What sends a person in search of a violin teacher?

Maybe it's a tradition of having a violinist in the family, finding an old violin in the attic, a child wanting to join the school orchestra, a television program showing a child using the Suzuki method. Whatever the motive, the person who wants to learn to play violin has to find a teacher.

Ruth Sadasivan, 58, is one such teacher, and she has students willing to travel extra miles to have lessons with her. I met with her at Heartland Studio of the Violin in southeast Overland Park.

"I decided to become a violin teacher because I loved playing the violin and I wanted to give that same love of music to young developing students," said Sadasivan, noting that originally she wanted to teach orchestra at the middle-school and high-school levels. "My own school orchestra experience was my first realization that I loved playing the violin."

In college she began giving private lessons and soon found one-on-one teaching to be the most rewarding.

"I believe a music teacher should strive to be the best player she can be," Sadasivan said. "The experience gained from preparing for performances gives first-hand knowledge that can be passed on to students."

Because she considered teaching private lessons at the college level, she worked on master's and doctoral degrees in violin performance. Now Sadasivan teaches Suzuki method violin.

"Many people think it's fine for beginners to start private lessons with teachers with less expertise," she said. "Actually, I believe the opposite is true. If a beginner starts with bad habits, playing will be less rewarding and progress will be slow. Later, it's not motivating to undo ingrained bad habits and poor musical skills. Violin requires great physical coordination and control, as well as intense scrutiny of pitch."

Sadasivan began private teaching with elementary students at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wis., during her junior year of college in 1973, and has been teaching for 37 years. She currently teaches in the studio attached to her home. She has 45 students, most of whom begin their lessons with her at age 4 to 5 and stay until high school graduation.

There were some early worries.

"When I opened a studio in my home, I was concerned that I may not be taken as seriously as when I taught in university facilities," she said, but that hasn't proven to be true.

Sadasivan thinks teachers often should ask themselves, "What motivates students?"

"As a violin teacher, I think about student development of skills—technical skills, musical skills, skills for constructive practice," she said. "But most of all, I think about what will motivate the student and what will give the student joy in playing the violin."

What continually surprises her is hearing from students who have gone on to careers in music.

"Many of them, at the time of studying with me, appeared uninterested, like they didn't care or didn't like to play," she said. "Even students who were planning to be future music majors sometimes didn't put in much effort, or acted like practicing was too much of a chore."

But when she hears from them as young adults, she's amazed that they speak of their lessons with fondness. And many of those who did not go on to major in music still get out their instruments to play, or have continued in other avenues of music, from writing music for a rock band to singing in a church choir to getting their own kids involved in lessons.

What's the most satisfying part of the work?

"The interaction with the kids," Sadasivan said. "Getting to know them personally for many years, seeing their progress and achievements, seeing how their music study pays off in other ways and in other careers."

The biggest frustration?

"Many kids are over-booked with activities; some parents don't fully recognize the importance and value of music study; lazy kids are a challenge; and musicians and music teachers are underpaid!"

Sadasivan played in the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Symphony after graduating from Lawrence University, then moved to Kansas City and became involved in the Kansas City Civic Orchestra, Civic String Orchestra, and Kansas City Chamber Orchestra. As recipient of a Ford Foundation fellowship, she did numerous string quartet performances. These days she does freelance playing and provides music for church services and community outreach events.

She knows firsthand the importance of great teaching and mentoring, having studied at UMKC for years with Tiberius Klausner, who greatly influenced her playing and her life. Klausner is known for having served many years as concert master with the Kansas City Symphony.

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