Experienced tutor in Violin in New York, James offers private lessons tailored to your needs.

James is a very able teacher and A very pleasant man. I felt my confidence building rapidly despite having no previous experience. Even though I was in a large class James was able to give lots of individual attention to me and everyone else. We learned many songs and I’m still playing today 3 years later. James is also very much involved in local nyc Irish music scene.

James is SO patient and explains everything really well. He is an excellent teacher, and he is wonderfully encouraging to all.

James was patient and knowledgeable, I am absolutely going to continue taking lessons with him.

James is an excellent teacher! I took his class for absolute beginners this spring. The class was enjoyable, and I ended it feeling like I had a great base for continuing my practice. James was patient, knowledgeable, and more than willing to answer questions. In addition to teaching the basics of fiddle, he shared a lot of information about the history, context, and different styles of the instrument and what we were playing, which I loved. I will definitely be taking classes with him in the future and highly recommend you do too!

James Cleveland was a fantastic teacher. I highly recommend him to you. My overall experience was excellent! He was organized, patient, and accessible for questions. He created a relaxed environment to learn, and provided all the materials, such as videos and notation to review the tunes.

He explains basic musical concepts well, such that even the least experienced musician can grasp the ideas. Working with him as a beginner was great - he's patient, knowledgeable, and so darn nice :)

James is very patient & listens to what the student needs. He pushes you along so you surpass your own expectations! He also keeps students informed about related events to help us develop. A great experience!

James doesn’t just teach you how to play the fiddle, he introduces you to a new world of fiddling culture. He has a unique way of teaching by ear that includes the fundamentals of good Irish traditional playing. The mix of class instruction and his videos for reinforcement between lessons is a great balance, and his tips and stories are priceless. His friendly personality puts the beginner at ease: he makes you believe you’ll quickly learn to play, and you do.

James somehow made every minute of our one hour class count without ever seeming to rush. His patience made me much more confident.

I take the intermediate fiddle class at the Irish arts center with James and he is such a patient and fun instructor! His classes are peppered with funny anecdotes and little tricks to sound great on the fiddle. The selection of tunes that he chooses to teach is wonderful too.

His humble nonassuming personality and unending kindness

James Cleveland is an extraordinary teacher for fiddlers of all levels.
He conveys concepts with unusual clarity, breaks down tunes into
manageable chunks, and follows up with array of suggestions on
listening to tunes played by a variety of musicians. His basic kindness and support has inspired countless students of varying
abilities learn to play and develop themselves.

James puts a great amount of effort into selecting the right tunes and then teaching multiple ways of playing them. While he teaches by ear he always hands out the sheet music with the variations that he has taught at the end of class. I found this very useful in compiling a compendium of his taught tunes.

James is a patient, friendly, enthusiastic, and knowledgeable teacher. I've taken classes with him at the IAC for several years, starting from the first time I picked up a fiddle as an adult. I would highly recommend taking his classes, at any age.