Information About Dirk - Edinburgh teacher

Personal Description:

Dirk is a seasoned violin/fiddle teacher with a relaxed approach and 25+ years experience in performance, teaching, and session work in a variety of styles including Folk, Blues, Americana, Old-Time, Bluegrass, Rock, Jazz & Swing.

Tutoring Experience:

Dirk has been teaching music and violin both privately and in school settings for over 25 years.

Tutoring Approach:

Dirk has a relaxed approach and welcomes everyone from beginners to advanced players, children (10+yrs) and adults. He offers a personalized tuition based on the student's abilities, interests, needs and goals. If you are just getting started, he will help you learn tunes and gain confidence on the instrument with an emphasis on fun and groove. For the more experienced student there is wider repertoire, intermediate and advanced concepts including drones, double-stops, ornaments, vibrato, bowing techniques for articulation & rhythm, closed positions for confidently playing higher up the neck, understanding harmony and music theory, and applying it to your playing.

IMPROVISATION
Ever wonder how someone can just 'play by ear'? For both beginners and advanced, Dirk is passionate about introducing students to the most enjoyable and personal kind of musical expression: improvisation. While it may seem like a mystical art to some, improvisation is a skill set that can be applied early on in your musical development, enabling creative expression and deepening your understanding and appreciation of music.

PLAY IN A BAND
Would you like to play in a band or session, or to be able to sit in with a group of musicians? With years of experience in many types of bands, from old-time & bluegrass to blues, folk, rock, country, and gypsy jazz, Dirk can help you navigate the in's and out's, do's and don'ts of playing with other musicians from sitting-in to accompanying singers and other instruments.

ABRSM
While he's mainly a fiddler these days, Dirk was classically trained as a child in the US, and played in a professional orchestra before graduating high school. He primarily teaches adults, but has also successfully tutored kids starting as complete beginners through the ABRSM syllabus up through Grade 6 (thus far) with distinction … and those kids also learned to improvise along the way, cementing a life-long love of music!

NUTS & BOLTS
+Location: Online or my studio in Edinburgh.
+With very rare exceptions, I teach minimum 1 hour sessions. I find 30 minutes too short for meaningful progress.
+For kids under 13, I recommend the parent accompanies the child through the session.

Dirk currently performs with the bands Viper Swing and Cera Impala & the New Prohibition, if you'd like to hear him in action.

If there's anything else you'd like to know, feel free to send Dirk a message!