Natalie V has made her mark as a genre-bending electric and acoustic cellist, writer, arranger and creative educator. Using Zoom classroom, Natalie now shares her expertise with students and adult players alike!
The course options below are perfect as stand-alone workshops and can be tweaked to fit any length of class period (up to 2 hours max for one session). Natalie’s material is relevant to string students of all levels and can be tailored to reinforce and complement your current lesson work and major semester themes. Check out Natalie’s full, multi-week courses & industry webinars online here.
“Thanks to Natalie, being super organized and articulate, I now have a very good idea as to how to practice and what I should work on. Before the workshop, I had no clue where I would start.”
“Overall i loved the class, i would say i definitely got what i was hoping for out of it, which was the confidence to start approaching improvising, and i’m continuing to integrate that into my daily practice which is awesome!!”
“ It was great, and Natalie is great (and super organized)!!”
VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS
Explore Natalie’s current, virtual offerings on Teachable.com or contact Natalie directly to inquire about 1:1 virtual, private lessons in alternative-genre, classical and/or improvisation studies.
IMPROV 101 - CLASS DESCRIPTION
SHEET MUSIC
Shop Natalie’s Rock and Holiday arrangements on Sheet Music Plus. Solo parts for Violin, Viola and Cello include chord symbols and optional ornaments and solos, to make “sitting in” with the band fun and easy!
LIVE WORKSHOPS
Improv 101 - Intro to Improvisation and Alternative-Genre String Performance
In this session, Natalie takes the “scary” out of string improvisation by helping participants realize they already have quite a bit of musical vocabulary to utilize! Natalie will identify several basic building blocks of improv and guide students through easy examples of how to practice and strengthen each one. The class will introduce some “play at home improv challenges” and work through a simple rock song as Natalie demonstrates applying the building blocks to a current pop/rock hit.
Recommended for Intermediate to Advanced players
Highlights basic music theory and harmonic function of the diatonic major scale
Discusses building blocks of basic improvisation and how to develop a range of possibility in each (including choices in melody, rhythm, tone, special effects, phrasing)
Develops aural skills
Includes a follow-along student worksheet (for school groups), “at home” improv exercises, and downloadable practice tracks
Adaptable class length to fit your particular needs
String Masterclass
A seasoned string teacher and youth orchestra coach, Natalie is comfortable providing feedback to any string instrument. Utilize her masterclass for your cello section, or open it up to all string orchestra members, allowing students to perform pieces of current private lesson repertoire or excerpts from their school orchestra parts. Natalie can work on bowing, tone production, vibrato and other general technical topics in a sectional-type coaching as well and has a quick and responsive tech set-up on her end to deliver effective feedback and demonstrations clearly and quickly.
Great for any skill and grade level
Private lesson (solo) repertoire, or school orchestra excerpts welcome
Chamber group or “sectional” coaching available as well
Adaptable class length to fit your particular needs
Career Chat and Q&A
Having a career day or looking for a speaker experience for your class? Natalie is happy to share her own story, influences and how she turned her love for cello and alternative music into a thriving career path. Sometimes, it’s about creating your own opportunities and developing a wide range of business skills to propel your creative ideas into existence. If you can envision it, you can use it to create your reality. Natalie chats about thinking outside the traditional framework, finding your niche as a professional, and opening doors for yourself. (40 min presentation and 15 min Q&A)
Great for any skill and grade level
Can also be done interview format to get the kids or teacher involved, or split into individual 1:1 career chats with students interested specifically in the entertainment industry
