Elena Stenkina, accordion teacher online

[Jaime_Dergut]

Hello folks, I just wanted to share this with you.




Elena Stenkina is an internationally renowned accordionist and dancer who delights audiences all over the world with her unique style and energy. She has performed worldwide on Princess and Carnival cruise lines and in the Great Moscow State Circus. She holds a silver medal in the Original Music Category at the World Championship of Performing Arts in Hollywood, CA and graduated with a Master's Degree of Music from the Moscow Pedagogical Institute.

She is well versed in piano accordion and bayan. Price per lesson is 30$ for 45 mins, it can be either Zoom or Skype.

Send her a message on Instagram for more details about her lessons:

@elenastenkina

Her Youtube account:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj0ybrVdyXpYYH6N2zoBG1Q?app=desktop

 

[JerryPH]

She may be a good dancer and may be a good teacher for beginners, but I find her playing skills weak, based on her youtube videos, no offence intended.

 

[Dingo40]

Jerry,
Music is a very "wide church) with room for much variety.
While she may not be great at playing Bach on a Bayan or a converter in a cathedral , you must admit she's got a handle on entertaining an audience of an average crowd who " just want to have fun ".
And there's certainly a place for someone who can provide a helping hand to those who want to learn how to do just that!
Let's not be too elitist , there's room for all, and to spare!
Currently, (here in Australia) we have someone wanting to ban revealing bikinis on our Gold Coast beaches : Good luck with that, I say!
See here

Locals respond to Gold Coast bikini ban furore

‘The fact that it’s been sexualised and so much attention has been brought to it is really disheartening.’

7news.com.au

 

[Ffingers]

Jerry,
Music is a very "wide church) with room for much variety.
While she may not be great at playing Bach on a Bayan or a converter in a cathedral , you must admit she's got a handle on entertaining an audience of an average crowd who " just want to have fun ".
And there's certainly a place for someone who can provide a helping hand to those who want to learn how to do just that!
Let's not be too elitist , there's room for all, and to spare!
Currently, (here in Australia) we have someone wanting to ban revealing bikinis on our Gold Coast beaches : Good luck with that, I say!
See here

Locals respond to Gold Coast bikini ban furore

‘The fact that it’s been sexualised and so much attention has been brought to it is really disheartening.’

7news.com.au

I have a very strong opinion on the concept of banning bikinis on beaches - they should be banned and all clothing outlawed at the swimming places.
This 'covering up' thing is unhealthy and unnatural.
Bare skin is best !!

 

[Thomas N]

Uh oh...clicked on various spots in three videos on her channel and never saw a left hand bass touched....a pet peeve of mine....

 

[pitzelberger]

It might be obvious, but since it has not been mentioned here: she can be also seen on dozens of liberty bellows videos.

 

[Thomas N]

It might be obvious, but since it has not been mentioned here: she can be also seen on dozens of liberty bellows videos.

Hey, left hand in action...excellent!

 

[Jaime_Dergut]

It might be obvious, but since it has not been mentioned here: she can be also seen on dozens of liberty bellows videos.

She was the artist in residence there. There are like a hundred videos of her playing different accordions, including tutorials for starters in bayan and this article at accordion chords:

How to Hold the Accordion – Sitting & Standing Position​

Sure, she may not be a virtuoso musician, but usually they don't know how to be pass their knowledge and are terrible teachers.

 

[JerryPH]

Jerry,
Music is a very "wide church) with room for much variety.
While she may not be great at playing Bach on a Bayan or a converter in a cathedral , you must admit she's got a handle on entertaining an audience of an average crowd who " just want to have fun ".

And to be fair, that is likely the vast majority, and in terms of keeping the accordion alive, those people have a bigger impact than the virtuosos, I can at least be fair and acknowledge that.

And there's certainly a place for someone who can provide a helping hand to those who want to learn how to do just that!
Let's not be too elitist , there's room for all, and to spare!

It's not so much being elitist, I just think that if you are teaching something, have more than middle of the road skills, how are you going to help your students if they are with you more than a year?

Currently, (here in Australia) we have someone wanting to ban revealing bikinis on our Gold Coast beaches : Good luck with that, I say!
See here

Locals respond to Gold Coast bikini ban furore

‘The fact that it’s been sexualised and so much attention has been brought to it is really disheartening.’

7news.com.au

Oh heck well I think most people will strike a post against that. My personal pet peeve are the painted on stretchy pants that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination (apparently highly fashion-aware to not wear under garments with them!)... its ok if the person is at least mostly in shape but where I worked there were many (MANY) 300+ pound ladies that were displaying their "wares" openly... not the kind of thing one wants to see all day, on a beach or at work.

 

[Dingo40]

usually they don't know how to be pass their knowledge and are terrible teachers.

At college (university) we were lectured Maths 101 by the professor, head of the Maths Department .
He spent the entire term with his face stuck to the blackboard, his back to the class, scribbling formulae in minute , indecipherable script on the blackboard, while muttering something inaudiably in sotto voce: it didn't do my maths any good whatsoever.
We may as well not even have been there!
Later, I switched to Georaphy and Psychology and never looked back!.
The Geography Department's approach to students and lecturing was like chalk and cheese!
But then, many of their lecturers had actually been secondary teachers in a
previous life: and it showed!

 

[breezybellows]

While she may not be great at playing Bach on a Bayan or a converter in a cathedral , you must admit she's got a handle on entertaining an audience of an average crowd who " just want to have fun ".
And there's certainly a place for someone who can provide a helping hand to those who want to learn how to do just that!
Let's not be too elitist , there's room for all, and to spare!

Actually she can play classical music and play it in different free bass systems (if I remember correctly). Although a majority of her performances don't showcase the left hand. She usually uses a backing track and plays only the right hand. I don't think it's because of skill level.

Although I'm not a big fan of the type of music she performs, one should acknowledge that she's skilled and accomplished. She performed on the main stage at Cotati and they don't invite mediocre players to perform there. For those not familiar with the festival, the main stage usually features names like Cory Pesaturo, Sergei Teleshev, Alex Meixner, Matthias Matzke etc. Not all performers are as good as the ones they listed. But they don't invite average accordion players. You gotta have chops.

 

[Pipemajor]

ban revealing bikinis on our Gold Coast beaches : Good luck with that, I say!

I've seen those bikinis at Surfers Paradise.
Not a lot to ban!!

 

[Ffingers]

I've seen those bikinis at Surfers Paradise.
Not a lot to ban!!

But cost per unit area - astronomical!!

 

[JerryPH]

She performed on the main stage at Cotati and they don't invite mediocre players to perform there.

Hmmm... Cotati, I have an opinion there too. I've seen mediocre players been invited to play on the main stage, yet they placed skilled players like our own EMAN who were placed elsewhere, There is more than a smidgen of favouritism and politicking there too.

Being invited to play at Cotati is not a sign of being a capable performer (though there are good performers there for sure), much less a qualified teacher... but of course, everyone is free to their own opinion.

 

[breezybellows]

Hmmm... Cotati, I have an opinion there too. I've seen mediocre players been invited to play on the main stage, yet they placed skilled players like our own EMAN who were placed elsewhere, There is more than a smidgen of favouritism and politicking there too.

Being invited to play at Cotati is not a sign of being a capable performer (though there are good performers there for sure), much less a qualified teacher... but of course, everyone is free to their own opinion.

You need to have connections. That is a requirement. They might not invite good players without connections, but IMO they don't invite slouches because they are connected.

She can definitely teach students for longer than a year. I'm not sure which videos you watched. Most of her videos in her channel are right hand only performances with a backing track.

This one for example is actually pretty good.

 

[Jaime_Dergut]

Well, in defense of Elena, I just want to state that she is an amazing accordionists, and has gotten hired to play at international events as an artist to countries in Europe, South America and South east Asia. Plus, she was born and raised in Russia, the birth place of bayans, where real education in arts (and general education) is still serious .

You are not going to see a poorly developed musician from an university of Moscow, who is actually getting paid to play internationally.

She has several credentials, but above everything else she has a self esteem of steel and a enough physical fitness in order to perform like that in front of an audience.

Needless to say, she is only charging 30$ for a 45 mins class. That is far less than what most accordion teachers in North America will charge, with lesser credentials than her.

If you are still in doubt, just book a session with her. Who knows. You might learn something.
Don't be so stingy!

 

[Thomas N]

You need to have connections. That is a requirement. They might not invite good players without connections, but IMO they don't invite slouches because they are connected.

She can definitely teach students for longer than a year. I'm not sure which videos you watched. Most of her videos in her channel are right hand only performances with a backing track.

This one for example is actually pretty good.

In Jerry's defense, and he doesn't need anybody to defend him, I agreed with him after watching the original linked videos. Nothing too special and very stylized with backing tracks and zero left hand. Even the linked video above is mimed and recorded in a studio. The sound from outside and the waterfalls would be deafening. But after watching her videos from Liberty Bellows on acoustic accordions without backing tracks she is indeed a very good player. I rarely take the time to delve into somebody's YouTube history to find additional videos and make my comments based upon what was shown in the original post.

Edit: Oh my goodness. I just clicked the link again and saw her latest "My Heart will go on" or whatever that Titanic song is. I am certainly glad that wasn't the first video I watched. We all appreciate the accordion in different ways, but this video is something else!

 

[breezybellows]

Even the linked video above is mimed and recorded in a studio. The sound from outside and the waterfalls would be deafening. But after watching her videos from Liberty Bellows on acoustic accordions without backing tracks she is indeed a very good player.

I wanted to link one of those videos. But with the number of videos that longer bellows has, I wasn't able to find one. So I went for one that demonstrated some good technique despite it being a music video of a pre recorded performance. Even if everything want played in one take, it demonstrated technique that doesn't sound bad at all (to my mediocre ears).

Edit: Oh my goodness. I just clicked the link again and saw her latest "My Heart will go on" or whatever that Titanic song is. I am certainly glad that wasn't the first video I watched. We all appreciate the accordion in different ways, but this video is something else!

A lot of those pop videos get the same reaction from me: "why?"

Its almost as if someone tried very hard to come off as a gimmick.

 

[JerryPH]

A lot of those pop videos get the same reaction from me: "why?"
Its almost as if someone tried very hard to come off as a gimmick.

In her defence (lol), a video made to "look cool" often won't be one a technical accordionist will appreciate. Even then, playing well is NO indication that they are a good teacher, but it shows their limits. They may be amazing as a teacher but limited as to how far they will be able to take you. You cannot teach what you cannot play.

 

[OuijaBoard]

I've never looked at her YT channel, but have seen dozens of her demos for Liberty Bellows, and she's a fantastic musician with extremely impressive versatility with many genres of music and many different accordion types and systems. I've seen her demo freebass converters and I've seen her demo diatonic button systems. A great sense of humor, style and fun, too.