Daniel

I teach Violin and Viola, Music, Music Theory, Philosophy, History, and Writing, to a final-year undergraduate level. I also teach Classics and English Literature to a first-year undergraduate level, and I teach A-Level, GCSE, and 11+ students.

I am a professional violinist and a Candidate for a PhD in Music at the University of Cambridge, with over 8 years of teaching experience. As a Supervisor in the Faculty of Music, I teach undergraduate music students at Cambridge. My academic expertise is strongest in the fields of the history of philosophy, the philosophy of music, and nineteenth-century music history, but I am also comfortable teaching both Violin and Viola, as well as History and Writing Skills to a final-year undergraduate level. I also teach Classics and English Literature to a first-year undergraduate level.

From the age of 17, I started to teach violin and viola to a variety of students, ranging from children and adults beginning their studies to more advanced performers looking to improve their technical facility and performance skills.

Alongside my MPhil studies at Cambridge, in which I specialised in the cultural history and musical aesthetics of Germany and France in the Long Nineteenth Century, I began working as a freelance academic tutor and taught Music, History, Philosophy, English Literature, Dissertation Skills, and Classics to A-Level Students. I have since developed two years of experience, in which I have taught over 200 hours of academic content with a diversity of tutoring organisations and online education platforms. I also have experience teaching in a classroom setting. I worked as an Assistant Music Teacher at a Sixth Form College, which involved teaching Music A-Level students. I have also worked with academic summer schools in Oxford to prepare Oxbridge hopefuls for their entrance examinations.

I favour a structured approach to teaching. I devise lesson plans in advance of every lesson, catering to the student's specific needs. I also inform the design of my classes through constructive dialogue with my students. This approach enables me to structure my lessons within a curriculum that meets my student's specific educational needs and helps them to achieve tangible improvements in their academic performance and musical ability.

– My academic lessons tend to be structured around specific sections of the syllabus, or particular topics that students require help with.
– I employ a seminar-style format, in which I flesh out ideas with the aid of quotations, other audio-visual resources, and analytical commentary which my students can use to develop essays, essay plans, revision tools, and exam revision packs.
– I use Powerpoint to provide students with a variety of resources and visual stimuli.
– I structure my lesson plans with a view to providing short points of rest or temporary closure, in which students are able to ask questions about the content. I am also happy for students to interrupt the flow of the lesson if a burning question arises.

– Violin and viola lessons tend to be carefully planned to focus on specific technical aspects of performance. To train musicality, I often teach this through the use of Kreutzer and Fiorillo etudes, Dont studies, and also pieces of repertoire catered to the student's musical interests and technical requirements.
– I am open to considering student repertoire suggestions if they are particularly passionate about a certain piece.