STRINGS MAGAZINE
Attn. Heather K. Scott
255 West End Ave.
San Rafael, CA 94901

16 May 2002

TO THE EDITOR:
As one of Strings’ readers and advertisers, I am impressed by the courage which led you to publish, in your May/June 2002 issue, Susan M. Barbieri’s excellent article: "An Elegy for Ethics?"

However, there is a matter I wish to query. California music educator, Bernard Chevalier, is quoted as claiming: "Compared to my students, I have superior knowledge. . . . Compare to a violin salesman, with my decades of practice, I have vastly superior playing and demonstration ability. Why should I not be paid a fee for lending him [i.e., a dealer] my expertise to sell his product?"

In reply, I want to ask him two questions: (1) "To purchase an automobile, would I be better served by asking a driving instructor about his preferences, or should I seek a professional car mechanic’s advice?" (2) "If I want to become a racecar driver, should I seek out experienced driving instructors, or consult an automotive engineer to get technical information about racecars?"

You will see the parallel. (1) Master violin makers, who are also dealers in stringed instruments and bows, are experts in their field: repairing, restoring, appraising, certifying, and, especially, making stringed instruments. Because of extensive training, they are uniquely competent—without an "under the table" OK of a teacher—to help others with their instrument purchases and other related services. (2) How to play the violin is a professional teachers’ field of competence, for which they are paid by students or parents.

Mr. Chevalier may be an excellent violin teacher—a master at playing and teaching. But his "superior knowledge" will only be useful in a general music store, when dealing with a salesman of mass-produced and cheap violins. For the same knowledge is ignorance in comparison to the expertise of a trained violin maker and dealer—a master at making and adjusting.