What is the Suzuki Approach?
The principal idea of the Suzuki Approach is based on Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s language attainment philosophies, is that all children (and for that matter, people) can learn no matter what upbringing. The fundamental parts of his approach come from the longing to build the setting for learning music. The Suzuki Method can be classified into a few fundamental factors:
• Parent serving as home teacher
• Early child age
• Listening and singing to the CD
• Repetition/Review
• Support/Encouragement
• Learning with other students
• Graded Suzuki musical repertoire
• Postponed note-reading
• For more information, visit http://suzukiassociation.org/teachers/twinkler/
The Suzuki Triangle
The learning process is built like an equilateral triangle – while the student is the base of the triangle, the two legs include the teacher and the parent. The Suzuki Method is built around the premise that the parents are the best educators of their children. This proven every day when we hear young children who speak their native language with an extremely high level of expertise.
Role of teacher – when a family embarks in the “Suzuki Musical Journey” the parents usually don’t know as much about teaching music to their child as they do about teaching them how to talk! So they hire an expert to teach them how to apply this Mother Tongue Method to the teaching of music. Therefore, the Suzuki teacher’s primary role is to be an example and role model for the child and parent. The parent learns from the teacher how to teach music to the child. The child learns how the instrument should sound and what good posture should look like and feel like. The teacher also exemplifies and embodies the positive Suzuki philosophy and teaches the parents how to practice with the child in a positive and motivating way. The typical SAA Registered Suzuki teacher has at least one college degree; some training registered with the SAA ,a love for young children and teaching, and some experience teaching individuals and groups.
Role of parent – the parent learns many things from the teacher: how to hold the instrument (or sit correctly at the piano), how to play the instrument or how to produce sound, how to produce good tone, how to change pitch, how to practice, how to ask for things in a positive way and how to get sufficient repetitions to build skill. They also learn how to get regular practice to happen, and how to make the listening and regular part of the child’s day. Later, they also learn how to read music notation and rhythm. The parent continually models the home practice after the lesson and imitates the teacher’s positive attitude and teaching methods while applying their own knowledge and expertise regarding their child. The Suzuki parent is very interested in how their child learns. They are looking for positive and innovative ways to help the child develop their potential. They are not usually trying to develop professional musicians or young prodigies. They want the best education and a way to participate in giving that to their child.
Role of student – the Suzuki student has the wonderful opportunity to be involved with many caring adults. It is important that the student is not confused or ‘cared for’ by too many of these adults at the same time! The student needs to understand that the parent looks to the teacher for instruction regarding the instrument and all of the skills listed above. He or she also needs to understand that the teacher is relying on the parent to help the student master the assignment at home. Suzuki students often begin between the ages of three and six, although they may start at any age. Most of them are already listening to good music and attending concerts.
**All of the members of the triangle need to understand themselves as parts of a whole, working together on an interesting and worthwhile project. Communication between all members always needs to be open, honest, and forthright. Everyone needs to feel comfortable in their role and needs to feel comfortable asking questions if something doesn’t seem right.