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I love teaching violin and viola with the Suzuki Method. Why? Because it gives me the opportunity to enter into the world of the child, to see the world from a fresh excited point of view. A small child is Life itself. After almost 25 years of teaching I see the wonderful results for those who learn to play their instrument with the Suzuki Method:
For me there is no other way to start a young child on probably the most difficult instrument anyone can try to learn - the violin and by extension, viola and cello. What ensures such success? |
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 The key is LISTENING. The Suzuki Method is an ear-training method. Students listen to a CD playing the music they are going to learn. In lessons, students listen as their teacher demonstrates and performs the music they will be learning. In Group Lesson, students listen to more advanced students play the pieces they will learn. Students do not read music until they have mastered their instrument.
As mentioned earlier, Dr. Suzuki believed that everyone has talent. It just needs to be developed. Suzuki teachers take many courses to learn how to teach each piece in the Suzuki Method repertoire. Teachers learn how to break down a particular teaching point to its smallest segment so that even the slowest student will succeed and gradually build up skills to learn to play their instruments well. The Suzuki repertoire for the Violin consists of 10 books. This collection is carefully thought out and well tested as a means method of teaching the craft of playing the violin successfully. Each piece builds on the previous piece. In Volume One the pieces are charming folk songs and light classical pieces that capture the parent's and child's heart from the moment he/she places the bow to the instrument. For example, many difficult bowing techniques, rhythms and tone are mastered through playing "Twinkle Little Star" in several variations. Volume Two is rich with lovely pieces so tuneful and familiar that they can be played at weddings. Volume Three introduces longer more complex pieces that are pure violin repertoire (previous books showcase transcriptions). Volume Four is the show-off book, where everything comes together in a series of movements from Concertos. Volume Five onward challenges the student to take on the masters of music literature culminating in Volumes Nine and Ten with two great Concertos by Mozart. In Suzuki, we think of Mozart as the original Suzuki kid in that he lived and breathed music from the moment he was born. The Suzuki philosophy separates the Suzuki method from other more traditional methods. Suzuki teachers believe in teaching the child the violin not the violin to the child. Each child proceeds at his/her own pace. This ensures that the slowest child will learn to play well. Parents are crucial to the process. They must be the coaches at home, ensure the CD is turned on at least once a day, sit in at all private and group lessons, and generally support the studio and work with other parents. It is up to the parents to create a stimulating environment that will nurture the child as he progresses on his instrument. It is at the heart of the Method that parents and teachers maintain a pleasant, positive tone at practices and lessons. Teachers and parents both must reach into their depths for creative ways to help the student learn. The parent is the glue that binds, that pulls everything together from the lesson to what happens at home. Perhaps the parent's role is the most difficult and it is because of this that some families withdraw. But those that hang in there, as much as they work on a daily basis, find their efforts immensely rewarding. The first time their little one steps up on the stage to play his or her first piece, a parent's heart will beat furiously at the wonder of it. It is a moment beyond pride. And to see the student go on to greater moments is intoxicating. Parents are grateful for the opportunity to bring such a gift to their children. Group lessons as well as individual private lessons are intrinsic to the Suzuki Method. As mentioned above, they serve to help students learn by observation, from watching the teacher and each other. They become friends and enjoy playing together, which ensures their continued interest in learning the violin. They learn to play as a group, in a team effort. Group lessons also bring parents together, to commiserate and to encourage one another, sharing tips and anecdotes. Music transcends language and communication barriers. Children all over the world, who study with the Suzuki Method, can come together at a given moment and play together without rehearsal or preparation. They play the common repertoire. How exciting to see sometimes hundreds of students on a stage playing together as one. In Japan, one can see thousands of children doing this at special concerts. Canada, Europe, Latin America: the Suzuki Method is reaching even the remotest villages, the poorest children and their parents, and the strains of Bach, Beethoven and Mozart are adding to the cultural canvases of their own lives. That's why I love teaching with the Suzuki Method. It's not just for me, it's for everyone.
Thus was born the Suzuki Method. A child learns the violin within a welcoming, supportive matrix created by his parents, his teacher, his family and community. He listens to the pieces he is learning and will learn every day, just as he hears his own language constantly. And at whatever his pace, he learns to play this intricate, beautiful instrument well. Teachers help out by playing, demonstrating, and helping child and mother overcome obstacles of technique and motivation. Mothers (or fathers) duplicate the lessons at home, adding incentives or games and lots of praise and encouragement and make sure the CD is on at least once a day within hearing distance of her child. The student, with a child's natural love of repetition, and increasingly fascinated by his growing ability on his instrument, acquires a habit of playing his instrument on a regular basis to practice all his teacher wants him to learn. "Ten minutes with love," Dr. Suzuki implored. Teachers and parents work together to ensure that the whole process is fun for everyone.
"When I saw several hundred children, some as young as four years old, all playing the Bach Double in unison, I realized there was something special happening here," John Kendall observed. Dr. Kendall brought the Suzuki Method home to the US. THIS IS AN EAR-TRAINING METHOD If parent, teacher and student adhere to a set of guidelines, a student will learn to:
It used to be that only the most talented students could do all of these things. But remember, Dr. Suzuki believed and proved that everyone has talent waiting to be developed. Therefore any child that learns to play his instrument with the Suzuki Method and goes the whole route will happily and easily play as well as any "talented" student. There are other advantages. Learning an instrument becomes a family event. Because of group lessons and lots of performance opportunities, families come together in mutual support and encouragement. More advanced students help less advanced students and beginners learn from the more advanced kids. Students are ready to perform at any given time with a common repertoire and NO music. All is memorized. In a natural way.
and the parent:
The Suzuki Method has an underlying philosophy that EVERY CHILD (AND ADULT for that matter) can learn to play a string instrument well. Suzuki teachers adopt a positive, praise-filled approach, and break down difficult tasks to the smallest step that the student can handle, thus the term Step-by-Step method. This makes learning successful. Most Suzuki teachers take the stance that "I'm here to teach the Child to play the violin, not to teach the violin to the Child." The child is the focus and we honour that child, not only as a unique human being but just for being a child and all that implies. Mozart was raised in a kind of Suzuki Method matrix. He heard and played his instruments every day and performed regularly. His father doted on him and helped him. Look at how he turned out! We don't have to put out Mozarts, just little people who will grow up to be big people who love to play for themselves and with others. Playing a string instrument well opens many doors to friendships and lifetime pleasure. Please call me if you would like to partner with me in bringing out the music, not just in your child, but in your family. You do not have to have any kind of musical training or background for you will learn alongside your child. You just have to have the openness and curiosity of a child, and the eagerness to learn something new. I can be your guide in what has become an ultimate rewarding experience for thousands of families. As the Director of Heartstrings Studio I teach The Suzuki Method with much enjoyment and dedication. I teach both violin and viola (B.A., M.Ed.) I am registered with the Suzuki Association of the Americas through Book Four on violin and viola. I was on the Faculty of the Suzuki Talent Education Society (Calgary) for many years before breaking off to form Heartstrings Studio in 1989. As well as keeping an active Calgary studio, I also ran Banff Childhood Strings at the Banff Centre and Mountaingate Strings in Canmore for five years. I attend Suzuki Summer Institutes, conferences, and workshops each year to keep up on the latest approaches to teaching with this method. I have recently started to correspond with the Latin Suzuki programme based in Peru, my mother's home country. I hope to return to Latin America upon retirement with a large number of instruments. It is my hope to teach strings to poor children in a group lesson format. As people donate instruments to my cause, it would seem this hope may become a reality. I hope you enjoy this music clip, performed by my viola students, is an excerpt from the first CD of the Calgary Suzuki Strings Association. "French Folk Song" (14 secs)
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