Today I’m talking with Thomas Halpin, a master violinist and teacher. A performer called “undemonstratively excellent” by The Times of London, Halpin has concertized throughout the U.S. and abroad—yet for more than four decades he has focused on teaching. We discuss how Tom learned to teach, including some of his favorite advice about problem-solving (which I used for many years in my English classroom). We talk about why the violin occupies its unusual spot in the collective imagination, and why music is worth studying—for everybody.

Thanks to Shayfer James for the music he lets Point of Learning use as intro and outro. His songs can be heard and purchased here.

The Point of Learning YouTube channel features video versions of the podcast. For this episode there are a few bonus features, including clips of Tom playing, photographs not included in the gallery below, and one surprise at the very end that I could not resist ...

YouTube Version

Episode Structure

The soundtrack showcases some of my favorite selections from the dozens of Thomas Halpin performances on YouTube, listed below in order of their use in the episode. Music links connect to full YouTube recordings and available information about collaborators and recording date.*

01:05 MUSIC: Philip Glass, Einstein on the Beach

02:35 MUSIC: Eric Korngold, Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, 1st movement

02:43 What is it about the violin?

03:35 MUSIC: Aaron Copland, Ukulele Serenade*

05:33 MUSIC: Max Bruch, Andante Sostenuto from Scottish Fantasy

05:57 Thomas Halpin biographical sketch

06:04 MUSIC: Larry London, Twisted Waltz from Dance Suite for Violin and Piano

07:17 Learning how to teach

11:12 MUSIC: Philip Glass, Einstein on the Beach

12:43 Why study music?

14:08 Ivan Galamian and “the teeming anthill” a.k.a. Meadowmount

14:12 MUSIC: Ned Rorem, A Final Dance from Sonata for Violin and Piano

17:07 STRATEGY: Identify-Isolate-Integrate

19:00 Becoming an Artist: Jaron Lanier, virtual reality as music, and what “instrument” really means

19:12 MUSIC: Eric Korngold, Concerto in D major for Violin and Orchestra, 3rd movement

19:43 MUSIC: Aaron Copland, Nocturne*

24:18 Zino Francescatti

24:31 MUSIC: Fritz Kreisler, Præludium & Allegro

26:10 Good Teaching and Bad Teaching

29:15 MUSIC: Pablo de Sarasate, Caprice Basque

29:18 The Learning Process

* Correction: I discovered soon after production that the Copland recordings were misattributed, based on some mislabeled source tapes uploaded by a third party. Halpin did record these works, but the performances included on the podcast should be credited to violinist Louis Kaufman. The pianist for Ukulele Serenade was Annette Kaufman; for Nocturne, Aaron Copland himself. I regret the error.

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Episode Transcript

During Tom's stint with Van Morrison was recorded this version of "Caravan," live at the Troubadour, circa 1973.

Van Morrison gives Tom a shout-out (06:14)

Tom on the triangle, his first instrument; his older brother Joe on bass. Circa 1952.

...

Point of Learning

Episodes

Master Class with Thomas Halpin (009)