Suzuki Method

Shinichi Suzuki devised a method for teaching music that follows the same processes that are at work when children learn to speak. This happens when children are immersed in an environment where their mother tongue language is spoken daily. Parents repeat words and phrases to their children, showing excitement and enthusiasm at their children’s first attempts at language. They learn with love.

 

This process is the same when children learn to play an instrument. Every day, parents play recordings of the set repertoire that their children will learn, which the child absorbs. Through this process, they develop a desire to imitate what they hear. The parent will take the first lessons on the instrument and will practice at home in front of the child. Ideally, the child will have the opportunity to observe the lessons of other children before they commence their own lessons. By the time the child has their first lesson, they will be well prepared, having listened for several months or years to the set repertoire, observed other children and their parents. Children attend their lessons each week with their parents, who observes and takes notes. The parent who attends the lessons becomes the home teacher, guiding the child through the daily practice.

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