YCIS Beijing’s Unique Violin Programme gives young learners from Years 1 to 3 the opportunity to develop musical skills and instills within them a deep appreciation music. A key aspect in help students grow and discover the fascinating and emotional world of music is our Violin teachers. In this edition of Teacher Profiles, we talk to the talented Cindy Guo, one of YCIS Beijing’s passionate music teachers.

Please give a short introduction about yourself.

My name is Cindy Guo. I obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in violin performance and a Master Degree in violin teaching from the Central Conservatory of Music in China.

What are your roles and responsibilities at YCIS Beijing?

I am a Primary School violin teacher at YCIS BJ. I teach Y1-Y3 kids basic violin techniques, both performance and theory.

What do you find particularly rewarding about working in your role at YCIS Beijing?

I find two things particularly rewarding about my work at YCIS Beijing. First is when I get to see my students learn to play a song or when they stand onstage to perform the violin.

Teaching students how to play the violin also teaches me how to continue to develop my teaching skills. Because every student is different, we constantly need to find different ways to help them succeed, which really enriches our teaching methods.

What challenges do you face in teaching violin to such young students?

Helping students with correct posture is the most challenging aspect of teaching violin to young students in school. Our students have two violin lessons per week, most of them do not practice outside of these two lessons, which is not enough to remember the correct violin-playing posture, so we create some games to help them remember what good posture is.

Additionally, different languages and cultures met in an international school environment can be challenging for me.

Aside from musical ability, what benefits do violin classes provide to young students? *

There are three main non-musical benefits that I think students receive from violin classes here at YCIS Beijing:

Greater perseverance - Practice makes perfect, but can also be boring at times. If students can overcome this and keep practicing, they will be able to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the form of beautiful music that they create themselves. Few things in life are as rewarding as that!

Concentration - Playing the violin requires our brain, eyes, ears, and body to work together properly to make beautiful music. You must remain focused while practicing the violin to benefit from it, so playing the violin inherently improves your concentration and attention span.

Confidence - The violin is difficult to learn. If you are able to successfully master this instrument, you will gain confidence in yourself through overcoming this difficulty.

What are your most memorable experiences teaching students at YCIS Beijing?

I love our violin morning practice with students the most. It enjoy seeing the passion they put into their violin learning.

If you could give one piece of general advice for students studying a musical instrument?

Never give up!  Just  practice, practice, practice!

For teacher and parents: it is essential to find a variety of ways to keep our children motivated.

Don’t miss our upcoming Primary Violin Concert on April 28 to experience for yourself how YCIS Beijing’s Violin Programme is shaping our dedicated students into happy young musicians. For more YCIS Beijing Teacher Profiles, please click here.