Suzuki Violin for Youth

Instructor, Lisa Michelle Miles

Under the tutelage of excellent teachers* and a Suzuki environment, Lisa Miles began teaching violin and running her own studio as a teen in 1986. She has taught in three states in private studio settings, as well as Kindergarten in the Montessori classroom. Her great love for humanity, especially children, inspires a continued life-long dedication to understanding principles of psychology, child development, education, personal growth, and Suzuki Pedagogy.

Miles has been fortunate to study with, and attend workshops with, several world-renowned teachers. Among these are: Dr. John Kendall, founder of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, and Aida Bochis-Baker, winner of the Tchaikovsky competition and protégé of the famous soloist Jascha Heifetz. Most recently, she took Suzuki Teacher Training refresher courses in Suzuki Pedagogy from Yuko Honda, one of the original pupils of Dr. Suzuki.

While studying violin performance at BSU Lisa Miles was a recipient of the Brown Honors Scholarship for music excellence. She enjoyed playing professionally electric "pop" violin  and traditional "classical" music.

She established Selkirk Suzuki Strings in Northern Idaho, where she was concertmaster of the local orchestra. One of her students has successfully been carrying on the tradition there with former students of  Miles and new students of her own. She has heard from students of her Boise Idaho studio and many of them continue to thrive and hold top positions in their orchestras. Many of Mrs. Miles students have gone on to burn CDs and to work as professional musicians. More importantly, they all have done great things to "make a difference" in their communities and to live a life of excellence learned through the study of music.

Currently she has a studio in Juneau Alaska, is teacher to her son Cedar, and plays in the Juneau Symphony when her schedule allows.

Studio: Downtown Juneau Alaska, 427 W. 12th St.

Juneau local mobile phone: 957-0699.

Blog: http://360.yahoo.com/selkirkstrings

Web: http://theheartstring.org

Toll Free and Fax: 866 200-1131

Scheduling:

Master Schedule: Maria Hazel creates these each semester

Missed Lessons / Makeups: Mrs. Miles tracks these

Concerts: Mrs. Miles schedules these 
but is looking for interested parents to offer your ideas!

Teaching Philosophy:  
Lisa Miles has found that with a supportive healthy environment, any student taught with the following points can absolutely learn to make beautiful music.

u "Character First, Ability Second
u Where Love is Deep, Much can be Accomplished
u Dream it, Do it"  ~ Shinichi Suzuki

1. Love, Love, Love, Encouragement. Nurture the heart to develop the tone of the heart's strings.
2. Listening daily to the music one will be playing is the key to rapid progress using the "Mother Tongue" approach.
3. Parent Involvement: Help the parent to teach at home and supporting the parent-child relationship; "Team Twinkle".
4. Pre-Twinkle: Begin early; as early as 2 or 3 years old to create a foundation and train the ear.
5. Suzuki Repertoire: Carefully selected classical music progresses in difficulty building skills in a fun way.
6. Learning with Others: Parents and students and teachers come together in a Suzuki Community.
7. Review and Repetition: Students keep all music repertoire learned current and polished.
8. Talk then Read: Learn to create music first, then compliment this by learning music theory and notation foundations.

Students attend a half hour lesson each week, with no lessons on national holidays or breaks listed in advance in our calendar. A second additional weekly group class is available and attendance is required. A parent practice partner must attend the individual class for children age 10 & under. 

Students sign up for a full semester, with monthly tuition payments of $85 due by the 7^th of each month.
(We have been adding $5 to split the cost of renting a group class space making a total of $90.)
Tuition submitted after the 7^th incurs a $15 late fee. Insufficient funds may require cash payment in the following months.

Scheduling is done by semester. Tuition holds a place in my schedule and is required in full even if the student does not attend class. Students who leave and do not pay tuition are in jeopardy of losing their lesson. I can not guarantee make-up lessons, but if there is an opening in the schedule I am happy to offer makeup classes when possible. In order for makeup lessons to be available, students need to give advance notice of absences; this will help you and others to receive a makeup class.

I enjoy "scholar-shipping" the one week of lessons that a student is out of town attending a Suzuki Institute. Please let me know if you are attending lessons out of town!

If I must cancel an individual scheduled lesson, I will reimburse the student for that lesson in the following month. Students are welcome to make arrangements to trade lesson times if they know they have an important class conflict. Weekly lesson attendance is vital to musical growth. Please call ahead absences.

It takes a special and dedicated family to be able to joyfully study music together. I prefer to interview families prior to beginning lessons and to give future students & parents opportunities to observe classes and to learn the Suzuki philosophy. As of 02/14/08 I have a waiting list, and fill lessons slots when they come available.

Interested individuals are always welcome to call me to watch a group class. Occasionally I do open presentations and community education on The Suzuki Philosophy; please let me know if you are interested.