I'm a professional musician myself--I have been performing for 25 years, and teaching for 15. I…read morecan be a rather harsh critic of music instruction. So I don't say this lightly: David and Audinga Jacobson are providing San Franciscans with violin instruction at a level that's difficult to find anywhere in the world.
My son is 9yo, and he has been studying violin with the Jacobsons since he was 6. He started with 30 min. lessons, and after a year progressed to hour lessons. The lessons are rigorous, with emphasis on technique and fundamentals. Honestly, I was concerned whether my son would be able to handle instruction this serious, but I found the Jacobsons are not only great players, they are also tremendous teachers, with years of experience relating to children starting as early as age 4. My son often leaves his lessons feeling exhausted--an hour under the tutelage of David or Audinga Jacobson is HARD WORK! But the Jacobsons are experts at developing rapport with kids, and my son consistently rises to the high standards they set for him. Many music teachers focus so much on trying to make music fun that kids end up learning very little. Others drive their students so hard they grow discouraged and burn out. The Jacobsons strike a near ideal balance where kids feel consistently inspired and challenged by their teachers. I can tell you from personal teaching experience this is VERY difficult to pull off, and I feel lucky to have found such outstanding instructors for my son.
There is extensive information about their methods on their website and in other reviews, so I won't bother repeating. The quick summary is David and Audinga are master-level performers who have studied under the world's top players and instructors at conservatories in both America and Europe. They incorporate elements of classic Russian method violin, along with extensive personal study of piano, voice, and other arts. And it's obvious from only a few minutes of conversation with either of them that the Jacobsons have devoted their careers to studying not only how great players play, but also how great players practice and learn.
The Jacobsons have taught my son bowing technique, vibrato, double stops and harmonics. They have exposed him to music theory and challenged him with pattern recognition and memorization. But I think the most important things he has gotten out of these lessons actually have nothing to do with violin or even music. Through violin study with the Jacobsons, my son has learned how to work hard. He has learned how to concentrate, to focus, to apply himself to a difficult task and learn through repetition and refinement. I believe the lessons he has learned in violin make him a better student, a better athlete, and in general just a more thoughtful kid.
The Jacobsons hold biannual recitals, as well as monthly workshops (free of charge for regular students). Many of their students attend every workshop, and it's a wonderful community of parents and kids--the kids make new friends, learn by watching each other, and aspire to play like the older kids in the group. Every month or two, a new 5 or 6 year old shows up at a workshop, ready to play his/her first recital. It's not always the same piece, but it's always something with a dozen notes or fewer, all open strings, often with David helping the kid get the bow on the proper string. Everyone claps to be supportive, but the sound produced is mostly scratches and scrapes. Then, a few years later, that same kid is playing a concerto. To an outsider, it really looks like magic. But anyone who has watched the Jacobsons in action knows the truth: it's not magic, it's just great teaching.
