It was Neil Mackay’s intention that violin students, whether studying individually or in class tuition, should improve their musicianship by the enjoyment of melody. In his ever-popular teaching methods, including A Tuneful Introduction to the Second Position, First Year Violin Tutor, and Second Year Violin Tutor, and the Four Modern Dance Tunes, he combined his unique gift for gracious melodies with sensitive editing that leads students to a natural awareness of tempi and expression marks, and of the punctuation of phrasing shown by commas or rests.