GROUP 4

CAPARAS SAYAGO VIDAURETTA QUIROGO TEROL

SANCHEZ R. SANCHEZ M. DE GRACIA VILLARINO I. VILLARINO R.

SUZUKI
Method
What is the Suzuki
Method?
 ABOUT THE MAN HIMSELF
Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998) taught himself how
to play the violin at the age of seventeen. When
he was 22, he went to Germany and studied the
instrument under Karl Klingler. After that, he
moved back to Japan and soon became
interested in teaching children. At the time,
children usually started learning music around
ten or eleven. But Suzuki based his now
famous method on teaching children almost
from birth. Today, there are professional
musicians all over the world that learned by the
Suzuki method.
 PHILOSOPHY OF THE METHOD
While the Suzuki method is designed to make brilliant musicians,
it's main purpose deals with the whole person. For Suzuki, the
heart of the child was the most important part. He saw music as a
way of changing the world one child at a time.

Suzuki teachers are encouraged to continually be in training

themselves, constantly learning and growing. They are expected
not just to teach music in the context of moral living, but to live it
out themselves.

Suzuki's goal in his method was to Nurture the soul and the
character through music.
 THE MOTHER TONGUE
When Suzuki was studying in Germany, he struggled in
learning the language. He watched children pick it up
naturally while he struggled, and he realized that the
way children learn languages is a natural, immersive
process. He developed his method off of this idea, and
called it the "Mother Tongue Method." Today, we call it
the Suzuki method. The idea is that children learn music
in the same way they learn languages: their environment
is full of music, they learn a little bit at a time, and they
repeat everything they hear.
 PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
A vital part of the Suzuki method is parental involvement.
Parents accompany their children to all their lessons,
especially when the children are young. This way, parents
know what their kids are learning, and can better help them at
home. This is part of the mother tongue philosophy. When
children are learning a language, parents are vital to the
process. They encourage the children's attempts, and in the
case of music practice, they facilitate the practice times.
Sometimes, parents even learn the instrument along with their
child. As children grow older, the parents become less
involved. But especially when they are young, parental
involvement in the Suzuki method is vital.
 KEY STEPS:
The practice of the Suzuki method involves several
specific steps. Each one is an important part of the
Suzuki philosophy.

Group One thing Repetition Immersion Ear Training

Lessons at a time vs Note
Reading
 GROUP LESSONS

Suzuki students come together on a regular

basis to participate in group lessons. This is
a chance to build friendships, as well as get
them over the stage fright of playing in front
of other people. They also learn how to play
with other people from a young age. Parents
attend the group lessons as well as the
private lessons.
 ONE THING AT A TIME

The way Suzuki students learn

music is by learning one thing at a
time. Instead of trying to fit all the
pieces together at once, teachers
break it down and teach them in a
slow, methodical method, teaching
one part at a time, and later putting it
all together.
 REPETITION

Traditional methods have students learn a

song, then move on to the next song and
hardly ever revisit the old one. In the Suzuki
method, repetition is important. Students
constantly practice their old songs. This
repetition increases their skill as well as
widens their repertoire.
 IMMERSION
Part of the Suzuki experience is immersion. From infancy,
children are surrounded by their native language. Similarly,
Suzuki children are surrounded by music. Their parents
play varieties of music almost constantly (mostly classical
tunes), sing to/with them, and simply create an environment
of music that the child is immersed in. Because of this,
when the child is ready to start music lessons, he/she
already has begun developing a musical ear.
 EAR TRAINING
VS. NOTE
READING
Because students are constantly surrounded by music, they learn
mostly by ear. This becomes an advantage for them because they
can pick up almost any tune, and are not "married" to the music.
The actual reading of music is not a highly valued skill.

One common misconception of the Suzuki method is that Suzuki

students don't learn how to read music, but that all learning is by
ear. This is not true. In actuality, note reading is simply a step that is
added much later than traditional methods.
 CRITICISMS
• The biggest criticism of Suzuki is the previously discussed lack
of/gaining later in life, note reading. The Suzuki method is
associated with no note reading at all.

• Another criticism is that the Suzuki method creates "robots," so to

speak: students that play exactly the same way, with little room for
creativity.

• A third criticism is that the repertoire used in the Suzuki books is

overly classical--that there is little flexibility in the styles taught.
 All Children
“
Have Talent”
—Shinichi Suzuki