Ronda actually teaches reading quite early to children. They learn to read music from flashcards early on, and they do a rhythm training book that is very frequently used at the conservatory level. Somewhere around book 2 level they start to do much more active reading. There should be no reason why her students don't have excellent reading skills.

I would say that some students who spend a LOT of time practicing have a significant delta between how well they play when they are intensely practiced, and how well they play when they are reading something for the first time, which can drive the impression of "better/worse reading at a given technical skill level".

Ronda's studio policies are designed for parents who are expecting that the violin is their child's primary extracurricular (starting from the very beginning) and that many of the kids will go on to play professionally. It's not so much top talent as top seriousness. She's ancient at this point in time and I really wonder how many more years she'll be teaching.

The Institute (GWSI) does not have solely teachers that she trained, but the ones that aren't are generally highly sought-after famous teachers (like Terry Durbin).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I suppose professionals at the top of their profession charge what they charge. No reason not to expect them not to charge what the market will bear, including offering a full-year income.

Yes, but if you are the only one in town doing this (full year income with zero flexibility taken into account for summers when families need a short summer vacation or students go away for festivals), over time you will have a hard time retaining top talent.

Studio policies aside, families that self-identify as "top talent" are probably better served by taking their toxic attitudes to another program.

Anonymous wrote:Well, I suppose professionals at the top of their profession charge what they charge. No reason not to expect them not to charge what the market will bear, including offering a full-year income.

Yes, but if you are the only one in town doing this (full year income with zero flexibility taken into account for summers when families need a short summer vacation or students go away for festivals), over time you will have a hard time retaining top talent.

My daughter studied with Ronda a while back and I think she was able to instill great form in my child during the years that we were with her. We've since had to switch out but it's become apparent to me that our new teacher (well, not so new anymore), does not have the same level of technique as Ronda did, but the teacher has other pros that balance out for us - most obvious being, our new teacher feels like family to us. But Ronda's group classes were great and were worth getting up early on Saturday mornings for.

Anonymous wrote:My DS loves the violin and sports equally. It does not mean that the violin took a back stage to sports. But eventually, we had to find a studio that offered flexibility as there were more and more sports commitments coming up and we knew that he was not going to go into music major in college. My DS will continue on with the violin and sports until high school graduation but regimented studios (no matter how good the teacher) are no longer possible as they were when my child was in his younger years and had greater flexibility.

BTW, we are not a Ronda studio student - but just another area studio that had similarly inflexible policies/scheduling, so eventually we had to switch out to a more flexible studio, as difficult as the decision was, but this was the only way that my DS could continue both demanding activities.

My DS loves the violin and sports equally. It does not mean that the violin took a back stage to sports. But eventually, we had to find a studio that offered flexibility as there were more and more sports commitments coming up and we knew that he was not going to go into music major in college. My DS will continue on with the violin and sports until high school graduation but regimented studios (no matter how good the teacher) are no longer possible as they were when my child was in his younger years and had greater flexibility.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I suppose professionals at the top of their profession charge what they charge. No reason not to expect them not to charge what the market will bear, including offering a full-year income.

+1. And when your name is very commonly called out in other people’s professional bios and resumes —professional players from all over, not just the DC area— as someone who they studied with, you have a lot of leeway to charge what you want.

Yes, Ronda can charge what she wants - very true. But eventually many of the famillies wise up and realize that they have other, more flexible options in town. Especially when they start to wonder why their Book 4 kid cannot sightread as well as a Book 2 kid from a non-Suzuki studio. Also, as the kids get older and get into other competing activities to the vioilin, families consider other studios which offer more flexibility in scheduling for lessons and fit into their lifestyles better. Sadly, this has happened in a big way with Ronda's studio over the past 6 months as many families have decided that her rigid studio policies, inflexible ways and high lesson rates are no longer the best option for their families.

The sight-reading is a problem for most Suzuki teachers, since the method is based on aural skills. My daughter's violin teacher did attempt to teacher her sight-reading separately from the Suzuki books, but progress wasn't as good as when we switched to a non-Suzuki studio and sight-reading became the primary way to approach a piece.

That being said, the aural method has distinct advantages. It builds a child's ear like nothing else can! My daughter arrived at the new studio with a much better ear than the other students who had no Suzuki background. My DD has an easier time playing in tune, and stronger memorization skills.

I feel that starting with Suzuki makes for a very nurturing and musically gratifying beginning, and that at some point, if the musician is serious, they will need to leave for the traditional method.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, I suppose professionals at the top of their profession charge what they charge. No reason not to expect them not to charge what the market will bear, including offering a full-year income.

+1. And when your name is very commonly called out in other people’s professional bios and resumes —professional players from all over, not just the DC area— as someone who they studied with, you have a lot of leeway to charge what you want.

Yes, Ronda can charge what she wants - very true. But eventually many of the famillies wise up and realize that they have other, more flexible options in town. Especially when they start to wonder why their Book 4 kid cannot sightread as well as a Book 2 kid from a non-Suzuki studio. Also, as the kids get older and get into other competing activities to the vioilin, families consider other studios which offer more flexibility in scheduling for lessons and fit into their lifestyles better. Sadly, this has happened in a big way with Ronda's studio over the past 6 months as many families have decided that her rigid studio policies, inflexible ways and high lesson rates are no longer the best option for their families.

About Ronda Cole: as long as everything is stated up front, there is no reason to complain. She is a sought-after teacher, and will always have students lined up at her door.

I did not seek to enroll my child in her studio, because I'm not a huge fan of her and David Strom's teaching methods. She also exerts significant control on the area's Suzuki training programs and the Institute, and will only allow teachers she has trained personally to teach there. Overall, there's a distinct control issue there and has been for some time, which some others teachers are not happy about. However I recognize the positive impact she has made as a teacher of other Suzuki teachers in the US.

Anonymous wrote:Well, I suppose professionals at the top of their profession charge what they charge. No reason not to expect them not to charge what the market will bear, including offering a full-year income.

+1. And when your name is very commonly called out in other people’s professional bios and resumes —professional players from all over, not just the DC area— as someone who they studied with, you have a lot of leeway to charge what you want.

Well, I suppose professionals at the top of their profession charge what they charge. No reason not to expect them not to charge what the market will bear, including offering a full-year income.

pretty sure Ronda would still charge you for the summer.

I don't know the answer to that question for Ronda specifically. If a student is away the entire summer for a music festival (as opposed to scattered weeks for a family vacation), I suspect most teachers would waive tuition for that period of time.

Anonymous wrote:Ronda could hardly offer those spots to a student outside the studio during that time, though. Violin teachers of serious students think of violin as a year-round activity, not as a school year activity.

For less serious students, summer is a time at least partially away from the violin. For more serious students, it's a time to double down and make some faster progress.

Suzuki said that you should practice only on the days you eat (i.e. every day). It is common for serious students to take the violin on vacation with them so as to not lose a day of practice. Of course, missing a group lesson on a specific day out of town might be expected, but there's a reduced-frequency summer group schedule anyway.

If a student of Ronda’s is going away to a summer festival for 6 weeks, I hardly think they’d be considered a “less serious student.” So would she expect that student to pay for both the high cost to attend a summer festival + also her group classes when they’re not even in town?

Ronda could hardly offer those spots to a student outside the studio during that time, though. Violin teachers of serious students think of violin as a year-round activity, not as a school year activity.

For less serious students, summer is a time at least partially away from the violin. For more serious students, it's a time to double down and make some faster progress.

Suzuki said that you should practice only on the days you eat (i.e. every day). It is common for serious students to take the violin on vacation with them so as to not lose a day of practice. Of course, missing a group lesson on a specific day out of town might be expected, but there's a reduced-frequency summer group schedule anyway.