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Janice's Personal Story

My father’s ancestors migrated from Canada to the United States in the early 1900s, eventually settling in Massachusetts; they were originally from Great Britain. My dad, the eldest of five children, was an electronics engineer. As a gifted amateur musician (he played the harmonica and steel guitar), electronics teacher, ice skating teacher, furniture maker, and avid cyclist, he was a talented person with many interests. My mother’s parents came to the US in the year 1920. After arriving at Ellis Island in New York from Naples, Italy, they settled in Massachusetts. My grandfather was a mason and my grandmother was an Italian language tutor and electronics assembler at General Electric for thirty years. One of eight children, my mother today enjoys working in finance. After raising her children, she enrolled in college, majoring in computer science. Like my father, she has a lot of musical talent; she sings and plays the piano, guitar and accordion. As a teenager, she performed in a musical group with her sisters; all would become wonderful role models for me. My two brothers and two sisters did not play musical instruments. Each of us focused on one forte; a computer company owner, a senior fund-raiser, a desktop publishing company owner and an ice skating teacher are my siblings’ professions. In the second grade, my schoolteacher seemed impressed with my ability to sing solfege syllables (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do). I learned key signatures quickly and was allowed to take music books home to practice my solfege. Modulating from key to key seemed easy. I enjoyed singing solos in school plays, assemblies and graduations. Violin lessons were offered at school when I was in the fourth grade. I loved the sound of the violin, having heard it on recordings. I asked my parents if I could take lessons. Of course, my mother wanted me to play one of the instruments we owned, such as the piano, guitar or accordion. I preferred the sweet, soothing, lovely sound of the violin. With encouragement from schoolteachers, my parents agreed to let me study the violin at the beginning of the second semester of the fourth grade. I was almost ten years old. My first violin teacher, Alan Hawryluk, was enthusiastic. At my initial lesson, I tried to draw a straight bow on each string. It felt awkward. At another lesson, the entire neck broke off of my violin as my teacher was tuning it! On another occasion, my violin fell out of its case into the snow as I was walking home from school! My first violin teacher left the school system at the end of the semester. His replacement proved less encouraging, saying my “thumbs were too long to play the violin.” Another instructor, Joseph Leary, came to my rescue. He was ambitious and dedicated and guided me through my formative years of playing. At my sixth grade graduation ceremony, I played “Climb Every Mountain” on my violin. I practiced three to five hours a day and really enjoyed it, stopping only to go to school, do homework (always getting straight As on my report card), do chores, etc. I also enjoyed playing by ear in a group with my parents. In the seventh grade, I performed Monti’s Czardas at a school assembly. My general music teacher and piano accompanist, Angelica Sarris, was a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music. Beatles songs were in fashion at the time, so I played “Michelle” and “Yesterday” at school assemblies as well as many Fritz Kreisler showpieces. In the eighth grade I was voted “Most Ambitious” and performed De Beriot’s Ninth Violin Concerto with an orchestra. I played Ernest Bloch’s Nigun at my ninth grade graduation ceremony. What wonderful opportunities to perform! The dedicated support and guidance of my music instructors throughout grade school, junior high and high school proved to be very worthwhile. I set my sights on attending the New England Conservatory of Music as early as the seventh grade. My very first violin teacher kept in contact with me and before my tenth grade school year, he suggested I audition for the chairman of the string department at the conservatory. This teacher was Eric Rosenblith, well-known pedagogue and former student of Carl Flesch. After studying with Mr. Rosenblith for a year (I continued to be his student for a total of eight years), I played the first movement of the Brahms A Major Violin and Piano Sonata on the popular television show, “Outlook New England.” Frances Brockman Lanier, founder of NEC’s Preparatory Division, spoke on behalf of the school alongside the program’s host, Frank Avruch. The year was 1972 and I was in the eleventh grade. That year, I also became the concertmistress of the Massachusetts All-State Orchestra, playing the first movement of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at my audition. After graduating from high school in the spring of 1973, I fulfilled my ambition of studying at the New England Conservatory of Music, entering as a Violin Performance major the following fall. Everything was going well at first; however, after setbacks due to injuries in my twenties, I decided to teach as well as perform. I discovered I enjoyed teaching very much! What better way to thank my wonderful teachers than to continue in their quest to convey a knowledge of music and the love of playing a stringed instrument! In 1979, I taught violin in the Newton and Wakefield (MA) Public School systems’ after-school programs. In 1980 I was hired to teach at the All-Newton Music School and the Longy School of Music in Cambridge (MA). During the early 1980s, I trained as a suzuki violin teacher at Ithaca College. I also observed private lessons of several foremost Massachusetts suzuki teachers who organized special workshops with well-known Suzuki masters such as William Starr and Shinichi Suzuki himself. Later, I enjoyed directorships of the Suzuki programs at Longy and the Brookline Music School. And despite past injuries and a full teaching schedule, I resumed pursuit of a college diploma, receiving a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from NEC in 1989. The ABCs of Strings method series developed as a result of teaching beginning, intermediate and advanced students of all ages for over twenty-five years. My primary aim is to make the playing of a stringed instrument easier and more accessible to everyone of any age group.You can learn more about my method of teaching on The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner DVD! The first book of my series, The ABCs of Violin for the Absolute Beginner, was published on January 8, 1998. I had three volumes in print when I attended a Suzuki Convention in Chicago, Illinois as an exhibitor in May of that year. As I was taking a limotaxi from the airport to the convention center, I met the president of Carl Fischer publishers who asked me to send him my books. The enthusiasm for my method books at the convention was substantial; all 130 books brought were sold. Three months later I signed on with Carl Fischer. Thank you to the dedicated, hard working staff of Carl Fischer for making my method so widely available. Thank you to all of my students for teaching me to become a better teacher over the years. Thank you to all of my teachers - from grade school through college and post-graduate studies - for your expert guidance and support. And lastly, thank you to all of the teachers, students and parents using my method books in private studios, classrooms and home practice. May we all share in the joy of spreading the fine art of string playing! Sincerely, Janice Tucker Rhoda Author of The ABCs of Strings For questions or comments, please write to Janice at abcsofstrings@gmail.com.

The ABCs of Strings is published by Carl Fischer