Hello, and welcome to Fabulous Fundamentals, our online violin lessons that will take beginners systematically all the way through Suzuki Book I.

How It Works

Members can login any time to access their lessons, with a new unit becoming available to you about every week.

Later in the course, new lessons will become available approximately every two weeks as the material becomes more intense. You don’t have to do anything special to get the new material. Just log in to see your new lessons as long as you remain a member or until you finish the course.

How To Get the Most from Fabulous Fundamentals

Please follow these simple tips to make the best progress as you learn to play violin online:

1. It is very important that you watch all of the videos with your instrument in hand. Pause the videos frequently and follow what I show you on the videos.
2. DON’T RUSH! While some lessons might seem slow to you and you might want to skip ahead, do NOT do this. The lessons are in the order and at the pace that I have perfected over years of teaching beginning students. If you rush through, you will miss important concepts and skills that you will need to know later.
3. Practice what you see in the videos. If you don’t practice you’re not really a violin student. You’re just watching online videos! If you haven’t already, make sure you download my Ultimate Practice Guide so that you can be sure you’re practicing smart, not just hard. You can find a link to the Guide in the Member Resources area. This link is at the top of each lesson page once you log in.
4. Ask me questions! Use the comments area to ask questions and I will answer them.

Lesson Supplements

Each batch of lessons, or unit, includes a couple of valuable tools. They are self-explanatory for the most part, but I want to tell you how I would use them anyway.

The first tool is the printable PDF, “Summary and Practice Assignments” file that you will find at the end of each Unit. Print this sheet out and keep it where you can see it during your practice sessions.

Use the summary section of this document to jog your memory about the main points in each lesson, so that you don’t always have to re-watch every video. Although I would also suggest you watch each video numerous times, the summary tool will help you to stay on track.

Use the “Practice Assignments” section of the document to plan your practice sessions and to really focus your concentration on mastering certain skills, rather than just putting in the time. This is key to your success! I have included a suggested number of repetitions in this document. This will help you to pace yourself and prevent you from moving too quickly. Skills must have time to take root and congeal.

The second tool is my fabulous “Practice Coach.” It will help you to practice effectively, efficiently, and to keep you focused. Before long, you will hardly even need the Practice Coach tool, but it will be there just in case!

When Do I Need Suzuki Book I?

Although you can get by without buying the Suzuki Book 1, (because you will be learning everything by ear) it’s a good reference and it makes a good cheat sheet if you get stuck on a particular song. It also helps to have it on the harder songs (#11 to the end), so if you don’t buy it now, you’ll probably want it later. I recommend that you buy it. Many online stores carry it, but we prefer shopping at an online music store (rather than a huge megastore like Amazon.com). We like SheetMusicPlus.com.

However, you do not need the CD of Suzuki Book I because your membership in Fabulous Fundamentals includes MP3s of all of the accompaniments.

Ready to get started? If you are not logged in already, enter your login information in the box on the right. Then click here to access your first lessons! (If you have not yet signed up, click here to reserve your space.)