The Suzuki Method
The Suzuki Method, also known as the Mother Tongue Method was developed by Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998).
His belief was that children could learn music in the same way they learn their native language.
Using the same principles as the Mother Tongue we can make learning natural and fluid.
And still focusing on high standards of quality without losing the joy of learning and discovery!
The principles used by the Suzuki Method are:
– Earlier Beginning
Every human being has the ability to learn, at earlier ages this ability is fresh and open to any experience available, starting to learn music as a child is easier and brings us benefits that stay for our whole life.
– Parent Involvement
Parent involvement in this process is fundamental because they are the most important figure in that child’s life, parents serve as a model and are the person responsible for all their autonomy.
in the process of learning music, parents attend lessons with the child and serve as “home teachers” during the week.
Parents work together with the teacher to create an enjoyable learning environment.
– Listening
When we are learning how to speak our environment is full of sounds, we listen to the same words over and over before we are able to speak them properly.
While teaching music we can use the same strategy, listening to the repertoire before we play it, making our journey easier and with a good model to follow.
– Repetition
Repeating the same word a thousand times is how we master the language ability, with our instruments it’s the same. By repeating something we first memorize it and with time and effort we make it easier and easier.
– Review
Reviewing our knowledge repertoire is an essential part of this methodology. After learning a piece we keep that on our repertoire list, polishing it and making these songs practice spots for new challenges, such as learning a new technique or preparing for a recital.
Our review should be done always in a mindful manner so we can go further in our musicality. Some of the benefits of doing a review are: always ready repertoire, memory and concentration improvement, solidifying and deepening skills, bridge to new skills, and more.
– Encouragement
Praising and celebrating every little achievement, with the true sincerity and encouragement, every step mastered gives us confidence for the next stages ahead.
Trust in your process and your own pace will get you the best results.
– Learning with Other Children
The social aspect of learning an instrument is a fundamental part of the musical journey.
Playing in a group and in a positive environment, we can share our experiences, learn from each other, and even make new friends.
Group lessons and recitals are moments when this social role takes part in addition to the private lessons.
– Graded Repertoire
The Suzuki repertoire presents the student’s technical challenges gradually, using its songs as the main road to follow. That means that we play songs (any songs) that match our ability and skill level. Always our measurement of progress is “‘how” we are playing and not “what”.
– Delayed Reading
The ability to read music is a fundamental skill for a musician or any music student, but in the same way that we learn our native language, just after the ability to speak well established is that children will learn how to read. With music, after we have acquired basic skills in playing an instrument we can learn how to read music more naturally.
If you want to know more about the Suzuki Method please refer to these websites:
Do you have any questions?
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