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[quote=Anonymous]Long time violin teacher here, now "retired".

What you are describing is a very common problem when there is a teacher/student goal mismatch.

This does not mean that your teacher is not a good teacher or that your kid isn't trying hard enough. However, once you have taught a student for that long, you really have to get creative and try new things. Someone more stuck in their ways will not be effective at coming up with strategies to produce the kind of individualized result you are looking for.

I am a professional composer, started out as a violinist. Taught violin starting at age 16 when I went to college for violin performance and continued to teach privately for the next 20 years. My goal was never to turn anyone into anything but someone who had a lifelong love of music and who understood they had multiple ways to enter into that world. That meant I had no skin in the game as to specifics like whether or not they won competitions or did one thing over another.  My goal was always to help them understand music as a language of expression and communication. My students always made progress because I taught them how to practice and what to listen for, and to be able to have some fun even if its very hard sometimes to play this ridiculous instrument.

A lot of teachers have very specific goals for their students, but they don't necessarily communicate that well, and so their goals and your goals may not match. If a teacher decides that a student must proceed through certain steps and its their way or the highway, that's a turn off. Also, this isn't rocket science despite what anyone will tell you. There are so very many individual ways a musicians path can go.

You have options. First, though, ask your daughter what SHE wants, and if she wants to quit, tell her you asked someone on the internet and they said the following: I have met so many adults who wished they had never quit and right around this age is when they did. 12-15. They all regretted it ALL of them.

So, keep her going by: offering a new teacher. Someone with a different approach. You know, you could try some teachers out at Music and Arts center. After I moved I taught at one of those stores for a bit, because I had sold my house, divorced, etc, and moved to another county. After two decades of my own private studio,  I taught for a year at a shop and had to leave for health reasons, but I can tell you its not a bad place to try out some different teachers. You might be surprised at the quality. Its also 30 minute lessons, which is NOT ideal, BUT, for someone on the verge of quitting, maybe not too bad.

Finally: of course you can play a string instrument recreationally these days! You can get an electric violin and a pedal and have some fun too.

Just ideas.

Good luck![/quote]

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