My first big accomplishment was the first day when I stopped the choking sound. Now I have a beautiful resonating sound coming from my violin!

After 10 weeks my bowing has improved so much that it does not even sound like the same person playing! The smooth bowing exercises greatly improved my bow technique. The quarter bow exercises were key to fix the slight shakes I had in parts of the bow.

Thanks so much for your wonderful program. Over the years in Corporate America I written and conducted a lot of training programs. Your program is very professional and easy to understand. You are especially talented in breaking down the bowing process in small steps that can be understood and accomplished.

I am so thankful for the courses I’m working in – Paganini’s Secret and Bow Like A Pro. They have been life-changing for me! That is really true! I began studying violin as an adult, and have worked with several teachers, but I’ve never had the kind of instruction provided in these lessons. I am now learning the movements of the arm and hand and wrist and fingers that lead to a better sound. Both Zlata and Vivien have a wonderful teaching style, and demonstrate and explain the exercises extremely well. I can see and feel and hear a difference already. Now that I’m retired, this 70-year-old-lady has more time to work on violin. The exercises are challenging, and I enjoy playing and practicing more than ever. Thank you Zlata and Vivien!

I am writing to let you know how much Bow like a Pro has helped me and strengthened me as a violinist! I am much more confident, have improved my skills in many areas and my approach to the instrument and to practicing have changed for the better. I am far from done and I continue to learn and follow the BLP program systematically. I am currently working on improving vibrato. Thank you for such detailed and well organized materials and tutorials! Also, for adding to the program on a regular basis.

I wish you and your family all the best.
Please continue to help and inspire violinists everywhere!

I would like to invite violin players who wants to play beautifully, to consider taking a course in Bow Like A Pro by Zlata Brouwer.

Not only is it a course where 24 different bowings are explained, but it done in such a way that you can practice and learn the different bowings one by one in separate lessons. The different bowings are all dealt with in a way that everyone can understand it – no matter the level of your violin playing.

Did I mention that bowing is the most important part of violin playing? You might have all your left hand fingers placed in the right position on the fingerboard but if you do not bow in the correct way, you are wasting your time – your violin playing will never sound beautiful – it will always have a squeaky and scratching sound.

Before Bow like a Pro I have wasted many years in hoping it will sound better with time, but that is not how it works. I built wrong muscle memory into my violin playing and now it is very hard to unlearn it, but this course helps me greatly.

It’s awesome that you can send in a video or ask a question as often as you like and you will get personal feedback.

Zlata is also making use of other professional violinists as guest teachers to explain a certain bowing or giving warm up movement before starting your daily playing which can be very handy.

Speed of bow, weight of bow and point of contact play a very important part in your violin playing.

The fee Zlata is charging, is quite reasonable keeping in mind that after 12 months subscription, you have all the study material which you can go and check out again ever so often and new material gets often added to the existing Bow Like A Pro for instance and that is just so great!!

Bowing plays a very important part of violin playing and there for i recommended Zlata Brouwer’s Violin Lounge to everybody who wants to make a beautiful sound on their violin.

Time is precious. Don’t waste unnecessary time hoping to make a beautiful sound with your violin. The answer is to join Bow like a Pro!

First off, thank you so much for all that you have put together to help people learn to play the violin. I first found your free lessons, then the weight vs pressure workshop, and then I took your offer for the lifetime access. Every step of the way I found that if I listened and did as you suggested my playing improved, usually dramatically.

If I knew anyone trying to learn to play the violin I would certainly tell them about your site and stress to “Do what Zlata says!” I still recall the first time I was sitting on the sofa watching TV rolling a stress ball around in my fingers, manipulating a chopstick (I can never find a pencil…), and bowing through a toilet paper roll when I decided that enough was enough and I picked up the violin to see if had made any difference at all.

So I grabbed the bow (using the method you showed me), picked up the violin (like you showed me), and played open strings (like you said to do). The difference was immediate and dramatic and I have not doubted you since. (Not that I doubted you anyway, you’re simply too happy and direct in your videos to distrust.

It is a wonderful opportunity for me to improve my violin playing and technique. The more I follow your videos the more I see great results. I am really motivated and practice every day, working on your instructions.

Your video instructions are very clear, concise and easily understood. I can replay the videos again and again which is very helpful. Being able to stop the video at any point in the instruction I can learn how to do that particular technique on my own until it is correct.

I see a huge improvement in intonation, bowing accuracy and a lovely volume as the bow passes over the strings. I look forward to each new video lesson but I make sure that I do not move on until I have mastered the previous lesson.

Thank you again, you have taught me how to make beautiful music with confidence.

Dear Zlata,
I just noticed the e-mail you sent asking for feedback about the violin academy. So, I figured it’s high time I wrote and told you about what I’ve been learning. I’ve just been so blessed by your academy. You’ve given me back my joy in playing violin. Violin is so much more enjoyable when I play in a relaxed way! 

First of all, I took lessons when I was younger for about 6 years. Then I graduated from high-school and got busy and didn’t play violin very much for 1 1/2 years. Well, I stumbled across your violin academy about 1 year ago. It has been AMAZING! I am such a visual person and getting to watch the videos helped immensely. I soon realized that the things I struggled the most with were the basics! As I watched the beginning videos, I soon saw how many bad habits I’d developed. Your videos have helped me so much! Some of the bad habits I mentioned was how I held the bow, my posture, how I moved my wrist and arm….well, I started doing some of the exercises for the left and right hand and my playing has improved SO MUCH. At Christmas time I played a hymn for our church’s annual Christmas program. Normally, when I’m in front of people my hand and wrist tighten up from nervousness and the violin squeaks and sounds horrible. Well, I’d been doing some of the exercises and my arm and wrist were all relaxed~ and when I played violin in front of everyone…it went great! I was able to have good tone and there were no squeaky noises.

Thank you so much, Zlata for violin academy! I’m so thankful to God for you and for all you do to help violin players like me! You are much appreciated!

Well, that’s my testimony of how you have helped me so much!

Well, thanks again!!!

Zlata’s academy has taught me to love playing the violin. Zlata really emphasizes sounding good and enjoying what you play. She teaches the basics with the focus of producing enjoyable music. Her cheerful personality and encouragement make her videos pleasant to watch. She has been very helpful and kind when she reviewed the videos I’ve sent her. The combination of her helpful online tutorial videos and her focused comments about my playing have produced instant improvement. I estimate that I now sound twice as good after only 6 months of Zlata’s academy.

I tried many other online schools. Other teachers seem to have one solution to every problem–PRACTICE MORE! They seem to say that success is being a ‘serious,’ very disciplined musician, who obviously…practices…a LOT. Yes, Zlata acknowledges the importance of practice, but she clearly wants students to enjoy their practice by playing well and sounding lovely. I will never be a soloist, but I will be a true ‘amateur,’ i.e. one who ‘loves’ what they do.

After all, who hears most of what I play? I am really the only one who hears the hours of practice. I might as well enjoy the music I make. Zlata’s academy has polished my technique and basics and my sound improved across the board. I find it easier to focus on what I’m playing, to improvise, and build my repertoire because I feel so much better about my playing.

Thanks, Zlata!

I’m so happy that I decided to share with you my results. I started doing the right hand motor skill exercises.

After two weeks practicing them on my free time at job or anywhere else, I went to my teacher and he asked me to play lesson 11 from hans sitt book 1. Which I’m struggling for 3 weeks, and I’m not confident on this piece.

But he said me that besides left hand’s problems I had my wrist completely relaxed and in a perfect movement. I didn’t believe on that and he recorded me playing to show me how good it was. And I saw a perfect bowing coming from me unconciously!

I’m really proud of your classes.