Online violin pedagogy courses
Minifiddlers Online Courses are a complete guide on how to teach children to play violin with the Colourstrings method
Minifiddlers teaching materials are made for successful violin pedagogy. They help to keep the child’s motivation strong, prevent the common pitfalls of violin playing and make teaching both goal–directed and child-centered with high pedagogical standards.
The teacher of Minifiddlers online video courses is a violinist, teacher, conductor and creator of the Colourstrings teaching method, Prof. Géza Szilvay.
Colourstrings Violin ABC Books Courses
Learn the basics of the Colourstrings method! Professor Géza Szilvay teaches the approach by going systematically through the Colourstrings sheet music books.
Géza's Online Colourstrings Courses
Professor Géza Szilvay introduces and analyzes the teaching material and repertoire, the teaching technique and the philosophy of the Colourstrings approach.
Minifiddlers Violin Pedagogy Courses
Professor Géza Szilvay demonstrates teaching a group of children with Colourstrings method, starting from the very first violin lesson. The videos are also excellent for supporting child’s practicing at home.
Bring Minifiddlers courses for a group of users!
Contact us and get training materials for multiple teachers or students e.g. in music schools and institutions.
Contact us“With the Colourstrings teaching method being excellent and the Minifiddlers technical background team perfectly organized, Géza Szilvay has made it possible for a teacher to raise a highly skilled violin group anywhere in the world. With his professional presence and personal warmth Géza made us forget about the physical distance during the classes.”
Igor Arias
M.A., Lapland Music Institute, Finland
Teacher and creator of the Colourstrings method, Prof. Géza Szilvay
Professor Géza Szilvay is internationally renowned violinist, teacher and conductor, and since 2020 he’s the President of ESTA (European String Teachers Association). Géza is also the creator of successful and child-centered Colourstrings teaching method.
Géza has gained international recognition as a conductor of children’s and youth orchestras. Together with his brother Csaba, he has founded and conducted The Helsinki Strings, a youth string orchestra that has won international acclaim through their concert tours and recordings.
Géza has over 50 years of experience in violin pedagogy. He has given more than 200 lectures and workshops on his child-centered teaching method and philosophy across the world, and trained pupils and teachers online over 10 years. In addition to his long pedagogical experience, Géza is known for his strong presence and personal warmth that makes him an excellent and impressive online teacher.
“The impact of 50 years of experience is impressive: Géza Szilvay assures us that there might be faster ways to create instrumentalists, but the balanced way of teaching paves the way for the young players to take off later in a very personal and creative way.”
Elizabeth Zeuthen Schneider
Associate professor, RDAM, Denmark
FAQ
Got a question about our online courses or the method? Check first below if the answers for the frequently asked questions could be helpful. Otherwise simply contact us and we’ll be happy to assist you!
What is Minifiddlers Library?
Minifiddlers Library is the new home for our online courses and other learning materials. Currently you can purchase and watch Géza's new online Colourstrings courses there, but later on we'll add more content. So stay tuned! You can still purchase and watch the Minifiddlers violin pedagogy courses at our old online shop at https://videos.minifiddlers.org
How can I access Minifiddlers Library?
Just click the LOGIN button on the top right corner and choose "LOGIN MINIFIDDLERS LIBRARY". Here you can log in. If you don't yet have an account, you can create one for yourself by clicking the link "Sign up here". After verifying your email address we'll take you directly to the library.
I have an account at the old Minifiddlers webshop, can I also access Minifiddlers Library?
Unfortunately you need to create a new account to access Minifiddlers Library. It's very easy, though! Just click the LOGIN button on the top right corner and choose "LOGIN MINIFIDDLERS LIBRARY". Then click the link "Sign up here". After verifying your email address we'll take you directly to the library.
How do I use the Minifiddlers Violin Pedagogy Courses?
The Minifiddlers courses are an excellent tool if you're starting with a new group of beginner students. In the videos Prof. Szilvay teaches a group of children, so they're easy to follow along. You can watch one video per week and repeat the same exercises with your students. The videos offer step by step instruction for both individual and group teaching, and they provide lots of practical tips for the daily work, examples for exercises and repertoire. You don't have to give up your own teaching style - just pick the things that suit for you!
What’s the Colourstrings method?
The Colourstrings method is a string pedagogy developed by Hungarian brothers Géza and Csaba Szilvay, based on the philosophy of Zoltán Kodály. Géza Szilvay originally created the characteristic colored pages and game-like exercises for his family. During the decades to come the approach was refined and further enriched. It has gained international recognition and praise among the professionals for its child-centeredness and ability to prevent the most common problems of violin playing.
Can my music school, institute or own business purchase Minifiddlers Courses for me?
Absolutely! Please send us an email and let us know which Minifiddlers Course you're interested in. Also, if there are several teachers in your school who are interested in watching the videos, we're happy to tailor you an offer. Our online shop is meant for private clients, so for organizations and businesses we issue the invoice separately.
I’m not familiar with the Colourstrings method. Do I have to study it before buying the courses?
No, you don't! As Géza says, Colourstrings is normal violin teaching and playing. Everything you need to know is explained in the videos. If at a later stage you feel like deepening your knowledge about the method, there are courses available to do that, but by no means that's mandatory.
Do I need other materials for teaching besides the Minifiddlers Courses?
The Minifiddlers courses give you plenty of ideas and tips for teaching violin playing, e.g. for the exercises and repertoire, and all this you can explore by just watching the videos. However, if you want to use Colourstrings more systematically when teaching your students, we recommend purchasing the Colourstrings Books. The books are published by Fennica Gehrman and they can be purchased through their web shop as printed versions and most of them also as e-pubs.
We’re here to help
Got a question about our online courses or the method? nd we’ll be happy to assist you!
Contact us