Teaching Methods - The Suzuki Method

The Suzuki Method of music education began in Japan through the concept of the “mother-tongue” approach.

Violinist Shinichi Suzuki began to apply the principles of language learning to music.  He recognised that when children began to learn their mother-tongue, they did so gradually, learning one new word at a time.  The adults in their lives would praise each new word, and gradually the child would be able to string more and more words together and intuitively understand the grammar of the language.  

Suzuki noticed that children learned by listening to the adults around them and only after they were able to speak did they learn to read and write.  He decided to apply this technique to learning the violin.

Suzuki method relies very heavily on parental involvement.  Suzuki-trained teachers talk about the triangle approach.  The child is the bottom line of triangle, supported equally on either side by the parents and the teacher.  Parents attend lessons with their children and they learn the violin too.  This way they are better equipped to help their child practice at home.

Children work through graded books. Everyone learns the same repertoire.  They have recordings of the music which they are encouraged to listen to everyday.  Children listen to all the pieces in their current book. This creates a familiarity with the music, so when they come to learn a particular piece, it is already known to them.

Initially the pieces are learned by rote and are memorised.  Once a child has reached a certain level, they go back through the previous books and learn to read the notation. 

Review is an important part of the Suzuki method.  Even if a child is up to say, Book 4, they will cycle through all the pieces from Book 1.  Often easy pieces, like the Twinkle Variations (a set of variations focussing on different violin techniques/rhythms, based on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star) are used as technical exercises in more advanced repertoire.

Children typically have two lessons.  One is their private lesson and the other is a group lesson.  One to one lessons focus on the technique of the individual and group lessons focus on playing together as an ensemble.  Suzuki associations hold regular camps, where children participate in group lessons and also masterclasses – where one student has a one to one lesson with a teacher, but others can watch and learn.

The main goal of the Suzuki method is not strictly musical.  The inherent belief is that every child can learn, and that through music children can develop into loving members of society.  Suzuki teachers believe that musical ability can be developed in all children.