Suzuki Philosophy

Below you will find an extensive discussion of the Suzuki philosophy. It’s an edited excerpt from a document I wrote in graduate school so my apologies if it seems very research-y, stiff and dry!

Language Learning

Shinichi Suzuki observed that very young children could learn the complicated language of Japanese with relative ease (Carey, 1979). He recalled back to his own childhood that learning his native Japanese was fairly easy but learning German later as a adult proved very difficult (Suzuki, 1983). Suzuki realized that children the world over learn to speak their native language with ease and he applied the basic principles of language acquisition to the learning of music, and called his method the Mother Tongue Method (“Suzuki Twinkler” 1998). He observed that children designated as “slow learners” had already proven the ability to speak their language and Suzuki asked why they could not develop other abilities (Carey, 1979). Suzuki determined five different factors that contribute to language learning based on his observations and research: 

(1) the environment and its influence on the infant; 

(2) using constant repetition to teach and encourage the infant to create sounds; 

(3) the attitude of the parents after the baby begins gaining language skills; 

(4) progress through daily practice and repetition; 

(5) “[t]he skillfulness with which the parents build up enthusiasm in the child, and the happiness the child finds in acquiring its newfound ability” (Carey, 1978).

From the moment of birth, babies are surrounded by spoken words. The constant immersion in language gives babies and young children the natural environment to hear words, sentences and the nuances of language to learn to imitate and speak language functionally in society (“Every Child Can!”, 2003).

With instrument learning, the child begins listening to the recordings of the Suzuki pieces weeks prior to the first lesson. This way, the child has been surrounded by and internalized the songs to be learned (“Every Child Can!”, 2003). Though children typically begin learning the instrument at age 3, Suzuki stresses that listening to great music can begin much earlier, as early as infancy. This principle has it’s foundation in the Mother Tongue Method and Suzuki’s extensive research and observation of language learning.

An often controversial principle of the Suzuki method is the delay of note-reading. However, when compared to language learning, the delay of reading is logical. Children learn and become quite skillful at speaking a language but this often takes several years to develop to fluency. Quite similarly with music, Suzuki teachers delay reading until after the acquisition of solid aural, technical and musical skills (“Every Child Can!”, 2003). No music is used until technique is firmly established. And though note reading is introduced later, the age and development of the child are also a factor in the decision to beginning to develop the skill of reading music (Kendall, 1966).

Every Child Can

The name of Suzuki’s school and method, “Saino-Kyoiku” or Talent Education, directly reflects an essential tenet of the philosophy - every child can develop ability (Kendall, 1966). Suzuki based his approach on the belief that “musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed” (Kendall, 1966). “Any child who is properly trained can develop musical ability, just as all children develop the ability to speak their mother tongue. The potential of every child is unlimited” (“Suzuki Twinkler”, 1998).

“Every child can” learn is a central tenet of the Suzuki philosophy and is even the name of the Suzuki Association of the Americas’ introductory course for parents and teachers new to Suzuki education (“Every Child Can!”, 2003). Suzuki believed that every child could develop the ability to play the violin and has talent. He wished to give the gift of music to every child no matter the perceived ability of the child. Suzuki’s discovery that every child learns their mother tongue led to his belief that all children innately possess an ability to learn. To Suzuki, the words “talent” and “ability” are synonymous and he believed in cultivating ability to the highest possible standard (Landers, 1980). Suzuki also believed that all children have the potential to develop musical ability in the same way all children learn their mother tongue. Music is not a gift bestowed upon a select talented few but is accessible to all children regardless of ability or a inclination for music. However, it is important to note that the philosophy of Talent Education is not solely concerned with the development of musical ability in children. It’s main goal is the development of full human potential (Landers, 1980).

Character first, then ability

Suzuki’s arguably most well-known quote most effectively summarizes his philosophy on his students: “character first, then ability”. Suzuki emphasized that his focus is not on making great music but rather great people. The development of the human being is ultimately more important than the development of the musician. However, excellent teaching achieves both. “Teaching music is not my main purpose, I want to make good citizens”, stated Suzuki (Suzuki, 1983). He sought total development of the whole child, not just the development of musical abilities but the means of development of each child’s character is through the study of music. For Suzuki, “[t]he purpose of music education is to develop noble human beings in order to make the world more peaceful and loving” (Hendricks, 2011).

Suzuki also stressed that in order for character development and talent education to be successful, this education needs to begin at the day of birth. The environment, rather than genetics, determine the success, or failure, of the student in all areas, not just music learning (Kreitman, 1998). Another major tenet of the philosophy and well-known Suzuki aphorism is that “the human being is a product of his environment” (Kendall, 1966). Possibly due to Suzuki’s personal experiences of living through two detrimental world wars, much of Suzuki philosophy concerns the environmental impact on the child and many factors within fall under the category of environment.

Other Philosophical Tenets

In addition to the main philosophical ideas of the Mother Tongue method and character development, there are other philosophical principles upheld by Suzuki and Suzuki-trained teachers.

Repetition

Related to the Mother Tongue method is repetition as a means for skill development and accumulation (“Every Child Can!”, 2003). When children learn to speak, the same words are repeated over and over again. “Only through frequent repetition can [children] master the meaning and function of language” (“Every Child Can!”, 2003). In language, once a sound or word is learned, it is not thrown away and never used again. It is used in a variety of different contexts, and is refined and incorporated into more intricate uses of language. The “[r]epetition of experiences is important for learning” and learning music is no different from learning a language or a new skill (Suzuki, 1981). On the instrument, students continue to practice their previously learned pieces daily to continue to refine and incorporate more sophisticated skills. “Students are expected to revisit the repertoire again and again, bringing their ever-increasing skills and insights to the music as they reach toward higher and higher artistic standards” (“Every Child Can!”, 2003). The repetition of skills and review of previous learned repertoire are essential components of the Suzuki philosophy and method.

Parent Involvement

Another large aspect of the Suzuki philosophy is parent involvement. Suzuki believed that successful learning is fostered by the relationship between the parent, the child and the teacher - the Suzuki Triangle. He believed that the family’s commitment and understanding of the philosophy were crucial to the child’s success. Parents play a large role in a child’s language learning in addition to a multitude of other skills, both mental and physical (“Every Child Can!”, 2003). In Suzuki lessons, the parent attends every lesson and learns along with the student, takes notes, learns to tune the instrument and develops an understanding of the correct postures. The parent also guides the daily practice at home and is, essentially, the home teacher. Often, the parents learn to play the instrument too in order to help their children and to motivate their children to learn (Kendall, 1966). Parental involvement also shapes the home environment of the child which, in turn, influences the development of values and ideas of the child as the child grows into an independent human being (“Every Child Can!”, 2003).

Social Interaction

Another parallel to language learning is student participation in both private lessons and group classes. The contact with peers in a musical setting is no different than children learning language or other skills from other children. Children observe other children, learn new skills and are motivated by others and this is no different in music learning. Akin to language learning, children participate together in the shared experience of speaking another language, music (“Every Child Can!”, 2003).


As a result of the careful and continual consideration as well as development of his philosophy and method, Suzuki is well-known across the globe. Today, thousands upon thousands of children participate in Suzuki private lessons and group lessons. The legacy Shinichi Suzuki left for the world is the experience of music given to hundreds of thousands of children across the world. His philosophies have contributed to creating a better, more caring and thoughtful community and generations of people through music study.

References

Carey, T. (1979). A study of Suzuki cello practices as used by selected American cello teachers (Doctoral dissertation, University of Iowa). Retrieved from http://celloplayingiseasy.com/ portal/Library/tabid/56/Default.aspx

“Every Child Can! An Introduction to Suzuki Education”. (2003). Boulder, Colorado: Suzuki Association of the Americas, Inc.

Hendricks, K. (2011). “The Philosophy of Shinichi Suzuki ‘Music EDUCATION AS LOVE EDUCATION’”. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 19 (2), 136-154.

Honda, M. (1970). Talent Education - A Program for Early Development. Tokyo, Japan: Early Development Association

Kendall, J. (1966). The Suzuki Violin Method in American Music Education. Princeton, New Jersey: Suzuki Method International.

Landers, R. (1980). The Talent Education School of Shinichi Suzuki - An Analysis. Smithtown, New York: Exposition Press.

“Shinichi Suzuki”. (n.d.). In The Suzuki Association of the Americas. Retrieved from

http://suzukiassociation.org/teachers/suzuki/

Suzuki, S. (1981). Ability Development from Age Zero. Miami, Florida: Warner Bros. Publications.

Suzuki, S. (1983). Nurtured by Love. Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing.

“Suzuki Twinkler”. (1998). In The Suzuki Association of the Americas. Retrieved from http://suzukiassociation.org/teachers/twinkler/

About Dr. Suzuki & The Suzuki Method

As a Suzuki cello teacher, I follow the Suzuki Method and philosophy of education and aim to educate others in the Suzuki philosophy. However, I’ve realized that not many parents know much about Suzuki himself. Below is a brief biography about Dr. Suzuki taken from a number of different sources, namely Dr. Suzuki’s book Nurtured by Love. I hope it sheds some more light on the origins of the Suzuki Method as well as the aims of the Suzuki philosophy!

About Suzuki

Shinichi Suzuki was born on October 17, 1898 in Nagoya, Japan. He was one of twelve children and his father owned a violin factory. Growing up around the violin factory, Suzuki and his siblings always believed the instruments were toys and never realized what beautiful sounds could come from a violin. When he was seventeen, Suzuki heard a recording of Schubert’s Ave Maria played by the violinist Mischa Elman. This listening experience changed Suzuki’s life thereafter; he brought a violin home from the factory and taught himself to play by listening recordings and imitating what he heard. He began taking violin lessons from a teacher in Tokyo and at age 22, Suzuki moved to Germany to study with Karl Klingler. While in Germany, Suzuki also met his future wife, Waltraud, a German pianist. They married and relocated to Japan in 1929, where Suzuki began to teach violin and play string quartet concerts with his brothers. At the Imperial Conservatory, Suzuki began developing his teaching ideas and philosophy for working with children, young children in particular.

World War II, a catastrophe and devastating for countries all over the world, served as an impetus for Suzuki’s method and philosophy of education. Following the war and recovery from a long period of serious illness, Suzuki was determined to contribute to the renewal of hope in the world by reaching out to the children of Japan. Suzuki believed educating children could help prevent future disasters as well as give them hope for their future. After World War II, Suzuki, Waltraud and his sister’s family moved to Matsumoto, Japan where he devoted more time to his research in teaching children. He developed his method based on how he saw children learn their native language. He spent many years developing an appropriate sequence to teaching the violin to young children and in 1945, decided to name his method “Talent Education” based on his method of teaching children to develop ability. Other teachers travelled to Matsumoto to observe his teaching and study his method. Those teachers then established other branches of Talent Education programs in cities across Japan and Suzuki’s work in education spread across Japan. A film of a 1958 concert featuring 1500 Suzuki-trained students garnered the attention of American teachers. From there, Suzuki’s philosophy and method spread across the world; methods and sequences for other instruments were developed as well as the integration and implementation of the Suzuki philosophy into early childhood music and preschool general education.

Philosophical Points Detailed in Nurtured by Love

• Ability Training: all children can be well-educated, not just the “talented”, with patience, repetition and love.
• Talent is not inherited, it is developed. “[I]t does not exist at birth but has to be created”.
• Ability grows as it is trained...” and “[p]oor training produces poor ability”.
• "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not act, but a habit" -Aristotle
• Environment of the children is very important to their education; learn even simply from the environment: “All Japanese children speak Japanese”
• All children can learn when they are in a good environment for learning
• Suzuki saw the enormous capacity for children to learn
• Developing ability “depends on action and the directing of our attention to doing things”
• Dr. Suzuki had a deep connection to the Zen Buddhist philosophy of actively participating in philosophy and religion
• Practice: if one practices consistently and correctly, superior ability and skill will develop.
• Talent is not inherent and students are taught based on their willingness to learn not their talent.
• Principle of Talent Education: ‘ No one will be left behind; and based on love; it will foster truth, joy and beauty as part of a child’s character. If nothing else, it will at least teach children....to be warm hearted and to enjoy doing kindnesses to others.”
• Imitation first will lead to creative development as a process to learning. If children are learning by imitation and they are imitating a great violinist, their own playing will be at a higher level because of who they are imitating.
• Encouraged his students to be surrounded by great music by going to concerts and listening to recordings.
• Character first, ability second: he believed that people raised in his method would grow up to be great people, not necessarily great violinists.
• “First character, then ability” was the motto of Suzuki’s alma mater, Nagoya Commercial School.
• Suzuki wanted to inspire human beings, not just musicians but human beings to be good people to have a good heart.
• Repetition: once a skill has been learned, it should be “thoroughly mastered by repeating it again and again”.
• “Do the thing over and over again until if feels natural, simple, and easy”. “[R]epeat and repeat an action until it becomes a part of ourselves.”
• Develop excellence through repetition - it is not good enough to simply be able to play all of the pieces. One must be able to play with a fine interpretation and musical sense.
• Constant repetition: “If we cannot be patient but stop a project halfway through-then later state again, drop it, start again, and so on- this kind of repetition will not bring good results”.

Coming up next week: an extensive description of the Suzuki philosophy.

Suzuki Method Infographic

Check out this awesome infographic related to today's upcoming post!

How to Tune the Cello

This seems like the most complex aspect of beginning the cello but it’s really quite easy once you know what to do!

First things first: purchase a digital tuner. Learning to tune ‘by ear’ takes many, many years of practice and still requires a reference pitch to tune to initially. A digital tuner will make your life easier and take a lot of the guess work out of tuning the instrument. At the end, I have a list of recommended tuners.

There are a few things you need to know first about the cello before learning how to tune it.

The four strings on the cello from highest to lowest are: A, D, G & C. This is helpful information so you know what to tune the strings to when using the tuner!

ONLY use the fine tuners located on the tailpiece. The instrument should not go dramatically out of tune in between lessons and you will only need to make minor changes to the strings. Please do not try to use the pegs. Without knowing how to properly turn the pegs, the end result is usually a broken string and an unusable cello! Please avoid turning the pegs if the string is wildly out of tune unless you’ve been shown how to correctly.

No need to worry about holding the bow correctly. I often just hold the bow in a fist in my hand. The most important aspect is quality of sound - you want a solid, sustained tone that is free from any distortion or scratching. The tuner likes this sound and you will get the most accurate reading on the tuner with this good tone.

Play the A string first with a long, sustained bow. Use the whole length of the bow and back and forth, if needed. After the tuner registers the pitch, you’re ready to adjust the string based on what the tuner tells you. Every tuner is slightly different: on my tuner, if the note is too high, the screen lights up on the upper portion of my phone. The opposite is true if it’s too low. If the string is perfectly in tune, I get a green smiley face. :) Some tuners have a sharp (#) or flat (b) sign to indicate if the pitch is too high or low. The sharp sign means too high, the flat sign means too low. Typically, when the note is in tune, the tuner will light up green no matter which you choose to go wtih. Then you are good to go! On to the next string!

Now your question is, which way do I turn the fine tuner when the string is registering out of tune? Here’s how I think about it: to make the string higher (if the pitch is too low), move the fine tuner towards the higher string. There is no string higher than the A string, but imagine there is one. That’s the direction you will turn the fine tuner. The opposite is true if the string is too high and you need to make the pitch lower: turn the tuner in the direction of the lower strings.

For example, if the tuner says the A string is too low (flat), turn the A string fine tuner towards the D string until the string registers as in tune on the digital tuner.  

We always tune from the highest string, the A string, to the lowest, the C string. After tuning the A string, repeat the same process on the other three strings.

Tuner Apps - your smartphone is probably the best resource for a tuner app. I use Tonal Energy Tuner (http://tonalenergy.com/products/te-tuner/) which is priced at $3.99 on the Apple App Store. There are many different types of digital tuning apps and you may need to try a number of them before finding one that you are comfortable with. I like the Tonal Energy Tuning app because it has many different functions outside of being solely a digital tuner. Unfortunately, it is only available for Apple products. However, there are many tuning apps for both the iPhone and Android phones and most are free! Plus they won’t be quite as complicated as the Tonal Energy Tuner. If you find one and want guidance on how to use it to tune your child’s instrument, let me know and I can guide you through it at the beginning of a lesson.

iPhone Apps:

Tonal Energy Tuner

Tun-d Free

Android Apps:

gstring

Easy Cello - Cello Tuner

Region Orchestra Auditions

Good luck to all my students audition for Region Orchestra on Saturday!

Remember, take a deep breath, relax and enjoy your performance!

TBT!

Throw back to when I met Yo Yo Ma in 2009!

Why do we have so many recitals?

As we approach recital season and prepare for the upcoming performance in October, I’m sure many of you wonder why I arrange for so many recitals. In reality, I wish I could do more!

I arrange for many performances because learning to perform well is skill that needs to be developed and refined over time and, like any skill, takes practice. LOTS of practice. It's no different from learning how to hold the bow. It can be challenging at first as well as scary and stressful but the more often we do it, the easier it becomes, to the point where getting up in front of an audience is no big deal. Performing once or twice a year isn’t sufficient to achieve that level of comfort with performing - it doesn’t give young performers an opportunity to practice and hone performance skills and especially doesn’t allow frequent enough opportunities to overcome any performance anxiety. By providing multiple performance opportunities, I hope to alleviate or avoid performance anxiety as well as develop confidence from many repeated positive experiences. Whether it’s a performance in a local park, in group class or in a formal setting with a pianist, every performance offers students the chance to practice their ability to get in front of a live audience and perform to the best of their ability.

In addition, performing often takes the pressure off the performance situation. When a student of any levels on gives one or two performances a year, the stakes are high! It has to be perfect! This is the only chance to do it! But when there are many opportunities, a mistake in one performance isn’t detrimental - there will be multiple opportunities to even perform the same piece.

In addition, performing an old piece (not the student’s current piece) also ensures a successful performing experience. When selecting a piece for a performance, my rule is that students can choose the piece but it must be at least three pieces behind their current piece in the Suzuki books. For example, if your child is currently learning Allegro, that is NOT an eligible piece. The first piece they are allowed to perform is Go Tell Aunt Rhody. Pieces that are suitable choices in addition to being three pieces back are also indicative of:

-very few, if any memory problems

-stable intonation

-correct bow directions

-good, resonant tone

-the student is comfortable with the piece

-it seems easy to play

Performing is not about proving you can play the piece. Rather, performing is about sharing beautiful music with an audience. Therefore, performing isn’t limited to playing a piece - it also involves stage presence, smiling, confidence and self-presentation. When performers are overwhelmed with the technical aspects of the piece, the overall presentation of the piece, the musicality, stage-presence and confidence, and joy of performing go out the window!

Even professional musicians never perform a ‘new’ piece. When Yo-Yo Ma performs, he’s playing a piece he's been working on and performing on a regular basis for many, many months, and often times years. Not days or weeks. Just like our food, our pieces need to be 'cooked' and 'well seasoned'. Only time and many repetitions achieve this outcome.

Ultimately, the goal of every performance is for every student to have a successful and positive experience. Performing frequently in addition to performing a well-prepared piece ensures this positive experience. Performing for an audience doesn't need to be a harrowing experience! In fact, sharing the beautiful music that results from all the hard work and preparation with an audience should be a joyful and fun experience.

Happy performing!