Over the holiday break from teaching, I finally completed a resolution for 2021: to rent and watch the Paul Rolland video series titled “The Teaching of Action in String Playing.” This influential pedagogue died prematurely in 1978, but we are fortunate that he preserved his teaching approach on video, and now it’s accessible to all on Vimeo.
Paul Rolland’s methods form the basis for Mimi Zweig‘s “Suzuki Synthesis,” taught at her summer workshops at Indiana University and at sister-programs around the country. Having attended her workshop, it was fantastic to watch Paul Rolland’s original teaching videos on the same topics, as demonstrated in 1974. I was about the age of the kids in the video, in my second year of playing the violin too, when these films were produced! (I even think one of the little girls in the back row is wearing a Sears Catalog dress that was one of my favorites.)
When these videos were available only on DVD, it would set you back several hundred dollars to buy the set and watch them. Now for only $49, you can have access to all the videos (3½ hours of content) on Vimeo for an entire year. While I binge-watched them over the holidays, I’m sure I will return to them at my leisure to look for specific exercises that I can use with certain students. The biggest takeaway is how to establish “freedom from tension” in beginning and remedial violin students. The short, easily-digestible videos are almost all under 10 minutes long. Beginner’s topics include Establishing the Violin Hold – Learning to Hold the Bow – Developing Finger Movements – Extending the Bow Stroke. For more advanced players, there are segments on Martelé, Staccato, Spiccato, Shifting and Vibrato.
So for a very affordable price, you can access gold-nuggets of teaching wisdom that you would otherwise spend hundreds of dollars at a workshop to acquire (not to mention the airfare and hotel). If Rolland’s videos whet your appetite, he published a companion book. There is also an annual Paul Rolland String Pedagogy workshop you can attend, and certification you can complete.
Put “Watch these videos” on your list of New Year’s Resolutions, and you will also be a better teacher by the end of this year!
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Nathan is First Associate Concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and could clearly spend all his time just performing. But his passion for teaching has turned him into a YouTube pro. While joining his private student cohort is limited and pricey, he has posted many excellent free teaching videos, including a series on the complete Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas and Partitas for Violin. (He calls it 
A “star teacher” is one that I would like to emulate in my teaching approach. Having attended Mimi Zweig’s Workshop for Violin Teachers, I got to learn firsthand from this master teacher and her colleagues. Mimi has generously made videos of her teaching available, for free, online. All you have to do is sign up at