I am 13 years old and have played the violin for 3 years. I play in my school orchestra and am first chair. My director told me that I am a phenomonal player and shoul consider private lessons. He told me that I could get a scholarship. I need to know if I should invest the money in private lessons.
Thanx a lot

I have never played violin with my school (they only offer band), but from the few group lessons I have had I would say that it is very beneficial to have private lessons. Expecailly since you are first chair, your teacher probably spends a lot of time working with the less able players, and you could move a lot faster with one-on-one instruction. Also, I think it is good to learn to perform on your own, and with a private teacher you get more choice on what you want in your repertoire (you can pick the pieces you like rather than just what the orchestra is learning).

Definitely start private lessons! If you don`t like it or something, it`s OK to stop if you don`t like them, but definitely give it a try, espeically if he said you`re pretty good.
Good luck!

-Tim

I think you`ve done well to get to first desk without private lessons. At your age I too played first desk in my local youth orchestra, but that was after six years of weekly private lessons, and withion another year I had stopped playing.

You would definitely benefit from private lessons, but you should ask yourself where you want to go with your music. Do you think you might one day want to play professionally, or just in a small amateur local chamber group or orchestra, or what? Is classical your favourite style, or might you play jazz, bluegrass, folk, electric rock etc?

I know these are difficult questions at 13, but worth thinking about even if you don`t have the answers yet.

i am 13 and have been playing the violin for 6 years.]i have always done private lessons.i think that you should do private lessons,because the teacher can focus on your needs

To put it quickly, you should.