Welcome to the ‘Violin Explained’ platform, founded by Sergei Panov, a professional music teacher and violinist. Our mission is to empower musicians of all ages to improve their skills, accelerate their learning, and enhance their playing. Explore how the ‘Practical Scales and Arpeggios’ and ‘Learn Fast’ method book series can ignite your passion for making music. Both series are available for purchase on Amazon and JW Pepper.
Bio
Educator, author, and violinist Sergei Panov wishes to instill a love for music, self-expression, and self-realization in his students. Teaching orchestra in a direct, simple, and goal-oriented way is his mission in life. At the age of 12, after growing up in St. Petersburg, Russia, he emigrated with his family to the United States and settled in New Jersey. With a mother who teaches piano, and a father who builds musical instruments, Sergei naturally gravitated toward music and education.
He earned his Bachelor of Music degree in violin performance at Temple University under the late Helen Kwalwasser’s guidance and served as the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra under the late Joseph Primavera. During his university studies, Sergei realized his true passion was in music education and he has presented on this topic at the New Jersey Music Educators Association Conferences and Rowan University. He serves as the manager of the Central Jersey Region Orchestra and has led the New Jersey All-State Violin Sectionals. As orchestra teacher at John Marshall Elementary School in Edison, he now relishes cultivating a love of music with younger generations.
The methodology by Sergei
So, you want to learn how to play string instrument? Awesome! But you’ve heard that it’s really hard and takes years of practice just to be able to produce a beautiful sound? That’s not so awesome. Well, the good news is that it’s simply not true. If your goal is to become a virtuoso (achieve a very high level of technical mastery), yes, it will take 10,000 hours of dedicated practice, with the help of a great instructor. But, learning how to play, making beautiful sounds, and most importantly enjoying the process, can be done quickly. You’ll need a decent violin, viola, cello or double bass with a good set-up, “Practical scales and Arpeggios” plus “Learn fast” series method books, and most importantly a positive attitude and a good work ethic. A little practice with lots of frequency will go a long way. How do I know that my method works? I have helped hundreds if not thousands of students, who love playing the violin, enjoy the process of learning new music, and have fun playing by themselves, in small chamber groups, or larger ensembles such as youth and community orchestras.
For the process to make sense, it needs to follow a certain progression. First you must learn some musical concepts and the mechanics of the instrument to know how it all works. If this crucial step is skipped, when you move on to more complicated techniques such as shifting and playing with flats and sharps, you’ll simply be overwhelmed, get frustrated, and possibly quit. I’ve seen it time and again, trust me. This knowledge phase is one of the most important pillars of learning how to play the string instrument well and quickly.
Presentation
Check out my YouTube book presentation video:
Reviews
And don’t take my word for it, see for yourself what teachers and players say about the scale books:
