More than 50 years ago, Dr. Suzuki realized the implications of the fact that children the world over learn to speak their native language with ease and began to apply this ptinciple of language acquisition to learning music.

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Parent Involvement

Parents teach their child to talk.  They also have an important role as "home teachers" as their child learns an instrument.

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Early Beginning

A child's early years are crucial for developing mental processes and muscle coordination. Listening to music should begin at birth and formal instrument training may begin at age 3 or 4, though it is never too late to begin!

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Listening

Children learn to speak in an enviornment filled with language.  Parents can also make music part of the child's enviornment by attending concerts and playing recordings of the Suzuki repertoire and other music. Children absorb the language of music just as they absorb the sounds of their mother tongue.

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Repetition

Children continue to use words they have already learned, while adding new words to their vocabulary. Similarly, Suzuki students continue playing pieces they have already learned, while learning new songs. Introducing new technical skills and musical concepts, in the context of familiar pieces, makes this acquisition much easier.  Keeping these review pieces in memory, while learning new pieces, gradually improves their skills in new and more sophisticated ways, while adding new songs to their repertoire. 

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Encouragement

As with language, the child's efforts to learn an instrument should be met with sincere praise and encouragement.  Each child learns at his/her own rate, building on small steps, so that each one can be mastered.  A class atmosphere of generosity and cooperation is established, as children are encouraged to support the efforts of other students. 

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Learning with Other Children

Music promotes healthy social interaction, and children are highly motivated by participating in group lessons and performances in addidion to their own individual lessons.  They enjoy observing other children at all levels - aspiring to the level of more advanced stuents, sharing challenges with their peers, and appreciating the efforts of those following in their footsteps. 

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Graded Repertoire

With the Suzuki method, students learn musical concepts and skills inthe context of the music, rather than through dry technical exercises.  The Suzuki repertoire for each instrument presents a careful sequence of building blocks for technical and musical development. This repertoire provides strong motivation, as younger students want to play music they hear older students playing. 

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Delayed Reading

Children are taught to read only after their ability to speak has been well established.  In the same way, Suzuki students develop basic competence on their instruments, before being taught to read music.  This sequence of instruction enables both teacher and student to focus on the development of good posture, beautiful tone, and musical phrasing, prior to adding the skill of reading music. 

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Copyright Suzuki Association of the Americas, Inc. 1997 http://www.suzukiassociation.org

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