Teaching methods
My methods are a distillation of the methods of the many teachers who have taught me over the last twenty years, in many hundreds of private lessons and public master-classes, coupled with the methods I have acquired from an extensive study of the textbooks of great teachers of the past, in particular the writings of Professor William Vennard.
Vennard insists on a scientific approach. To quote his excellent textbook "There are those teachers who feel that applying science to an art is quackery, but I believe that our only safeguard against the charlatan is general knowledge of the most accurate information available"
I focus on getting the pupil to experience (and remember) the subtle feelings that occur at the moment of producing a fine sound.
To produce the fine sound in the first place I use the normal methods of imagery and focus, aiming for power, resonance, clarity of vowel and consonant production and, most especially, beauty of tone - the magic ingredient that moves the audience.
Modern sensibilities preclude the hands on touching used by many fine teachers, so I work instead by close visual and aural observation.