Developing the Advanced Bow Arm from the Beginning-A Teacher Workshop created by Cathryn Lee

This course gives the teacher a practical and child-friendly way to efficiently develop the complete bow arm from the very beginning. This topic-based course will make teaching both a beautiful tone and a bio-mechanically effective bow arm fun for the child and easy for the teacher.

Complex right arm concepts will be made simple for every child, with the help of a cast of child-friendly characters: Panda, Jelly-fish, and Rabbit.  While advanced bow strokes (spiccato, staccato, bariolage, and more) will be made instantly better for the more advanced student using Cathryn’s “magic formulas”.

The course presented at the Northern California Suzuki Institute and Young Artist program is open to teachers of all experience levels and pedagogical backgrounds.  Bonus class hours during the institute include observations of the techniques in action. Make sure to” bring your instrument, music stand, and note-taking materials” (no recording of any kind is allowed in class) as we cover the development of the bow arm with Cathryn Lee.

Note: Required textbooks for the course are Bow Exercises, Bow Strokes, and Bow Stroke Excerpt Books by Cathryn Lee.  The three-book set can be purchased by contacting Cathryn at rondocadenza@hotmail.com.

Cathryn S. Lee (Violin) San Francisco based violin teacher Cathryn S. Lee has taught families and teachers around the world since 1976. She is respected for teaching all ages and levels using her detailed and practical “best of both worlds” approach inspired by her studies with Dr. Shinichi Suzuki and her “traditional” studies with concert artist Dame Camilla Wicks.

As a teacher trainer, Cathryn has taught and lectured at SAA National conferences, Leadership Summits, Suzuki Method World Conferences, the first International Suzuki Teacher Trainer Conference in 2009 and most recently at the 16th World Conference.  She has given master classes and pedagogy classes in Australia, Canada, England, Italy, Japan, New Zealand and throughout the United States.  Cathryn is a guest lecturer in String Pedagogy at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Cathryn is the author of Bow Exercises, Bow Strokes and the Bow Stroke Excerpts books.

In 1977, Cathryn founded the Suzuki Music Studio of San Francisco where she continues to teach students and train teachers.  Her students have held titled chairs in numerous youth and school orchestras and placed in numerous competitions.  Cathryn has a B.A. in Performance and Composition, M. A. in Performance from San Francisco College for Women and a teaching certificate from the Talent Education Institute in Japan.  She and her husband raised their sons, Whit, an actor/violinst in New York City and Corin, a violinist with the ETHEL Quartet.