WELCOME!
Helen Martin, Director
| I am happy to meet students of all ages and experience. My primary goal as a teacher is to find the maximum progress for time spent. In 1979 I began teaching, full time, at the selective, music magnet school in London. My schedule also included beginning string programs for younger children. My magnet students often continued to careers as musicians. They included scholarship students at the Guildhall School and there were talented children in the elementary schools who won music scholarships to Private secondary schools. Back in the States - I was born in Philadelphia - I taught String Technique Classes for Moravian College and also coached the Strings for the Community Orchestra. Because my class included many advanced students with conceptual problems, I began to focus on how we develop as musicians. I found that the most time-efficient approach is to carefully focus on what Edwin Gordon calls "foundation building." A primary example being that the essence of playing in tune is singing in tune. |
Visit the WHEN page to learn more about my DVD:
VIOLIN FOR MUSICIANS -Technique for Skype!
The NOW tab is a link to my YouTube Channel
"You will understand things about playing the violin that some persons do not learn in a lifetime."
Andrew Victor, Maestronet, 2000
Andrew Victor, Maestronet, 2000
Ms. Martin teaches her students not just how to play music, but also how to be expressive, creative, theoretically and aurally literate musicians. Her refined and common sense approach to teaching is a breath of fresh air in a field with so many contrasting ideologies.
Emily Orenstein, Violinist, Teacher, and Concertmaster of the Lehigh University (2007-2009), Masters Pedagogy Studies, Oberlin Helen Martin's extensive experience as a teacher has really paid off for me. Her understanding of technique continues to expand my security in performance and she always is able to offer an expressive, musical solution to any question. But her major skill may be in keeping it light. I know that each lesson will present a new challenge and that I will welcome her approach.
Ron Stickle, Electronics Engineer, U.S. Army | In my studies with Helen Martin I have found her to be a caring and dedicated teacher. Her focus is always the student's comfort and development. Her goals are well defined and her range of strategies seemingly limitless. She knows how to structure her material and when to change pace. Needless to say her students respond, progress and look forward to performing.
Gregory Cole, Member, Bethlehem Bach Choir, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |
Click below for a PDF of my Career History.
| music_resume_-2012.pdf |
