Sachin Shukla

Sachin Shukla

5.0(1 review)
Offers online services
Offers online services

About

I’m a violist currently studying at the Northwestern University Bienen School of Music, under soloist and recording artist Helen Callus. I’ve been playing the viola for over a decade, and teaching the violin and viola has been a highlight of my career as a musician.

The ultimate goal of my teaching is to give all of my students a beautiful sound. It’s the heart of all good violin and viola playing, and it is a skill that can be taught, based on the understanding of basic physical principles. I focus on imbuing my students with a deep, intuitive understanding of these principles.

I build my teaching from a foundation of basic physical intuition. The big secret of playing a stringed instrument is that, simply through the activities of everyday life, everyone has the physical skills they need to play. My job as the teacher is to show you how to apply them. My teaching also emphasizes critical thinking: instead of simply learning by rote what will work to get a certain sound, or play a difficult passage, I make sure my students learn to think about why it works. I also often use the Socratic method in my teaching. I believe that concepts are much more powerful and better understood when they are drawn out of the students themselves, rather than simply handed down from the teacher.

I have been fortunate all my life to be the student of great teachers who taught me not only how to play the violin, viola, or piano, but also how to think, grow, and what it means to be a musician. It is an honor for me to fill that same role in someone else’s life, too. If you should wish to set up a lesson, or ask any further questions, please do not hesitate to send me a message.


Highlights

Hired 1 time
6 years in business
Serves Boston , MA
Offers online services

Reviews

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MT

Matthew T.

Very, very thorough! I needed somebody who could focus on technique, and Sachin is that to a T.
He’s very friendly, and I would not be surprised if he would teach beginning children. He sends PDFs of finger exercises, and even lesson notes (but do yourself a favor and take notes too!)
Also, if you’re put off by the name: Sachin speaks in perfectly understandable American English. He does not have a nonnative accent.
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September 17, 2018
Hired on Lessons

Frequently asked questions

If you are completely new, we’ll begin with familiarizing ourselves with the instrument, and becoming physically comfortable with it before we go any further. It’s important to make sure that you have a good setup before you try to actually play anything - without it, you will have a lot of trouble!

For students with experience, I’ll ask them to bring something to play for me at their first lesson. This is no-stress - it’s not an audition or test of any kind. It’s simply for me to assess where you are in your journey, where your strengths are, and where we will need to do the most work.

For any students, the most important part of our first lessons will be for us to get to know each other as people. I’ll especially be paying attention to how your mind works and how you learn, so that I know how best to communicate with you in our future lessons.

B.M. Northwestern University, Viola Performance, anticipated June 2021

Competition Prizes: ILASTA Concerto Competition (2018), Society of American Musicians (2019)

Festivals: Bowdoin International Music Festival (2019), Cazenovia Counterpoint Festival (2013-2019)

I have worked with students at a variety of ages and skill levels - from beginner to intermediate and advanced, and from ages 7 to 18, both on violin and viola.

Probably the most important, yet underappreciated, factor governing the fit of a student with a teacher is compatibility in the way both people’s minds work. Ideally, the way that you and your teacher understand information and articulate concepts should be relatively similar; you should speak a common language. Otherwise, no matter what they say, you won’t get it!


Services offered

Violin