WELCOME

This is a site for violin students, parent information, masterclasses, and my book.

My name is Evan Elsley. I'm a diploma examiner, performer, university violin lecturer, diploma mentor, adjudicator and violin technique author.

If you have studied violin before:

• Do you play out of tune?
• Do you practice without progress?
• Does your sound peel paint from the wall?

Then the following two links are for you.

VIOLIN LESSONS PAGE

ABOUT EVAN ELSLEY PAGE

If private lessons are not practical for you, then perhaps consider reading my book.

-Violin Diploma Technique: Principles of Talent- Evan Elsley

• NATIONAL LIBRARY of AUSTRALIA
• STATE LIBRARY of NSW
• Violin specialist shops

LEARN ABOUT TALENT ITSELF

• After examining thousands of candidates, this book draws on real-world experience. It identifies intuitive technical abilities that only the mind can produce.
• For centuries, violin pedagogy has emphasised physical exercises, yet the mental abilities that produce technique—the skills of the mind, not just the fingers—have been almost entirely untapped. This is why fully defining the exact moment of co-ordination and a listening technique have eluded traditional virtuosic pedagogy.

MASTERCLASSES PAGE

THE CENTRAL QUESTION OF TECHNIQUE

Do you tune the note before you play it, or after? Most candidates are taught the second option. It is like asking the question: Do you cook a meal before you eat it, or after you eat it? For the university degree visitors to this site, the solution is explainable as:

• Skilled action depends on temporally ordered cognitive events.
• Errors arise from mis-sequenced cognitive-motor timing.
• Expertise is the internalisation of optimal temporal structure.

INNOVATION

• Using this organised thinking technique provides consistent and repeatable results.
• Technical abilities that were previously classified as intuitive talent are now identifiable and teachable. 
• When integrated with traditional pedagogy, they raise the overall technical standard of candidates.

FOR PARENTS

Learning the violin is expensive and time consuming. This includes:

• Trial and error practice.
• Changing teachers. 
• Expensive diploma attempts.

The book teaches the thinking techniques:

• Lessons apply them. At the 2025 AMEB session, an eight year old obtained a 6th Grade Credit after learning for 18 months with one lesson a week. 
• Masterclasses demonstrate them.

FOR MUSIC DEPARTMENTS

Does your administration want linear technical progress through practice? Quite often this does not occur. 

• A masterclass package is available for your students. Why not try a sample group?

Defining and addressing the underlying causes of your students' variability of outcomes turns practice into consistent results. 

TURN PRACTICE INTO RESULTS (link)

• Evan Elsley is available for consultation, masterclasses and tuition. 

BUY THE BOOK

LEARN THE LOGIC OF VIOLIN PLAYING