Ms. Marjorie Bagley

  • Music Performance
  • Professor of Violin, 2014
Ms. Marjorie Bagley

Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching, by Ivan Galamian

Galamian's book is the definitive book on violin pedagogy for the 20th century. He was a masterful teacher, able to find the root of any problem in a student's playing, and provide creative, targeted solutions. He developed a system of exercises and practice methods that work for beginners as well as the most advanced players. Many of my most influential teachers were Galamian students, and I attended the summer camp he founded as a teenager (although he was no longer alive), so I feel like I grew up with this way of thinking about how to play and teach. I always turn to this book, and the ones that have followed from his students, when I need inspiration or direction as a teacher.