Testimonials:

“I would without a doubt recommend this course [Back to Basics Bow Workshop] to any violinist or any teacher of violin. The pedagogy alone is invaluable for teachers and structured so clearly and well.

These days I’m loving a lot of the sound I’m making and remember when I could never make a sound that I enjoyed. Through your teaching that’s changed completely so thank you for your complete dedication to this instrument and to your students. You have to know that you are so appreciated by everyone who is working with you, at least those I’m in touch with and you are giving something most teachers around don’t focus on. After all sound is so important in music and using the bow correctly is the key.”

“It has been a pleasure working with you. You are so generous with your time and knowledge. You don’t give up on us when we struggle. You patiently encourage us to keep trying new things until we understand. Our bow is our sound and having a workshop that focuses exclusively on the use of the bow is so perfect! I feel so fortunate to have been a part of this learning community and to have worked with you, Sophia!!”

Dr. Venkat Vendra- Amateur violinist with a few years of violin lessons but a strong love for learning violin
The bow workshop transforms one’s bow technique in a matter of weeks and not months or years. This is not a statement that is to be taken lightly. To transform any player’s technique in a matter of days and weeks needs an extraordinary teacher like Sophia. She has a unique ability to diagnose issues  and  figure out ways to fix them quickly.  Combined with this ability, her patience and strong desire to help her students achieve the very best results and become great string players is what distinguishes her from other teachers.

Carla V. Durney, violinist, Vice Chair / Vice President, Suzuki Association of the Greater Washington Area (SAGWA) 
“This [Back to Basics Bow] workshop has been fantastic.  Sophia, you are a delight, a brilliant musician, so well organized, enthusiastic and eternally patient.  It was such a joy to work with you. One of the highlights was getting to know other participants in the program.  Everyone was so kind, welcoming, and committed to improving their playing and mine.  Hoping we all stay connected.  This workshop is a most.  Join up!”

Dr. Jeong Park – Community orchestra violinists, I am a music lover and I  have very strong opinionon what sound I love to produce
Saying “you are a wonderful teacher” does not do justice. I have never met a teacher who is so fully giving her time, attention, resources and everything.  I did not expect you to actually “hold our hands” figuratively by repeatedly showing us how to do it and make us do in front of you via Zoom. You also helped us with a setup. Dr. Sophia Lim Arriaga is not just a wonderfully talented violinist but also a dedicated teacher. If you seriously want to examine aspects of your violin playing to make improvements and if you are willing to work on what she teaches you, you will learn a lot about music playing and also yourself as a musician.

[Anonymity Requested], a composer and violinist from Israel, currently I live in Japan. I teach violin and I also teach English at university. While I am mainly a composer, I perform professionally on an occasional basis

I was struggling for a long time with various kinds of fast bows, which resulted in a feeling of stress and having to over-practice fast passages. On-the-string fast detaches passage took me long time to learn because my bow arm would seize up or or not be in control as much as I wanted. Fast spiccatos would get uneven sometimes or lack articulation. Before performance or rehearsal I would get stressed out about these kind of passages.

I have been working alone for a long time trying to analyze the moving parts of the bow, using various YouTube videos, and my own analysis. I would get improvement in practice, though still not as consistent as I’d have liked. Also, I was not always sure whether I was doing the right thing without anyone to give me feedback. In performances I would many times revert to bad habits.

In general, I had been always jealous of players who seemed always comfortable playing while I often felt shoulder stress and discomfort. Several times, I had considered to stop performing all together and focus on just composition several. But I did not want to give up, since I love playing and working with other people and perform interesting contemporary music.

I had never done an online lesson or an online violin workshop. Also, I hadn’t taken a private lesson since grad school.

While I thought I would be focusing on the bowing where I had problems, I found myself overhaling many of my conceptions about bow technique as well as the general violin setup.

Before, I needed time to warm up before I felt I can produce a nice tone, but now my bow hand is much more relaxed and the movement feels more natural and less awkward.

Following Sophia’s advice I saw immediate results with the bowings that I’ve had trouble with, such as fast detache, tremolo and spiccato. While there is more work to get used to the different movements (mainly focusing on the bigger muscles rather than the smaller), the initial improvement was almost instant. I was especially encouraged that the renewed bow technique passed the “performance test”, and I was able to, with much less effort or stress, to follow up with the correct bow movements in a recent performance.

Re-learning bow basics was also very useful in teaching violin as well.

Every day I was looking forward to practice time so I can follow the instructions on the new video that came out. I haven’t been so excited about practicing since a while ago. It was so comforting to know exactly what to do in each part of the practice (include warm-up and review). Even when I did not get the result immediately after a video, I knew that doing the same thing for a few more days would bring results.

Dr. Sophia really encouraged us to get together and follow up with other members of the group. While I was a little apprehensive of this aspect at first, since I thought the levels of the members are too varied, I eventually found it useful and engaging. Practicing is such a solitary activity (especially in these days), so it was very helpful to share progress with others.

The 1 on 1 lessons were a real highlight. Dr. Sophia has some kind of magical eye, that she can notice the tiniest hand, wrist or shoulder movements even through the web-camera(!). She has an amazing diagnostic ability to find the source of your problem. She does not give up until you “get it”, as she is very confident of her methods. And once you do get the correct motion, it is very satisfying and encouraging experience.

Debi Ethredge, Viola

Sophia, from the bottom, top, and all areas of my heart, my immense gratitude for the selfless way you gave of everything you had to give to me, and to each of us, with interest, honor, respect, gentleness, perseverance, and encouragement.💖
I am so changed – in good ways – both as a musician and a person.

I have never experienced a musical sculpting session before on a piece I was studying.
I don’t know how else to describe it.
I feel like I am coming up with someone that will be my own.
I am so grateful.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for how you take my “music” seriously, the way you treat me as a “real” musician, your unending patience of repeating the same things ad infinitum seemingly to no avail haha, the way in which you entrust me and believe in me to make musical decisions about notes and phrases and pieces (specifically, with pieces: images).
I truly appreciate it and am amazed that I can be in position right now to benefit from all you generously give to us, each and all!

But, I really do appreciate everything, more than a time investment, but the investment of actually yourself into not just my music but me with the goal of my becoming more able to express something with some truth and beauty to myself, my God in gratitude, and my circle of fam and friends (God bless their little souls haha)!
Thank you so much, and thank you so much for every single thing

We are each well aware of your sacrifices for each of us, and your unique unwavering and constant concern to see each of us succeed.

I would def recommend your course far and above any experience I have had, for getting down to the foundational requirements of playing, and in a most personal way, including the real/realized unit of the community and individual relationships.

Absolutely with no reservations in any way would I recommend your course to anyone….even someone at my level.
I have to say that the what I learned will certainly, and has, cause me to turn a corner on a new path in my music studies and expression.

I really feel I have all the tools to observe, ponder, and study not only difficulties, but desires for expression and interpretation, to break anything down into it’s component parts and build it back up, level by level, to whatever the product is: bowing to produce the sound I have in my mind.

[Anonymity Requested] amateur violinist playing in orchestra and quartet
I was a little nervous because Sophia is such a beautiful player and I felt a bit embarrassed at my efforts. I found Sophia easy to work with, very approachable and focused on fixing issues in a friendly and professional way.  I have much more feeling and awareness of what my bow is doing (or not doing). I understand the reasons why we do things in certain ways and how to apply these. I have improved my tone and feel much more in control of my bow.  The course has been so much more than I expected. Sophia has worked really hard and been most generous with her time and input. It has maintained enthusiasm and motivation for 3 months. The group of participants have been supportive and engaged. If you want to sort out bowing issues, then this is the course for you.

Rebecca Anderson – violinist in a community orchestra
I now have a much better understanding of bowing techniques and my sound is much better. My spiccato and ricochet bowing are better.  With changing my setup I am more relaxed playing and have less pain.  I watch other players with a more critical eye.  I have learned how to research pieces and the value of recording and analyzing my playing to get the sound I want.  Sophia has been very encouraging and helpful.  She is able to watch me play, figure out what doesn’t work, and explain corrections to make.  If I didn’t understand something she would try another example until I got it.  She truly wants her students to succeed.  Sophia’s videos and lessons start with the basics of setup and proceed through different techniques with very clear explanations and exercises to apply each technique.    Topics presented cover not only playing techniques but also practice and research methods and are backed up with research and references to many different teachers and academics.  This is a very comprehensive bowing course with added gems of knowledge in performance preparation.  I highly recommend this course to anyone wishing to get a better sound from your instrument.  This course was very helpful to me and I will revisit the videos to continue improving my playing.  Sophia is very encouraging and truly wanted me to succeed.  I hope to take more courses from her in the future. 

Jeanne Mundy, Violinist and Violist, Educator, former member of several orchestras and freelance musician
I get nervous EVERY time I work with someone the first time or two! I am glad I did the course, though. I think I can finally play – successfully – the Bach E Major Partita, 1st movement! I understand how important it is to be relaxed and loose when you play. Tension is a killer. And I understand how important proper setup is. I’ve always stressed it in my teaching but this course reinforced it. I also realize how important it is to have proper fitting equipment. Sophia has put hours into preparing this course. The lessons are well-organized, each one incorporating a review of previous material. The videos are very explicit and coordinate well with the written portions of the lessons.  She is definitely a Master Teacher.

A Mathematician, Phd

I was excited to work with you because in the Violympics you always had such gorgeous tone and I wanted that. Significantly better tone and bow arm mechanics. I also pay more attention to the bow arm (especially the upper arm) when I watch others play. My spiccato and ricochet were non-existent and my martele was very poor, and all of those have improved significantly. Dr. Sophia is incredibly patient, and I found her the very best kind of teacher, always pushing to do better but in a way that makes you want to push yourself. Always happy to answer questions and put in 110% effort. I think the course material is good for players of almost any skill level.

Hallie Michaels – I’m a professional musician in Dallas and I teach 5th – 12th grade strings at a private school.

I always love watching you play – your bow looks like ballet to me and your sound and bow control is beautiful!! Your playing made me even more inspired to work with you!! I was so excited to have this opportunity!! I have a much better understanding of what I need to do to make the corrections to my bow arm and I’m able to apply it now! It takes time to change years worth of habits but it feels so good to be on the right track now! Sophia was so patient with me as I processed all the info and I am excited with the results! I will continue to work slowly on the things that I have learned so everything becomes more natural for me and I hope that soon, it will be 100% natural! Also, I have noticed that my sound has improved quite a lot and I am able to do different bow strokes with greater ease! Sophia answered every question I had and has guided me beautifully on this path to transforming my bow arm! Sophia is a kind, caring, dedicated, patient, and super knowledgable teacher. I have never worked with anyone who knows so much about the bow!! Sophia wants to help so much; she takes the time to know each individual student so well and works so hard to help each student to grow. Her daily lessons are broken down, presented and organized in such a good and systematic way. Private lessons are structured to be more individualized and Sophia makes sure you understand what she is teaching you! You never feel rushed – she is dedicated to helping and you can feel that in every lesson! Group lessons/meetings and projects give us the opportunity to also learn from, be encouraged and work with our peers; we’ve made such good friendships and have created a wonderful support network. Sophia has thought of everything! This course has been amazing and Sophia is such a dedicated and wonderful teacher!

Andrew Schwartz Crane, violist

I really appreciated the holistic approach to the bowing, starting with a solid foundation and reinforcing that in every lesson. Sophia is a dedicated teacher and brings years of expertise, experience and research to each lesson. She is very attentive to the individual learning needs of each student. The course offers a perfect balance of individual lessons, group interactions, and self-study activities. I have a much greater awareness of how my entire bow arm – from fingers to shoulders – feels when I hold the bow as play. This tactile consciousness helps me make more precise adjustments that can result in an improved sound. My contact point is more consistent and my bowing is more fluid. I had not realized before the course that I avoided playing all of the way to very frog, and now that I do, my bowing feels much freer. And as an added benefit, my overall posture has improved.

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