Mark O'Connor's New Way Of Teaching The Violin11:27
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When violinist Mark O'Connor was just 13, he won the American Grandmaster Fiddle Championships in Nashville. Since then, he's won several Grammy's and recorded with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, and Wynton Marsalis.
With a pedigree like that, you'd think that O'Connor would prefer playing only with musicians of the highest caliber. But more than anything, O'Connor is focused on people who have absolutely no experience with the violin at all — with kids, mainly, or anyone who wants to learn how to play the fiddle.
O'Connor has invented a new instructional method called the O'Connor method, and it's entirely unlike other schools of thought, such as Suzuki, when it comes to teaching the violin. Namely, O'Connor says, let the classical stuff wait. To really learn, and learn to love the violin, students should first experience the joys of traditional American music, from the blues, to ragtime, to fiddle folk.
Mark O'Connor, violinist
This segment aired on June 25, 2012.