When I retired, I looked forward to learning the violin, having played classical piano since I was young. However, I'm left-handed, and I soon realized that my left arm really wanted to be bowing. Two instructors later (both with a rather packaged curriculum and both rather dismissive of my "issue"), I still felt incredibly awkward and was on the verge of abandoning ship. Then last summer I found Kaila, who offered a very welcoming introductory phone chat, and a willingness to work with me and a left-handed violin if that's what I wanted. However. With her eye for ergonomics and posture, she was able to select and adjust shoulder and chin rests - and adjust me as well! - and it wasn't long before I could see myself playing a standard violin after all. Good thing, too, since she later went violin shopping with me and found me my perfect instrument. The curriculum is built around whatever I enjoy; some pieces I bring; some she suggests. In addition to technique, she weaves in theory (lacking in my education), harmony, and chord creation, and encourages improvisation - a stretch! I go home with - or she sends me - sheet music and audio recordings so I can play along with a bluetooth speaker (one of which she also recommended). And she has arranged a monthly lesson with another student so we can play duets. She joins in. We make music! Even at a beginner level. After a teaching career in Special Education, I now find my proverbial shoe on the other foot. Kaila is a natural at assessing needs, flexing instruction, and introducing new elements at the right time. All the while being positive, supportive, and encouraging. Lessons just flow, despite my myriad questions. And she is such a lovely person besides. Generous. And Fun. The Best! read more

I have been going to Kaila's lessons for 7 months and I am really enjoying it. She patiently corrects my mistakes and encourage me when I play the notes correctly. It's not only the technical aspect that she tries me to excel but she also makes sure I am enjoying the lessons and having fun during the class. Overall I think she is a great instructor and I highly recommend her. read more

I have relocated to Las Vegas, NV and Kaila remains my wonderfully supportive violin teacher both by Zoom and occasionally face-to-face. She is super willing to teach any genre of music that draws me down the rabbit hole and her brilliance lies in helping make learning what seems like the extremely difficult doable! read more

I've been under Kaila's guidance for the past 8 months, and my experience has been fantastic. As someone who has played piano for a decade during childhood, picking up the violin as an adult was both exciting and challenging as it is a completely different type of instrument. One of the aspects I appreciate the most about is her unique teaching approach. Instead of adhering to a conventional method, she tailored the learning process to my unique journey. Picking tunes that perfectly matched where I'm at, she made sure each piece wasn't just interesting but also a smooth fit for my growth. Also her patience, encouragement, and knack for explaining complex concepts in a clear and accessible manner, made the learning experience enriching beyond just following the sheet music. Learning with her has been a blast, and I am so grateful for her dedication and expertise, and for helping me rediscover the joy of learning and playing music. If you are on the lookout to start or get back into learning, I would not hesitate to recommend my awesome violin instructor! read more

I've been taking violin lessons from Kaila for about a year, and it's been a wonderful experience. Starting a new instrument as an adult is a humbling experience, but Kaila has been nothing but warm and supportive. Her teaching comes from a place of love for music read more

Kaila has been fantastic with my daughter who is 8. Kaila has been teaching my daughter for over a year now and her teaching method has been great for my daughter. Kaila takes the time to listen to what my daughter is interested in and hones in on her skills. Always gives really productive feedback. She has learned so much in this last year and we are so proud of her all thanks to Kaila. Her kindness, patience, and love of music really shine through in her lessons. read more

I started with Kaila when I was 12 and took lessons from her for 6 years. She rekindled my love for music after getting burnt out with piano. She taught me music from all over the world and allowed me to follow my curiosities while also giving me an excellent foundation in music theory and violin technique. Kaila was an incredibly kind, patient, and knowledgable teacher who I feel so fortunate to have had in my life, I can't recommend her enough! read more

I was a student of Kaila's for just over 3 years and we had the opportunity to work together both in person and virtually. I came to her as a brand new adult fiddle player, unsure of how to even tune the instrument. I was intimated getting started to say the least- but Kaila quickly made me feel comfortable as a student with her patience, and kindness. She approaches each lesson thoughtfully and intentionally and adapts her style, tune selection, etc to each individual student. I've had music instructors in the past where I've felt performance anxiety with each lesson, but with Kaila my musical abilities always felt nurtured and never judged. She is a masterful, incredibly knowledgeable teacher and I would highly recommend her! read more

It's not an exaggeration to say that Kaila is the best violin teacher I've had and I consider myself lucky to have her helping me now, as I try to come unstuck from the present plateau of my playing. You should consider my recommendation because although I am an Adult Starter with the Violin (and music generally) I have been playing now for more than twenty years and have had MANY teachers. They've all had something to contribute, but none of them have her acumen for really paying attention to what I am doing (both right and wrong) and stopping everything to get me to fix it. I have made more progress in the few months I have been taking with her than the whole twenty years before. Only regret is that I did not sign on sooner. read more

My twelve year old daughter has been taking lessons with Kaila for about 2 years now. In that time she has developed a love for the violin and has become more and more eager to improve and grow as a violinist. Kaila is a beautiful musician, bringing her love of all kinds of music (my daughter has learned songs from the US, Europe and the Middle East) to her students. She is kind, patient, encouraging and very thoughtful. Since we've started sheltering in place Kaila's lessons have moved to Zoom which has allowed our family to stay socially distant and my daughter to keep up her training. If you want top quality music instruction look no further. Thank you Kaila! read more

To me, the essence of an excellent teacher is that she meets the student at her level, offers steps to improve that are challenging but manageable, and does it all with good humor and sincere encouragement. Kaila does this and more. I am an oud player, so I work with Kaila on general musical skills; the only similarity between my instrument and hers is that they are both fretless string instruments. She has helped me with many things, including rhythm, improvisation, playing with others, some composing, and general musical knowledge such as about chords, scales, etc. We have worked together for about 2.5 years now. The pandemic has limited our ability to play together, given the restrictions of Zoom, but she continues to find creative ways to help me learn. I often feel that she nudges me past where I thought I could go, which is always a pleasant surprise. Her "can do" attitude can be quite inspiring. To my mind, Kaila would be an excellent choice for a student at any level and, as I have seen, even for a student playing an instrument other than a violin. I feel very lucky to have found her. read more

I was pretty new to the violin when I started taking lessons from Kaila as an adult. I had been a proficient piano player during elementary and high school days, but spent decades not playing music at all. Now, many years of violin lessons later, I am still enjoying learning from Kaila. Apart from her extensive understanding of music and her excellent musicianship, she is also very interested in how one learns music. This makes her extremely flexible in her approach to any particular lesson, clearly hearing what I might be ready to learn and understanding how I might best take on the new challenge. I always leave each lesson with more rich perspective and insight than I anticipate my questions would provoke. My entrance into the fiddle world was through Irish tunes, but thanks to Kaila's suggestions and encouragement, I now have expanded my views of what tunes I might find interesting--and why! read more

Kaila Flexer is a truly outstanding violin teacher and I would highly recommend her to young and old alike. She has amazingly beautiful taste in music and is extremely kind, patient and experienced as a teacher. She can see almost instantly if you are having trouble understanding something, and has a remarkable ability to explain the concept or idea in a variety of ways and never make you feel bad in the process. She focuses on your strengths and in this way really seems to have an uncanny ability to draw them out. She is the first person who has been able to explain bowing technique to me in a way that I can finally understand. She is incredible!!! Delilah Lee Lewis, San Francisco read more

Kaila is great! As a latecomer to the violin I struggled with the rigors of a classical violin teacher for several years, but ultimately found success on the instrument to be beyond my ability and ultimately the music I was then working on was unsatisfying. Studying with Kaila has made violin playing fun! The repertoire of music she teaches is exciting, beautiful, and challenging - yet still within my grasp. Her knowledge of the instrument is impeccable. Her demeanor is warm and her enthusiasm in contagious! read more

I want to pass along a recommendation for a fantastic violin teacher. Kaila Flexer has been my son's violin teacher for a year-and-a-half, and we feel so lucky to have found her. She is a gifted teacher, passionate about music, and an active and talented musician giving frequent performances throughout the Bay Area. Her background covers both classical and ethnic/folk music. She follows my son's lead and music interests, while swiftly moving his music development along. She tailors lessons to each student's interests, strengths and weaknesses. My son appreciates her seemingly endless repertoire of fun and creative ways to encourage practice and strengthen his skills. The most important thing, though, is that he loves going to lessons. I could go on and on, she is amazing! read more

Kaila is a phenomenal woman whose passion for life and music is contagious. I am almost 29 years old and five months ago I picked up a fiddle for the very first time. Playing this instrument was a life-long dream that I finally decided to pursue and Kaila's encouragement and support has helped keep me going. I was nervous to begin lessons because my memories of playing the piano was of the process becoming less about artistic exploration and more about conforming to a rigorous routine that I soon turned against. My experiences with the fiddle have been extraordinarily different, thanks to Kaila. Not only have I been able to explore music in an entirely new way, but the never-ending amount of positive reinforcement that I get from Kaila has made me want to go home and continue my practices immediately after leaving my lessons! I've become somewhat addicted, I guess you could say. BUT, there have been times when I've fallen silent, just because life has gotten in the way of practice. When I show up for a lesson after those times, Kaila is supportive and not scornful. This is perhaps one of the most important things to me because it has allowed my relationship to my instrument become more real, more alive, and less like a subject to be studied. One of the other things I love about Kaila is how diverse her repertoire is. I happen to love sounds from the past, or from other parts of the world and within just five months I have learned some traditional folk music from China, Turkey, Ireland and US. I can't wait to learn more! I couldn't recommend another person as highly as I would Kaila. I genuinely look forward to our lessons because I know my experience will be safe with her, and for a beginner in any instrument, there couldn't be a more profound feeling. read more

Kaila is wonderful! I have returned to violin after many years not playing and it is truly great to learn with Kaila. She is very open to any tunes I want to learn and has a very kind and support style of teaching that I highly recommend. She is also very flexible about scheduling lesson times which is helpful and her rates are extremely reasonable. read more

I've been studying with Kaila since 8/09 and have progressed so much. I appreciate that she has knowledge of many genres. We work on technique, posture, sight reading, theory, expression, improv playing, shyness (!), just about everything related to fiddle playing! Her temperment is well suited to those of us who are new fiddlers and need alot of guidance. read more