Suzuki or Not Suzuki -- That is the Question
Suzuki or Not Suzuki
that is the question. --
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind, to suffer The slings and arrows
of outrageous boredom; Or to take arms against a sea of
Twinkles, And by opposing end them? When Shinichi Suzuki
introduced his method of instructing students in the art of
playing the violin it was somewhat controversial.
It was, he said, a more natural way of learning. The idea was to
learn to play the violin the same way that a person would learn
to speak their native language, the so-called "mother tongue
approach" to music education.
Suzuki also explored an area which became known as "talent
education." The word "saino" in Japanese can be translated
ability or talent. But it can also be used to mean the
development of an ability or personal trait, such as one's
character. As such, Talent Education came to refer to the
development of skill, knowledge and character. A seemingly
well-rounded approach.
Suzuki developed a repertoire and a curriculum, and teachers
from all over the world visited his institute in Matsumoto,
Japan to learn his techniques. The method spread from the violin
to other instruments including piano, cello, guitar and harp.
There are more than 8,000 teachers worldwide who endorse his
methods and follow his curriculae. More than 250,000 students
study music by the Suzuki method.
The question becomes, "Is the Suzuki method right for you and
your student?"
A Quick Comparison of Traditonal violin study vs. Suzuki.
Suzuki
* The Suzuki method of study emphasizes parent involvement and
parent-student interaction. Parents take several classes prior
to the start of their student's studies and are encouraged to
participate in the student's lessons once they have begun.
Parents are also the primary means of motivating the student to
practice and of making sure that the student follows the
instructions once the lesson is complete and the student has
returned home. This means that the parent will, at least at the
beginning, be actively involved in every single practice
session. * The Suzuki method emphasizes both active and passive
learning. Before a student ever touches a violin he is exposed
to the music he will play in the form of recordings. These
recordings are repeated over and over until they are completely
"internalized" by the student. In doing this it is believed that
the student will have a tremendous advantage in learning to play
the music that he has already heard . . . in some instances
hundreds of times. And for quite some time the only thing that
the student will play is "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." * The
Suzuki method encourages students to learn by following the
example of other students and by interacting with them on a
regular basis. Individual instruction takes place one-on-one
with the teacher or in a "small group." This is where the
student actually receives hands-on instruction by the teacher.
But periodically the Suzuki student will attend "group lessons."
At these group lessons the student interacts with other students
from his teacher's studio. They play together. They study
together. And hopefully they progress together. In any case,
when other students are present students who are not actively
being instructed are urged to sit and observe what is happening.
* Individual lessons frequently concentrate on a single
"teaching point." Progress is made one step at a time in one
area at a time. At least early in the learning process more
emphasis is placed on the student's posture, technique and tone
production than on playing recognizable tunes. In fact, many
Suzuki students don't even start their violin careers with a
violin, they use a box on which they can bow so that they learn
proper position first. * Music reading is not emphasized until
the student has mastered basic performance skills on the
instrument itself.
Traditional
* In traditional instruction there is usually no active
involvement of a student's parents other than observing
practices. While parents are often encouraged to attend lessons,
the majority of instruction usually takes place outside the
parent's presence. The parent is requested to monitor a
student's practice (or at least the amount of time practiced),
but are usually not a part of the practice itself. * Instruction
is often only one-on-one with the instructor. Unless the
instructor is part of a school district program, or has taken
the initiative to form some sort of ensemble group the student
does not usually interact with other students at his skill
level. If ensembles do exist, they are usually focused on
performing works together as opposed to Suzuki group lessons
that may be focused on developing a technique together. *
Listening to music that will be played may be encouraged, but it
is not usually an integral (or even integrated) part of the
program. * Emphasis is placed on reading music very early. See
the note, learn the note, play the note is quite common. after
several weeks of instructionSeveral weeks in the student can
already recognize the written notes that he will play.
My Evaluation: A Pox on Both Their Houses!
Both Traditional and Suzuki methods have strengths and
weaknesses.
Suzuki emphasizes teaching a philosophy through which a skill
can be developed. A successful Suzuki student will be a good
performer early if he doesn't burn out playing and hearing
Twinkle over and over. If there is a good student-parent dynamic
this can also be a really successful method, and an even
stronger bond can develop. But at times the intensity of the
parent-student involvement can become a bit overwhelming.
The traditional approach emphasizes the development of a skill,
and through the acquisition of that skill the realization that
practice and dedication usually leads to success. Parental
involvement is not usually nearly so intense in the actual
instruction and practice, and the student is much more likely to
play recognizable works earlier since he is actually taught
notes sooner.
The Solution?
Integrate the best of both methods and then throw in a little
fiddle! An integrated system of listening, observing, performing
and having fun seems to me the best approach.
There is no doubt that listening to the works to be performed is
beneficial. There is no doubt that repetition can be
tremendously important in skill acquisition. There is no doubt
that music theory introduced early becomes a strong foundation
on which a student can build an amateur (or even professional)
music career. And there is no doubt that students learn from
seeing and interacting with other students.
What we need is a single system integrating the whole world of
violin into a happy amalgam.
Why not start with a Suzuki approach in which the parents are
introduced to the instrument and understand the instructor and
her expectations at the start? Allow parents to observe lessons
and encourage them to participate in practices at home! Teach
the parents the games that Suzuki students play with their bows
and let them play along the same way they would in a Suzuki
studio!
But at the same time, why not let the students start working on
note recognition at the same time they learn technique? When we
show them the violin's A-string, show them the note on the
staff! When we show them the D-string, show them the notation,
too. Why not use the flash card or "big book" approach that is
used in our schools and hold up a picture of a rest symbol when
we want them to be quiet? Let the student see as well as hear
what they are doing. It seems to me that this is really
implementing Shenichi Suzuki's message. Just as we don't expect
our children to communicate only verbally and we show them how
we use written language early on, we should let the student see
what they are playing, not just hear it. In the same way that
our four-year old daughter used to "write" stories by scribbling
lines on a page, she could have "composed" songs by drawing on a
staff. And think of how powerful it would have been if she had
learned to play and read individual notes and had "discovered"
that she could read or write the melody herself!
Regarding fiddle, a child who picks up the fiddle doesn't
particularly care about if he is holding the fiddle correctly.
He doesn't care if he can read the notes on the staff. All he
wants to do is play something that sounds good and have fun. He
is highly motivated, and is thrilled when he finds out that he
can producing something that makes him smile, although those
others may really want to plug their ears. We need our young
students to be excited about picking the instrument up! We need
our young students reluctant to put the instrument down. We need
our students to truly experience success on their instrument
very soon after they first touch the instrument!
And let's integrate listening in a realistic way! Why not let
the students hear the music they will play, but also introduce
them to the local symphony orchestra or bluegrass group so that
they don't think that violins only exist on CD's. And speaking
of CD's, develop a library of a recordings that feature the
violin in various settings. The Suzuki CD's are fine if that is
all you are playing, but what about Sarah Chang's recording of
Sarasate's Concert Fantasy on Carmen when she was just nine
years old, and Stephane Grappelli's Jazz in Paris album so that
there is some jazz violin in the house, and maybe even an album
by the all-woman string quartet Bond.
We need to find a way to motivate students to want to learn more
about the violin. Maybe a daily visit to www.violinstudent.com
will help! Maybe a T-Shirt they can wear or some other
visual cue in their room will do the trick!
We can see that the theme parks, the children's television
networks, the toy companies and the fast food restaurants
realize that the key to influencing your child's decisions is a
multi-sensory approach. We should be just a wise as they are in
our approach to our children.
The Bottom Line
Either the Suzuki or Traditional method can produce competent
violinists. If parent-student interaction in what can be a
frustrating situation is good - by all means consider Suzuki.
But if intense child-parent interaction frequently leads to
tears in either party, the traditional approach is probably
better. And in either case, make sure that the relationship
between child, parent and teacher is a good one. Three
individuals tugging in different directions never make good
progress. Finally, have fun with the violin. After all, we don't
say that I "work" the violin . . . the verb we use is "play."