Frequently Asked Questions

These lessons are designed for adult violinists and advanced teenagers who want their playing to feel more grounded, more expressive, and more historically aware. Most students fit one of four situations: they are returning to the violin after a long break, they have a solid modern background and want to understand historically informed performance from the inside, they are already active in early music and want a sparring partner, or they are beginning the violin seriously for the first time as an adult. If you are not certain which of these describes you, the first lesson is the right place to find out.

No. The majority of students who work with me play on a modern setup, and that does not change what the lessons offer. Historically informed performance is first a way of understanding music and sound – it is not a requirement to own particular equipment. If you are curious about gut strings, Baroque bows, or playing without a chin rest, those conversations are entirely welcome. They are simply not a precondition for starting.

Yes, and this is one of the most common situations students bring to the studio. Returning to the violin as an adult is different from continuing as a student – the pressure has changed, the reasons for playing have changed, and often what is needed is not a return to old exercises but a new way of listening to the instrument. Many students find that coming back with adult ears and a clearer sense of what they want actually accelerates progress in ways that were not possible earlier.

Yes. Adult beginners are welcome, and the approach is well-suited to someone who has never played before but wants to learn with care, context, and a clear understanding of what they are doing and why. Lessons for beginners move at a pace that respects the complexity of learning the violin without treating it as something that needs to be rushed.

There is no minimum level for adult students. Teenagers are generally a better fit once they already have a solid technical foundation. Lessons are built around where you actually are – your current technique, your questions, and your musical interests – rather than a fixed syllabus. Advanced players and professional colleagues are equally welcome. The depth of work simply adjusts accordingly.

Each lesson is 50 minutes.

Lessons take place online. You need a stable internet connection and a device with a camera and microphone; an external microphone is helpful but not essential. Online teaching works particularly well for individual violin work, because I can see movement closely, listen to you play, demonstrate directly, and work with you in real time. You do not need special recording equipment to begin.

The first lesson begins with your sound and your questions. There is no fixed intake procedure. We listen together to what is already there, identify what feels most alive and what is getting in the way, and work on something specific. You leave with at least one thing you can use immediately. It is a working lesson, not a consultation.

No special preparation is required. Have your violin and bow with you and, if there is a piece or passage you would like to work on, bring that too. If you are not sure what to play, that is completely fine – we can begin from where you are.

If I mention during the lesson that I will share something – a score excerpt, a source text, a reference – I send it. I do not write standard post-lesson notes as a routine, because the work that matters most happens at the instrument, not in a document. What stays with you after a good lesson is usually something you heard or felt, not something written down.

Your first 50-minute lesson is €120 (about $139 · CHF 113). After that, individual private lessons are €150 (about $174 · CHF 141). If you want sustained work, the Studio Series is €950 (about $1,103 · CHF 894) for eight 50-minute lessons, valid for 12 months. There is no commitment beyond the first lesson. You can book your first lesson here.

You can book directly through the scheduling system on the booking page. Choose a time that works, and the confirmation will arrive by email with everything you need. If you have a specific question before booking, you are welcome to write first.

You can continue with individual private lessons whenever you like, or choose the Studio Series: eight 50-minute lessons for €950 (about $1,103 · CHF 894), booked flexibly within 12 months. If you decide afterwards that you would like the Series, you book it separately; it includes eight further lessons. The Series is for students who want enough continuity for ideas to develop from one lesson into the next. You do not need to decide before your first lesson.

Yes. A 50-minute first violin lesson can be given as a gift for €120 (about $139 · CHF 113). You receive the gift code by email, and the recipient chooses and books their own date. The gift is valid for 12 months. Give a violin lesson →

English and German. Either is fine, and switching between them within a lesson is equally fine.

Individual lesson appointments can be cancelled or rescheduled without charge with at least 24 hours' notice. Studio Series lessons can be rescheduled with the same notice period, while the package itself is non-refundable. Cancellations with less than 24 hours' notice are charged in full, or, for a Studio Series lesson, counted as used. To reschedule, use the link in your booking confirmation or write to me directly. The full cancellation and rescheduling policy covers packages, gifts, and technical problems.

Historically informed performance – often called HIP – uses historical evidence to make informed decisions about how earlier repertoire may have been performed and understood. This includes primary sources such as 17th and 18th-century treatises on playing technique, historical instruments and their acoustic properties, historical tuning and temperament, and the rhetorical traditions that shaped how music was composed and performed. In the studio, this translates into very practical things: how the bow moves, how a phrase breathes, how ornaments function, how the instrument resonates when the setup is closer to its historical origins. For a fuller introduction, the article What Is Historically Informed Performance – and Why It Still Matters in the Studio Library is a good place to start.

No. The historical perspective is a tool for understanding the instrument more deeply, not an ideology that requires conversion. Many students who work with me have no intention of switching to period instruments or performing early music repertoire. What they find useful is the context: knowing why a particular phrase wants to move a certain way, or why the bow arm settles when the weight is redistributed, or what a composer's notation actually asked for. That understanding is available on any instrument, in any repertoire.

The historical perspective has practical implications well beyond early music. Students working on Romantic repertoire, preparing auditions, or trying to develop a more flexible and expressive sound regularly find that HIP-informed awareness reshapes their technique and their listening in ways that carry directly into whatever they are playing. The goal is not to narrow the repertoire but to deepen the understanding of the instrument itself.