Suzuki culture operates as an economic engine
Hi all! I have been discovering the coolest things about our Suzuki culture. Not only are teachers, students, and parents immersed in the wonderful educational process and community, but the culture also supports small business incubation! It is a story lost to time: an artist or craftsman trains their young assistant in their art. The…
The Suzuki Method is a living culture
Suzuki culture is largely a living, analog culture. We aren’t heavy on documenting and publicizing. Each moment is fleeting, though celebrated. Here is a peek into the beauty of it: teachers mentor and share with each other. Each generation of teachers picks up where the last generation of teachers left off. One of our challenges…
The Suzuki Method is a cherished educational approach
Shinichi Suzuki’s wife was best friends with the woman who developed Montessori education. Suzuki’s claim was that any child can enjoy creating quality music given the right conditions. Suzuki put tremendous effort into establishing those conditions so that children and their families could benefit from meaningful experiences of unity through the expression of music. The…
Finger patterns as they appear in the early book 1 Suzuki violin repertoire -a post for teachers
Which songs go from “E to 3 on the A”? Ask the student in early book 1 to think this over, and/or play the pieces and figure it out. _Twinkle Twinkle Little Star_, _Song of the Wind_, _Go Tell Aunt Rhody_, and _O Come Little Children_ are similar in that they go from the open…
Parents as practice partners
Practicing strategies that involve parents are highly effective for young students’ learning. Here is an example of a sequence for learning a new passage or piece of music that involves the care-giver as practice partner:
Suzuki teachers learn IRL
The Suzuki Method has never gone digital. It is as SLOW as can be. The tradition is pretty much an oral tradition. Ask me how I know: all the best ideas are word-of-mouth. We sit around tables laughing and talking, transmitting all of this wonderful information to each other. We learn over years of trying…
The Suzuki Method is a treasured practice and tradition
I have been rediscovering the beautiful community that Suzuki builds. We are not just a kind of musical education –we are an integrated musical community. For some, the culture is also a spiritual home. Most teachers and families have genuine passion for building it. Suzuki teachers are practitioners -masters- carrying this ancient, treasured practice forward.…
Parents are learning partners
I am a Suzuki Mom too. I get it. Buckle in if you are new to this: it can be one of the most rich parenting experiences you can have. As a teacher I am always trying to remember to rope parents into the practicing routine, and it ends up sounding something like this: “Here,…
Modeling technique and expression
THIS IS THE FUN STUFF! I haven’t taught a wordless lesson yet, but am excited to try it. I am sure it will bring lots of laughter to the studio. Why would we do this? To focus the learning experience on modeling and copying. On deeply listening to the expression! Could it be that transmission…
Our descriptive words matter
Teacher trainers talk about this all the time. We are being more careful as a Suzuki community about how we describe technique to our students and parents. Your violin hand is a “gentle hug” between the knuckle and the thumb. Your bow hold is a “hold,” not a “grip.” The tone we are going for…
The foundations of violin playing are TECHNIQUE
It REALLY is best if students and parents take time to set up posture as well bowing hand and violin hand. If we don’t, we will end up spending MORE TIME later CORRECTING it. As a Suzuki Mom myself to a violinist kid, I am seeing this play out right now. We are correcting alignment…
“It’s a chain reaction!”
Last night a wonderfully astute young student described her bow hand this way. And then she explained that if she starts with a bent bow hand thumb it is more likely that all the other fingers will fall into place. She is exactly right! Similarly with the left hand -the violin hand. If the wrist…
Collaboration
I encourage families in private lessons to have their studio teachers reach out to their music teachers at school (or vice versa) so that communication is open -this can be so valuable! The musical journey is smoother with integrated support. I spent a year teaching a middle school orchestra and was able to build a…
What does it mean to polish your pieces?
After learning notes and bowing, we of course start bringing in dynamics, articulation, vibrato, tone, color, shape, and other forms of artistic expression. But what are other aspects of having your piece performance-ready? Explore one’s memorization of the piece. Listen to the accompaniment part and prepare for how it is going to sound when you…
Memorization
We are coming up on solo and recital season! Here are some tips for double-checking your memorization of a piece: After you have learned the piece, try playing it with the right hand on the piano from each section of the music. This ensures that you have an understanding of the actual notes -not just…
Intonation innovations
My students and I have been exploring techniques for developing their intonation skills this week. Several students have begun their musical journeys on piano -an instrument for which considerations regarding intonation are null. As un-fretted stringed instrument warriors, we violinists must turn our faces to the wind and work. My favorite techniques lately have been…
Debora Wrathall - Suzuki Violin Teaching Studio @ 9th and 9th, Salt Lake City, UT 