NZ Suzuki Journal Summer 1999 – The Suzuki Method of Music by Kristin Irving
Kristin Irving is an 11-year-old violinist from Auckland. Her teachers have been Anna Bold, Stacey Shuck, and Simon Griffiths. Kristin has attended several Auckland Branch Workshops and Snells Beach Camp for four years. The following article was Kristin’s Form One assignment on any topic based on fact. She received full marks. When asked what is her current favourite thing about violin playing, she answered, “I like the challenge of learning new things and performing with others.”
The main focus in the Suzuki Method is to learn to play by imitating the music that is heard. This means a child is taught to play an instrument by ear, copying what they have heard rather than reading the music. Learning by ear is the easiest way to learn because you hear the piece played to you before you start to learn it.
When you learn an instrument by the Suzuki Method, you repeatedly listen to tapes of the pieces you are going to learn before you start to learn them. Because children first learn to speak by hearing and imitating, Dr. Suzuki used the same method in teaching an instrument, and he named this the “Mother Tongue method.”
The Suzuki Method teaches one skill at a time, as it is easier for a child to concentrate on one thing, such as playing the correct notes, rather than on learning how to sight-read at the same time. When each new skill is taught, it builds on the foundations already learned. If the student tries to learn more than one thing at a time, they can get sidetracked, and it takes longer to learn the piece.
A beginner is first taught how to hold the bow before they even put the bow to the string to play. The Suzuki teacher emphasizes producing a good tone and good posture from day one, while note-reading is introduced at a much later stage once the student is already playing a lot of pieces.
Another important part of learning by the Suzuki Method is repetition. By repeating something enough times, it becomes much easier, and you can play it without having to think about it. A student is expected to regularly practice all the pieces they have previously learned. This emphasis on reviewing earlier learned pieces develops strong playing by working on techniques and tone.
Children who learn the Suzuki Method usually start at a young age, for example, even as young as two years old. This does make learning easier. It is a proven fact that in the first six years of your life, you learn more than you do in the rest of your life span. In Japan, three-year-olds are playing Vivaldi’s A Minor Concerto, which is an advanced piece of music and shows they have started at a very young age. It is easier for young students to memorize long and difficult pieces of music, while adults struggle to memorize them.
Another aspect of the Suzuki Method involves participation in group lessons. Students can also take part in music camps and workshops, where they learn and play music together, which makes it fun for them. When students learn by the Suzuki Method, they are surrounded by a non-competitive environment, and they do not have to cope with the pressure of exams or competitions as opposed to the traditional method.