Innocenti Violin Studios

Such a great & amazing night to remember. Innocenti String put on an amazing live show in my home.
Sep 16th, 2021

Rather than well deserved adjectives, I've chosen to provide a story/details of my experiences with Innocenti Studios (over the last 6 years), as I think it makes for a better review. I started violin at age 42, took lessons from one teacher for 12 years. She moved. Thus, I started lessons with Pascal. I told him "I want to get better". My comment may sound silly, but some adults simply want to play tunes, and they are content. At my first "trial" lesson, I had played a fairly complex piece to provide a view as to what I could and couldn't do. After finishing, Pascal's response was "where do I start?". Although that initial comment was somewhat disheartening, he quickly launched into what the problems were and how to fix them. Violin is a difficult instrument to learn, for some harder than others. I think my previous teacher had tried to prevent my "issues" but they persisted, and I think we both tolerated them as efforts to resolve wasn't working. Bottom line, I could not listen to a recording of myself, after 12 years. Pascal was relentless in fixing multiple problems. We spent alot of time on scales, etudes, and tunes that were appropriate to improve intonation, rhythm, and reduction of extraneous noises. There was no "tolerance" of issues allowed. I have to confess at the end of a one hour lesson, I was exhausted. With previous teachers I've never had to concentrate and work as much. It was like having a personal trainer. However over the subsequent 4 years, I could start listening to recordings of myself. Rather than wincing at my own playing, I was at the point of "not bad". At a Hilary Hahn CD signing, I mentioned I played violin, so she asked about what I was playing, how it was going etc. Part of my answer was that "teacher works me hard", and her response was "That is the way it should be, the teacher is mostly a coach". Likewise Jamie Aebersold who is a very highly regarded Jazz Pedagogue stated "If you are not thinking/working while you are practicing, then you are not practicing". After 4 years, I switched to Isabelle, to get a different perspective. Every teacher is different in their approach, thus I felt it was time to experiment. Isabelle focuses on the same attributes, but a different style that is also working quite well. On some tunes I've also had sessions with Pascal, as each has their strengths. With Pascal we focused on specific details, problems, sound quality. Isabelle takes a broader approach that for me has a little more focus on performance issues, while being very mindful of intonation, rhythm, etc. During COVID and zoom lessons, I was shocked how well Isabelle was detecting problems (large and small). As I mentioned, there is no acceptance of issues that detract from performance. As a result, each recital, I receive more compliments. At my age, improving is challenging. I have to thank Pascal and Isabelle for that. Summary: The costs are reasonable. It is the going rate, or perhaps a bit less. Both Pascal and Isabelle are very attentive in pointing out problems, dissecting them, improving specific elements, ultimately leading to improvements. The studio provides a huge advantage in getting access to 2 teachers and being able to switch as required without the awkwardness that can occur when changing teachers. Over a span of 50 years, between piano and violin, I've had 9 teachers, not counting trial lessons (another 5 teachers). I have to say Innocenti studios has provided the best instruction, dedication, patience of them all. Highly recommended! Be prepared to work, but that is how we all learn.
Sep 15th, 2021