The standard etudes, which some of the Germans call the "bread and butter" studies—Kreutzer, Fiorillo and Rode— should be studied, reviewed and re-reviewed, until the pupil knows them thoroughly. Many violin students are satisfied to go over these studies only once, and here is where they err, for not one student in a hundred really masters these studies on first going over them. They should be studied at least three times, if not four.
A bright American girl tells her experience with four eminent European violin teachers, located in different European cities. The young lady's father had business which took him to these European cities for a stay of six months in each, so it transpired that the young violinist had a different violin teacher every six months. She studied the Kreutzer etudes with the first teacher, and each succeeding teacher asked to hear her play Kreutzer before commencing her term of lessons. Each one suggested a review of Kreutzer, so she reviewed these indispensable studies four times each with a different teacher. She was inclined to demur going over the same ground so many times at first, but in the end was forced to admit that it had proved the best course.
