Tracy Wu’s Violin and Viola Studio

My child first studied with Tracy at a local group class and has continued with private lessons for over a year. In addition to following the Suzuki curriculum, she teaches music theory and keeps things interesting with ear training, note reading games and duets. Tracy has a great way giving corrections and feedback to my young child. My child is engaged and motivated to play her best during the lesson!
I feel my child is getting a very solid, well-​rounded introduction to musicianship.

My son has been taking violin lessons from Tracy for a couple of years now. Before starting, we interviewed several teachers in the area, and asked them more or less the same questions: (a) what do you feel are the strengths and weaknesses of my son’s playing now (b) given these strengths and weaknesses, how would you proceed?
Tracy was very perceptive in answering these questions, and she made some great suggestions. While most teachers would point to specific technical weaknesses and recommend months of intensive focus in the area of weakness, only Tracy gave me the impression that she would really work with us to understand the causes of these issues and develop a personalized approach to improvement. She even made some comments on my own interactions with my son — he was watching *my* reactions rather than paying attention to his own playing.
Tracy impressed me with her creativity and acuity at that first lesson, and has continued to do so as my son’s playing has developed. She is particularly good at understanding what is going on inside a student’s head: is the student really counting, or is he guessing? Is he playing from memory, or is he reading? Is he relying too much on his ear and neglecting the shape of his hand? I think this level of observation allows her to strike a great balance between technical development and musicality, and she communicates this very well to students. For example, rather than «fix your bow hold and do it again,» it’s «can you hear the difference if you curve your pinky a little bit more? Do you hear how much more focused the sound is? Try it both ways. What do you think?»
I feel that my son’s playing has definitely improved under Tracy’s guidance. Some of those initial areas of weakness have improved significantly. And — crucially for a pre-​teen — this has happened without destroying my son’s enthusiasm for music or making his practice unbearably tedious. I can recommend Tracy very highly. She is great with kids, and will really work with your child to nurture musical ability and to provide the technical tools to maximize it.

I am a student of Tracy and she has helped me grow as a violinist from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to Minuet and Gavotte in two years. This is a great place to learn your violin or viola in a comfortable, homey environment.