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Catriona Hepburn - Violin Teacher in Shooters Hill

Catriona Hepburn Violin Teacher (South East London)

Catriona Hepburn

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Personal Message
Thank you for your interest in my violin lessons. I am a busy freelance violinist with a passion for both playing and also for passing on my skills and enthusiasm to my pupils. I had to work hard on my playing to become successful, so am sympathetic to students' technical difficulties, and can find a variety of ways of overcoming them. I have recently moved to East London from Surrey, making the journey too far for several of my students, so I now have space for some new ones. If you have any questions please drop me an e-mail, and I'll be happy to answer them.
Which subject(s) do you teach?
I teach the Violin. Theory lessons are also available for violin pupils.
Tell me about your qualifications.
MA (Cantab) - degree from Cambridge University. (1993)
LRAM - teaching diploma from the Royal Academy of Music. (1997)
Postgraduate performing diploma, also from the RAM. (1998)
What kind of experience do you have?
I have several years' experience teaching children and adults of all ages and standards.
My approach is to customise my teaching to suit the individual's needs rather than to follow a particular school of violin playing (eg. Suzuki), or to rigidly follow a published violin method. For the early stages I use pieces from Paul de Keyser's "Violin Playtime" and "The Young Violinist's Repertoire" series along with various studies (Mary Cohen, Niel Mackay, Sevcik etc.), and exercises both of my own devising and taken from the "masters" (Ivan Galamian, Carl Flesch etc.)
I am happy to put pupils through the Associated Board exam scheme, and have a 100% pass rate. Whilst exams are a useful incentive, I feel strongly that learning to play the instrument is the first priority. If you simply work through the exam syllabuses, you can miss out on some great repertoire and opportunities to learn techniques outside of exam pieces.
I have a great love of playing the violin and I do a lot of performing, freelancing with some of the country's best orchestras, which I think helps me to pass on my enthusiasm to my pupils. (Details of my performing career can be found by following the link to the MAS website.)
Teaching privately rather than for a school means that pupils can have longer lessons, and also more lessons over the course of a year as I can carry on through the school holidays. (This is a particular advantage in the summer.) There is also more opportunity for parents to be involved. Young children benefit from supervision / help with their practise, so it is useful if a parent can sit in on a few lessons.
If you have any questions please get in touch.
How much do you charge?
I charge £32 per hour, (£24 for 45 mins and £16 for half an hour.)
Where do you teach?
I teach in my house in Shooters Hill in South East London. (There is free car parking outside my house.)
When are you available?
I am a concert violinist, so my hours are variable. I would discuss times with a prospective pupil to make sure we could fit in regular lessons. I need my pupils to be able to be a little flexible with their lesson day/time, as I can't always do the same time each week due to irregular rehearsal & concert schedules. I am happy to continue lessons during the school holidays, particularly in the summer.
Which ages and levels do you teach?
I teach all ages from 5 years upwards. I teach all levels from absolute beginners (including adult beginners) to advanced levels, and can take you through the Associated Board exams up to and including Grade 8. If you want to learn for fun without taking exams that's fine. I'm also happy to teach refresher lessons to adults who are returning to the violin, on a short or longer term basis.
Do you have an up-to-date CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) disclosure certificate?
No. This is because I have always taught privately, and never for an institution. The CRB check can only be carried out by an organisation, so it is currently not possible for an individual to obtain a disclosure certificate for themselves. Parents of pupils may sit in on their lessons if they feel uncomfortable about leaving their children with a stranger.
Where and with whom did you train?
I studied violin with Howard Davis and Jean Harvey at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Tell me about some of your current students.
My current students range from young beginners to the leader of an amateur orchestra who comes for a few lessons when she needs a confidence boost before playing a solo, or wants help with difficult repertoire.

My Articles

In Memory of a Wonderful Teacher

I would like to pay tribute to Howard Davis, leader of the Alberni Quartet and professor of violin at the Royal Academy of Music, who sadly passed away in 2007. He was an outstanding violinist - stylish with a beautiful tone and boundless energy in his playing, but for the purposes of this article I shall concentrate on his skills as a...

My Testimonials

Thanks for all your focused teaching and feedback. I really enjoyed your approach - rather calm, very organised, but most of all challenging in the best way. I'm really pleased with the progress I've made over - I think - 18 months.  From someone who sat in on an amateur orchestra without daring to take out my violin, to being part of two amateur groups AND enjoying the sound I make on my own.  Very sorry indeed you are leaving the area from my own point of view!
- Fiona Eddleston
I have to say that the girls have loved coming over for lessons so much that they will really miss their Saturday sessions. Your patience and gentleness, especially with the little one, made it easy and fun for them to learn and Catherine's playing in particular really improved after we started lessons with you.
- Louise Walker
I really enjoyed coming to you for lessons, and miss them now that you have left the area. Your teaching is challenging in a good way and got me to believe that I could play things that I thought I couldn't. I appreciated that you found studies for me to do to help me with passages that I found difficult and helped build my confidence. I feel that I progressed a lot over the 2 years or so that I was coming to you, and only hope that I can get through Grade 8 now that I have to look elsewhere for a teacher!
- Fiona Glasscock

Testimonials are provided by the tutor and are not verified by The Tutor Pages

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