Suzuki 2 Piano

[Evelina Browder]

TheSuzuki method is a mid-20th-century music curriculum and teaching method created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki.[1] The method claims to create a reinforcing environment for learning music for young learners.

The Suzuki Method was conceived in the mid-20th century by Shinichi Suzuki, a Japanese violin salesman. Suzuki noticed that children pick up their native language quickly, whereas adults consider even dialects "difficult" to learn but are spoken with ease by children at age five or six. He reasoned that if children have the skill to acquire their native language, they might have the ability to become proficient on a musical instrument. Suzuki decided to develop a teaching method after a conversation with Leonor Michaelis, who was Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Nagoya.[2]

Suzuki pioneered the idea that a preschool age children could learn to play the violin if the learning steps were small enough and the instrument was scaled down to fit their body. He modeled his method, which he called "Talent Education" (才能教育, sainō kyōiku), after his theories of natural language acquisition. Suzuki believed that every child, if properly taught, was capable of a high level of musical achievement. He also made it clear that the goal of such musical education was to raise generations of children with "noble hearts"[3] as opposed to creating famous musical prodigies.

The central belief of Suzuki, based on his language acquisition theories, is that all people can (and will) learn from their environment. The essential components of his method spring from the desire to create the "right environment" for learning music, which he also believed would foster excellent character in every student.

The method parallels the linguistic environment of acquiring a native language from the young age, which is usually referred to "mother-tongue" method.[4] Suzuki believed that this environment would also help to foster good moral character. These components include:

This includes attending local classical music concerts, developing friendships with other music students, and listening to recordings of professional musicians in the home every day, starting before birth if possible

Suzuki believed that teachers who test for musical aptitude before taking students, or who look only for "talented" students, are limiting themselves to people who have already started their music education. Just as every child is expected to learn their native language, Suzuki expected every child to be able to learn to play music.

Suzuki believed in training musicians not only to be better musicians, but also to be better teachers. Suzuki Associations worldwide offer ongoing teacher-training programs to prospective and continuing Suzuki teachers.

Suzuki observed that children speak before learning to read, and thought that children should also be able to play music before learning to read. To support learning by ear, students are expected to listen to recordings of the music they are learning daily.

The Suzuki method does not include a formal plan or prescribe specific materials for introducing music theory and reading, in part because Suzuki created the method in a culture where music literacy was routinely taught in schools.

Retaining and reviewing every piece of music ever learned is also strongly encouraged. This is intended to raise technical and musical ability. Review pieces, along with "preview" parts of music a student is yet to learn, are often used in place of the more traditional etude books. Traditional etudes and technical studies are not used in the beginning stages, which focus almost exclusively on a set of performance pieces.

The method is meant to discourage competition between players and advocate collaboration and mutual encouragement for those of every ability and level. However, this does not mean the complete elimination of auditions or evaluations of student performances.

The parent of the young student is expected to supervise instrument practice every day to attend and take notes at every lesson so they can coach the student effectively, an element of the method once dubbed "The Mom-Centric Method."[5]

Although Suzuki was a violinist, the method he founded is not a "school of violin playing" whose students can be identified by the set of techniques they use to play the violin. However, some of the technical concepts Suzuki taught his own students, such as the development of "tonalization," were so essential to his way of teaching that they have been carried over into the entire method. Other non-instrument specific techniques are used to implement the basic elements of the philosophy in each discipline.

The core Suzuki literature is published on audio recordings and in sheet music books for each instrument, and Suzuki teachers supplement the repertoire common to each instrument as needed, particularly in the area of teaching reading. One of the innovations of the Suzuki method was to make professional recordings of beginner level pieces widely available. Many non-Suzuki trained music teachers also use the Suzuki repertoire to supplement their curriculum.

Suzuki literature also deliberately leaves out many technical instructions and exercises found in the beginners' music books of his day. He favored a focus on melodic song-playing over technical exercises and asked teachers to allow students to make music from the beginning, helping to motivate young children with short, attractive songs which can themselves be used as technique building exercises. Each song in the common repertoire is meant to introduce some new or higher level of technique than the previous selection.

Suzuki teaching uses a common core repertoire for students of the same instrument worldwide. Although it focuses on Western European "classical" music, it emphasizes that this music can be a bridge across cultural and language barriers.

The first three volumes are mostly graded arrangements of music not originally written for violin, although the first volume contains several original compositions by Suzuki for violin and piano. These arrangements are drawn from folk tunes and from composers such as Bach, Dvořk, Beethoven, Handel, Paganini, Boccherini and Brahms. Volumes 4 to 10 continue the graded selection by incorporating 'standard' or 'traditional' student violin solos by composers such as Seitz, Vivaldi, Bach, Veracini, Corelli, Dittersdorf, Rameau, Handel, Mozart and Fiocco.

The Suzuki violin repertoire is currently[when?] in the process of being revised by the International Suzuki Association, and as part of the revision process, each regional Suzuki Association provides a recommended list of supplemental repertoire appropriate for students in volumes 6 to 8. The Suzuki Association of the Americas' supplemental repertoire list includes pieces by composers such as Bach, Kreisler, Elgar, Bartok, Shostakovich and Copland.[7]

The first three volumes were recorded by Hilary Hahn and released in 2020. Audio recordings for the first four volumes are also available in separate albums by artists such as David Nadien, David Cerone, Yukari Tate and Suzuki himself. Revised editions and recordings of the first four volumes were released in 2007 and recorded by William Preucil, Jr. Recordings for volumes 5 to 8 have been made by Koji Toyoda, although many of the pieces can be found separately on other artists' albums. In 2008, Takako Nishizaki made a complete set of recordings of volumes 1 to 8 for Naxos Records.

There are no official recordings of volumes 9 and 10. However, since these volumes contain Mozart's A major and D major violin concertos respectively, they have readily-available recordings by various violinists. Completing the 10 volumes is not the end of the Suzuki journey, as many Suzuki violin teachers traditionally continue with the Bruch and Mendelssohn concertos, along with pieces from other composers such as Paradis, Mozart, and Kreisler.

The viola method was compiled and edited by Doris Preucil in nine volumes. Like the violin repertoire, much of the viola repertoire is drawn from the Baroque period. The first three volumes have been arranged (or transposed) almost directly from the first three violin volumes, and the rest differ significantly as they delve into standard viola literature. The viola books introduce shifting and work in higher positions earlier than the violin volumes, in anticipation of viola students being asked to play in ensembles sooner in their studies than violinists, and needing these skills to better handle orchestral or chamber music parts (Preucil, 1985). Volumes 4 to 8 include works by Telemann, Casadesus, Bach, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, Leclair, Hummel, and Bruch.

The cello method is in ten volumes, with some early pieces arranged from the early violin volumes. The first piece unique to the cello repertoire is the second overall: "French Folk Song". The first four volumes have been performed by Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. Volumes 4 to 10 contain works by composers such as Vivaldi, Saint-Sans, Popper, Breval, Goltermann, Squire, Bach, Paradis, Eccles, Faur, van Goens, Sammartini, Haydn and Boccherini.

The piano method is in seven volumes. The first volume begins with Variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (as with the violin books) and continues with many folk songs and contemporary songs. As one progresses to the second volume, there are pieces written by romantic, classical and baroque composers, such as Schumann, Beethoven and Bach. There are also many minuets in the second book. The third book is early intermediate level with several sonatinas and beginning with Sonatina in C Major, Op. 36, No. 1 by Muzio Clementi. The fourth book includes Sonata in G Major, Op. 49, No. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven and ends with three movements from the Partita in B-flat by J.S. Bach. The fifth book begins with "Fr Elise" by Beethoven and includes the Sonata in C Major, Hob. XVI/35 by Franz Joseph Haydn. The sixth book begins with the Sonata in C Major by Mozart, and the seventh book begins with the Sonata in A Major by Mozart. This book also includes "The Harmonious Blacksmith" by Handel and the Romanian Folk Dances by Bartk.

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