Below are some of Helina's thoughts on teaching:

I  always stress that the main importance of teaching is good basic technique right from the word go. I was fortunate that my first teacher taught me to spend time holding the violin and to bow properly without developing tension in the wrists or other bad habits. Although this meant playing open strings for a good few weeks and no tunes, I was able to focus on creating the right sound and keeping shoulders, arms and wrists nice and relaxed.

Your first teacher is very important. No player will progress well if the early tuition they receive is poor. Patience, both from the tutor and the pupil, is a virtue and a necessity! Slow progress at the beginning is more than often the best progress.

If your tutor only expresses interest in teaching you how to get through your notes as quickly as possible without involving relaxation and basic technique, you are more than likely only going to reach an average standard and soon afterwards become frustrated with the sound that you are creating!

Although I do teach graded exam pieces and scales, I have never seen this as being vital to learning an instrument. Grades can boost pupils' confidence and provide useful goals for pupils, however there can be a danger of pupils only practicing the pieces and scales required for their exams, resulting in them becoming complacent where technique is involved and compromising their quality of sound just to 'know their notes'.

Lastly, I would like to leave you with some of my favourite quotes from the world's leading violinists as food for thought:

The violinist must possess the poet's gift of piercing the protective hide which grows on propagandists, stockbrokers and slave traders, to penetrate the deeper truth which lies within. Yehudi Menuhin

"I can only think of music as something inherent in every human being - a birthright. Music coordinates mind, body and spirit". Yehudi Menuhin

"When it starts getting tough, make faces." Itzak Perlman

"For 37 years I've practiced 14 hours a day, and now they call me a genius." Pablo de Sarasate

"I do not always play in tune, I just fix it quicker than anyone else." Jascha Heifetz

"Take a chance. If you miss it, it will hurt only once." Jascha Heifetz