Features of the method

There are a several things that are key to the Suzuki method of learning to play the piano. These factors are also what distinguish the Suzuki method from more traditional teaching methods.

  • An early start

  • By ear before eye

  • Learning technique from the beginning

  • Repertoire, repetition and review

  • Group lessons and public performance

AN EARLY START

 

Dr Suzuki believed that too much potential for learning is lost if we wait til a child is ready to read music (7 or 8) before starting lessons.  (Imagine if we waited til a child was ready to read before they were encouraged to speak!)  

Learning music following the Suzuki method is developing a child’s natural ability to learn before a more formalised, intellectual learning model becomes the norm when they start school. This ease with learning and subsequent success in academic attainment can stay with the student throughout their life.

Another advantage of beginning when a child is very young is that playing – and practising – the piano becomes a natural part of every day, so it won’t be so hard to remind or persuade them to do it when they’re older!

learning Technique From the beginning

When learning to play the piano by the Suzuki method, good technique is taught from the very first lesson. The Twinkle variations are an ingenious invention through which every sound needed for playing the piano can be taught. Breaking the music down to its smallest constituent parts, listening to each of the different sounds they can make, Suzuki students will be able to refer back to the touchstone of the Twinkle variations to improve their playing throughout their lives.

Emphasis on the quality of the tone produced (Dr Suzuki referred to this as ‘tonalization’) encourages the child student to develop a sensitive ear for music so they can appreciate the difference between note-playing and playing a piece beautifully

The repertoire is precisely curated so that each new piece teaches the student a new skill that they will then build on and use in later pieces.  This careful, steady progress, learning small step by small step and becoming adept at using each technique before progressing to the next, pays dividends in the later books of the repertoire, when the pieces become more technically complex. Where traditionally taught students will slow down, Suzuki students can continue at pace, having learned and built on each technique as they have progressed through the repertoire, and being able to call on any of those building blocks of technique whenever a new piece may require it of them.

BY EAR BEFORE EYE

Suzuki students learn to play music before they learn to read it – just as a child will speak their first words long before they learn to read them. Suzuki students generally won’t begin reading music until they’re reading words fairly fluently, usually about 7 or 8 years’ old.

But this isn’t the only reason that Suzuki students are encouraged to learn by listening (to the CD, to each other, to their teacher…). In the same way we learn to speak, Suzuki children learn to play by copying what they hear, trying out sounds until they match what they hear. By listening to the CD passively every day students can hold the repertoire in their heads, so they know immediately if something they play is right or wrong. They already know the piece, and have internalised it, they simply need to let their fingers play what’s in their head, which comes easily and naturally.

Without having to concentrate on learning the notes students can listen much more carefully to the sound they are making, and so concentrate on developing technique, and not having to look up to read music means students can watch their hands play and have much more affinity with their instrument than those dependent on reading while they play.

Learning by ear instead of reading means that Suzuki students memorise pieces much quicker, and can perform them on any piano at any time, as they’re not dependent on having the sheet music with them. As children move through the levels, they will also review pieces from previous levels.  Suzuki students internalise a repertoire of beautiful music which is literally at their fingertips.

The Suzuki triangle – the parent’s role

The teacher, however influential, will most likely see the child only once a week for half an hour.  The parent sees the child every day and shapes how they view the world. ‘The Suzuki triangle’ refers to the student, teacher and parent who are all crucial elements if the child is to reach their musical potential. The ‘Suzuki parent’ (it can be a grandparent or another carer, as long as they are invested in the child’s learning and can fulfil the criteria below) is responsible for:

o   Observing lessons and taking notes

o   Encouraging the child to practise, reminding them what the teacher says to focus on

o   Making sure the child listens to the CD every day

o   Creating the right environment for the child to progress: encouraging them to explore music more widely, playing music in the car, at dinner, bathtime etc; and most importantly providing positive reinforcement, praising every achievement, however small (in the same way that a baby’s first vaguely word-like noises were greeted with excitement and encouragement!).

For more information on becoming a Suzuki parent see Sheila Warby’s book With love in my heart and a twinkle in my ear: A parent’s guide to Suzuki music education.

Effective practice

There is a big difference between practising and playing pieces through.  At each lesson the Suzuki teacher will make sure both the child and the parent know what they should be practising the following week. There are a few key elements of effective practice (and they all begin with ‘S’!).

  • Small sections – playing pieces through from beginning to end can be a useful way to work out what needs to be worked on, but it’s not the same as practising. Students should concentrate on a couple of bars at a time, and perfect the technique (playing it perfectly several times) before they can be confident that they’ve learned it.

  • Slowly – when working on a new technique it is crucial to practise it slowly until the child becomes skilled. This can be difficult to persuade children who often want to play it at the speed they hear it in their heads, but to play it as well as that model, they must first slow it down while learning new skills.

  • Separately – even after they can play hands together, children need to learn pieces, and to work on them with each hand separately. . In particular the left hand (which can be neglected in favour of the right hand which usually carries the melody) must be learned, practised and improved onas a solid knowledge of what the left hand should be doing will allow students to play much more fluently. It’s been said that a pianist is only as good as their left hand!

  • Several (hundred) times – When perfecting a new skill or technique, it’s important to play it correctly several times consecutively before you can conclude that it has been learned. To make doubly sure, tell the student to get up and walk around the piano stool, sit back down and play it perfectly again (which they often fail to do). Or ask the student to play while you ask them questions – you’re looking for the technique to become second nature, so they can do it instinctively, without thinking. Practising something several times correctly in a row is even more important if a child has learned something incorrectly. It can take twice as many correct times in a row as learning the skill in the first place to undo an incorrectly learned skill.

  • Stops - Suzuki teachers will often ask children (and their parents) to put in a ‘stop’ just before a particularly difficult sequence with strange fingering, or a tricky note to reach etc. By stopping, preparing the next notes, then playing, the student learns to play more fluently once the stop is taken out, than if they were to plough on through the piece, skating over the difficult part.

Repertoire, Repetition and Review

The Suzuki piano music books are carefully structured so that each new piece develops a new skill (see technique). And because every student learns the same repertoire, Suzuki students from all over the world can play together at workshops and group lessons (see group lessons).

As a student progresses through the repertoire, they will often return to earlier pieces and improve on them, having developed their skills.  Often more can be learned from improving an early piece than learning a new one.  Students will be encouraged to play through the repertoire regularly – perhaps one practice session a day can be review, playing through the pieces (which is the kind of ‘practice’ many children most enjoy) while the other session is more focused practising of small sections, concentrating on technique or fingering etc.

Review of the repertoire is an important feature of the Mother Tongue learning method: we don’t stop using the first words we learned when we learn newer, more complex ones. Returning to earlier pieces after learning new skills and techniques, there’s always more to find in them and more beautiful ways to play them.

Group lessons and public performance

Regular group lessons (usually one per half term) create an opportunity for students to play and perform together.  This develops empathy and the ability to collaborate (as well as being lots of fun!). It can be highly motivating to see other students playing pieces you haven’t reached yet.

Group lessons are usually where children will learn about music theory, and they also give them the opportunity to perform with others in front of an audience. Regular performance – whether at small concerts organised by one or two teachers or at much larger national and international Suzuki workshops – is another key aspect of the Suzuki method which can provide invaluable experience for children and build their confidence and ability to perform in public throughout their lives.