Géza Szilvay's Colourstrings method

Géza Szilvay teaching: ‘The violin is not the most natural thing to pick up and play … You have to shape the child's hands and fingers towards a comfortable and practical approach to the instrument’

‘I am always singing with the children – not speaking. I create and improvise so the approach is live music-making, not dull exercises.’ Here, in a nutshell, Géza Szilvay sums up his approach to teaching stringed instruments, which is embodied in his Colourstrings method.

We are sitting together at the Yehudi Menuhin School, which is hosting a Colourstrings International Training Course that Szilvay, at a sprightly 80 years old, is leading. Such is the success of his teaching method, it has taken off not only in Europe but in countries as far afield as South Africa, Australia, Korea and China. And so sure of its efficacy is Szilvay that he says: ‘I am convinced that I have developed a school that has everlasting value and will be taught after 200 or 300 years. I am not a missionary and I don't force it. It has its own value and speaks for itself.’