the summer term. To make progress over the summer more frequent lessons (ideally weekly) are suggested.

The Summer Term will run June 9 through August 13. The studio will be closed June 29 to July 4. All lessons are taught in-person at my home studio located at 4153 N Ottawa Ave, Norridge, IL 60706. Online lessons are also possible using Google Meet. Schedule lessons using the online calendar and then contact me directly if they need to be taught online to update the location.

Lessons may be paid for in advance or at the time of lesson.

$31.25/30 minute lesson
$43.75/45 minute lesson
$56.25/60 minute lesson

30 minute sessions are suggested for Beginners and younger players. 45 and 60 minute sessions are for more advanced players and older students. Please contact me if you are unsure about an appropriate lesson length.

Below you will find the link to schedule summer lessons:
https://wattviolinscheduling.as.me/

Feel free to contact me by email or text with any questions about the summer term.

Thanks!

04/28/2026

Excited to teach a Master Class this Sunday for IMA.