Harry Grossman

TPR 520-003

November 19th, 2019

Teaching from the Balance Point Review and Discussion

General Review

Teaching from the Balance Point, by Edward Kreitman, is a book of strategies, methods,
and ideologies, and is a general guide for teachers, students, and parents who work with the
Suzuki (specifically violin) teaching method. In Kreitman’s guide, he goes through, concept by
concept, and breaks down each of these sections into very specific details. One of his favorite
methods of demonstrating examples from his books is to use anecdotes from his own teaching
experience. I’ll show plenty of examples of this throughout my summary. Kreitman is also a big
fan of using pictures, especially diagrams, to articulate some of his more complicated points.

Kreitman begins the book with an introduction into his viewpoints on the Suzuki
method. He gives a general breakdown of the Suzuki method, and tells us that he believes that
there are three main components: philosophy, curriculum, and technical concepts. Here, he
goes into detail on his viewpoints.

Kreitman moves onto the first chapter, addressing what he calls “priority teaching”.
Here, he explains what he believes to be the correct priority to teach by, that order being:

1. Teaching balanced posture of the body, including violin and bow hold
a. “Posture is the first priority because correct posture allows for the
development of all of the skills necessary to play the violin.”
2. Teaching balanced tone production or tonalization.
a. “The quality of sound is the first thing listeners will notice about your playing,
and it will either captivate them or allow their attention to drift away.”
3. Teaching perfect intonation
a. Perfect intonation is essential to good tone production and to making your
audience comfortable. No one enjoys hearing out-of-tune string playing.”
4. Teaching skills for developing artistic musicianship in performance.
a. “(Musical playing) is the fourth priority, but the primary goal, for it is through
the development of musical skills that we begin to approach the level of
artistry in our music making.”
5. Teaching notes and bowings to new pieces.
a. “You may wonder why learning new notes and bowings is at the bottom of
my list of priorities. The answer is simple. In twenty years of teaching the
 Suzuki Method, I have never met a student who had not learned the notes to
the piece he or she was working on. I have, however, met many, many
students who had learned the notes and bowings to their piece but who had
not learned to hold the instrument and bow properly, to produce a beautiful
full sound on their instruments, or to play in tune. My concern is that some
teachers and students are spending valuable lesson and practice time
learning how to play the notes and bowings of pieces, leaving no time for
refining the skills necessary for artistic performance of the piece after it is
learned. So, even though the learning of notes is the lowest teaching priority,
it is one of the first skills I teach my students so that they can do the note
choosing on their own, freeing lesson time for the more important work of
learning how to play the instrument—and developing musicianship.

Kreitman then moves on to his last point first. In this chapter, he speaks about the
different of learning “note versus rote”. His three different sections of this are:

 Learning by rote
o Using a specific set of instructions to produce the desired result.
 Learning by reading
o Using symbolism on the printed page to learn the sequence of
notes
 Learning by ear
o Using the “mind’s ear,” together with a few simple skills and a
basic understanding of the logic of the instrument to figure out
any piece

Kreitman uses the specific example of learning how to get from his home to the music school
where he teaches. He tells us that by learning by rote, that you would be given highly detailed
instructions (in this case, specific driving directions). He explains that although the instructions
ae clear, you would never be able to quickly internalize them, and that because you are
learning directions for this one specific task, that the task has no use in any other context, as
well as being a sort of “death sentence” if you make a mistake. He then shows us the same
example, but this time by reading symbols on a map, which he explains that trying to do will
almost certainly result in a mistake (and potentially an accident!). He finally goes on to tell us
about the third approach, in which you would learn by experiencing the drive first-hand, which
would help you internalize not just the directions, but other small nuances of the drive.
Kreitman then equates all of this to music and talks about learning Lightly Row with the three
different methods, and how the third method is the clear winner.
 The next part of this chapter talks about learning how to learn by hearing music, and
gives the beginning steps on how to see if the student knows how to learn by playing:

 Step One: Can you tell the different between two notes that are the same pitch
and two that are different pitches?
 Step Two: When they are different, can you describe the second pitch as higher
or lower than the first?
 Step Three: Understand the inherent logic of your instrument.
 Step Four: Now how the piece you are trying to play is supposed to sound.
 Step Five: Think of the song in terms of direction of pitch.
 Step Six: Allow the freedom to use trial and error to choose the notes.

The next chapter in the book goes back to the first priority, posture. In this chapter,
Kreitman talks about the many requirements and rules of holding the violin properly, including
the use of many pictures to demonstrate correct and incorrect posture. He talks about shoulder
rests, chin rests, and talks about both left and right hands, as well as the actual holding of the
violin.

Chapter four talks about the concept of tonalization (NOT intonation), which is a
conglomeration of different aspects of making the violin resonate. The most important part of
tonalization, and really the heart of it, is playing notes that make the open strings resonate with
sympathetic vibrations. Kreitman then goes on to talk about the many different directions on
how to pull a clean, attractive sound, mainly dealing with bow weight and placement.

Chapter five talks about perfecting intonation. He goes over basic terminology (tone,
volume, pitch), and throughout this chapter, he talks about the different methods of learning to
play in tune. These are mostly rooted in tonalization.

The next chapter is all about becoming a better musician (Kreitman’s primary goal). The
beginning of this chapter talks mostly about violin posture and addresses the concepts of why
the body moves in certain ways while playing the violin. The next part of this chapter
demonstrates, with a chart of elements of music and what arm controls them, that the bow
hand controls the majority of the music. He then instructs the student to focus on “bow-
directed playing”. His example is playing through a passage with eighth notes, and letting the
bow play the correct rhythms and the left hand make the mistake, instead of the left hand
playing the correct fingerings, but the bow hand playing the wrong rhythms. He goes on
through this chapter about the different aspects of bowing, and give his three general rules for
making music:

1. Never play the same note/group of notes the same way twice.
a. “Variety is the spice of life”
 2. Generally, make notes in a phrase become louder as the pitch goes up and softer as
the pitch goes down
a. Sometimes this can be reversed or altered for special effect.
3. Fight the tendency to sow down as you get quieter or speed up as you get louder.

Kreitman finishes off this chapter by introducing vibrato, and insists that it must not be
selective.

The seventh chapter of the book is on the topic of listening, arguably the most
important aspect of the Suzuki violin method. He speaks on the amount of listening to daily
(and urges that there is always passive listening going on through the day). He then gives
realistic examples of what equipment to buy, how to chose what to listen to, and most
importantly, how to listen properly. Kreitman then talks about active listening, which is much
more intense, but in shorter bursts. He gives a long list on the order of what to listen for:

1. Getting the notes and rhythms of the piece right

2. Listening for bowings
a. Slurs vs. separate strokes
3. Listen for simple articulations
a. Staccato versus legato
4. Listen for the musical line and direction of notes
5. Listen for the form of the piece
6. Listen for the dynamic contrasts
7. Listen for fingerings
a. Positions, portamento, vibrato
8. Listen for advanced bowings
a. On/off string, spiccato, ricochet, etc.
9. Listen for ornamentation
10. Listen for advanced interpretation

In the eighth chapter, Kreitman begins to ponder the difficulty of proper practice
technique. His main point in this chapter is that most people do not know the difference
between practicing their instruments and playing their instruments. He talks about his three
steps to developing a skill through practice.

1. Comprehension
a. Understanding the task
2. Cooperation
a. Getting your physical body to cooperate with what your mind comprehends
3. Constructive repetition
a. Repeating the task after you have achieved cooperation
Kreitman goes through these three steps, discussing different methods of teaching each of
them.
Kreitman’s ninth chapter is all about the review of material. He uses three different anecdotes
about three different violin students and discusses how each student did or didn’t use review to
their advantage. This ties back to his earlier concept of learning concepts and not notes in order
to use the concepts on a broader canvas than one single piece. He also mentions how each new
piece in the Suzuki books is 80% the same material and 20% new material. This keeps children
from plateauing and ensures that what they’re leaving is based on what they already know. He
tells us that he has his student play every piece in the book leading up to what they are on to
ensure that they are reviewing their old material, but also ensures that that 80% of technique is
still up to his high standard. He gives us a few ways to make reviewing more fun, and then talks
about working on your own personal review list.

Chapter ten is all about the minute details of shifting and the different positions (which,
he tells us, are two completely separate entities). The positions are all straightforward and
begin by putting your first finger on your left hand where the next finger would fall. Kreitman
immediately moves onto shifting, and talks about the different aspects of shifting, as well as
why you would choose to shift (featuring plenty of visual examples from different pieces of
music):
1. To extend the range of the pitch on the E string
2. To eliminate string crossings
3. To eliminate crossing over multiple strings
4. To make notes lie well under the fingers
5. To retain the timbre or some of one string’s voice
6. Sequential passages, in which shifting allows the same fingers to play a sequential
passage in a new location on the fingerboard of the instrument.
7. To avoid vibrating a sustained note with fourth finger or to prepare the hand to
vibrate a special note with a certain finger.
8. To set up the hand for a trill
9. To prepare for a high note before you get there
10. Use of portamento

He tells us that, if one cannot understand why a certain fingering was chosen, to simply test the
passage with another fingering and find what causes difficulty.

The penultimate chapter is all about the correct usage of vibrato, and gives us his three
steps to develop vibrato correctly:

1. Developing the form

 a. Exploring all of the physical motions necessary to create the perfect vibrato
technique in slow motion
2. Developing the speeds
a. A series of exercises designed to develop a wide variety of vibrato speeds so
that ultimately the performer can choose from a palette of many tonal colors
3. Incorporating vibrato into the playing
a. Starting with very simple melodies and exercises, work on adding the vibrato
to the playing

Kreitman then gives his many different pieces of advice on how to teach vibrato. He talks about
what vibrato is exactly, the different types and aspects of vibrato, and talks in depth on the
physicality of learning to vibrate.

Kreitman finally summarizes his book by talking about visions versus expectations, and
how expectations can ruin one’s career. He uses anecdotes of two students; one who had high
expectations and failed, and one who had no expectations and succeeded. He gives a humane,
personal touch, before sending the reader off on their way to a better life of playing the violin.

Discussion

While reading the through Kreitman’s foray into the world of the Suzuki method, I really
felt that most of his points were very well articulated and insightful; however, I couldn’t help
but ponder many of the arguments that he brought up throughout the book.

Personally, I thought that, although most of Kreitman’s points were excellent, they were
also mostly that of common sense. One of the best points I think he makes in the book is that,
when a student makes a mistake, they should immediately stop. I couldn’t tell you the number
times I’ve seen (or even experienced) a rehearsal or lesson where the ensemble, or parts of the
ensemble, made a glaring mistake that went completely unchecked. These kinds of mistakes,
when left unanswered, have a nasty habit of bringing the worst out in a player, and I hate to see
it happen to so many different people. Many people (especially beginning students) don’t even
know they’re making a mistake, and by letting even a single one slide, you’re risking a huge
snowball effect taking place. I understand that it’s difficult, neigh impossible, to address every
mistake in a lesson and also make great progress, and that if there’s to be a single goal, that
some things must be set aside for a time, but students should always be made aware of
everything they’re doing, whether it’s right or wrong.

One of Kreitman’s comments I wholly disagreed with was his opinion that in every
lesson, every student will play every piece from their respective books every time. To me, this
sounds like a surefire way to bore a student to death, and worse, give the student the
impression that they’re not making any progress. On a purely cost-benefit level, it can make a
 parent feel like they’re wasting their hard-earned money every single week. “Really? You’re
having Timmy play that again? He just played it last week and you said it was perfect!” This is a
very real situation that I could see a teacher falling into, and frankly, I would side with the
parent on this one. “The truth is that it takes only about 15-20 minutes to play straight through
all the pieces in Book 1, if you don’t stop to take your violin down between pieces and if you
can play through them without interruption or mistakes. Any student who can do this does not
require more than 10-15 minutes to work on the new techniques in the working piece.” In a
perfect world, these are all great points. However, this is not a perfect world. Students will
make mistakes, need to put down their violins, and will be interrupted. Unless you have a star
student who’s extremely mature, I simply think that this is a pipedream. Being more realistic
would be so much more worthwhile in the long run. All I think you would really need to do is
parse down the amount of review music. The same concept could easily be achieved in less
time, while still being just as effective. The thing is, I think this entire concept of review should
be moved out of the lesson and into a home practice session, maybe once a week. The idea
could be developed further, but I think as it stands, it just wouldn’t work.

As far as other points, I think a pro/con list may work better for this assignment.

Pro
 Can be used for almost any instrument
 Step-by-step, easy to retool to your own
teaching
 Strategies easy to follow for all kids
 Familiar material
 The book is from a place of true care for the
student’s success
 Very detailed explanations of concepts
 Well laid-out formatting
 Great use of pictures and diagrams
 Many examples of real-life situations being
diffused in anecdotes
 Lots of different ideas for games to keep
learning interesting
 Most points are common sense and won’t
alienate reader
 Methods usable by many different teaching
styles, not just Suzuki
 Informal voice is very easy to read
Con
 Some examples useless for non-violinists
 Too rigid in beliefs, not accommodating for
all types of students
 Badly in need of a new edition
 Audience is very vague; even in his address of
this issue, he doesn’t give a straightforward
answer
 Some unreasonable expectations
 Some explanations require more prior
knowledge than most parents will have
 Final chapters on technique become
convoluted, especially vibrato chapter
 “Perfect-world” mentality not realistic
 Anecdotes become condescending when
referencing students and parents who did
not adhere to the method
 Concepts can become wordy and hard to
understand
 Too unaccepting of viewpoints different from
his own
 Overall, I think Teaching from the Balance Point is an excellent resource for teachers,
students, and parents alike. There are so many great examples through the book which make it
an essential tool than can be used in a lesson to supplement a task, or after a lesson for the
reader to strategize for the next. However, the book is not without its drawbacks. Kreitman can
be closed-minded at times, and a bit insensitive in others. Above all, I think this book truly a
crucial resource for any teacher, parent, or student of the Suzuki method.