David McNair

I have been taking lessons from Dave McNair for a few years. I am an older beginning violin student. I started out with a different teacher, then switched to Dave, who was really the reason I stuck with the violin. Dave is sensitive to what students need. In my case, I came from a piano background and was a committed reader of music, knowing little about theory, just playing notes on the page. Dave worked with my skills and expanded them so that now I feel more comfortable navigating different keys and even improvising a little. The main thing I want to recommend about Dave is how attentive he is to each individual student's needs--he sees where you are and builds on that. He's great working with young students and older students, beginners and experienced players. He balances his expectations--he lets me choose what I want to play, but he also challenges me and helps me understand the theory behind the music. He's the reason I've stuck with the violin all these years and the reason I'll continue! I can't recommend him highly enough, wherever you are in your violin journey.