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About Us |
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♪ Suzuki School of the Brazos Valley ...where every child can! |
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Every Child Can! |
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Suzuki School of the Brazos Valley ...where every child can! |
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The Suzuki teaching philosophy embodies the concept that all children can learn. Talent is not perceived to be ‘in-born,’ but rather it is seen as a set of highly-developed skills that can be taught and learned. Finely developed musicality is not so much a function of genetics, but develops in a nurturing environment created by parents and teachers.
“Much depends on how they are raised.” Dr. Suzuki |
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An Early Start |
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Preschool-aged children learn at a faster rate than they will at any other time in their lives. Since a three-year old will already have an education, whether intentional or not, why wait?
A baby’s ear is fully developed, at birth. The ability to acquire fine pitch-discrimination declines with age and is highest between the ages of 0 to 6, also known as ‘the sensitive years.’
Young children are physically subtle and uninhibited, with no preconceived notions of success and failure. While it is best to begin at an early age, it is never too late to study with the Suzuki method.
Preschoolers’ schedules are relatively uncluttered and they are still free to listen and practice. As children get older (and too often overscheduled), academic studies leave much less time to study an instrument. Therefore, there is never a better time than to start during the preschool years.
The highest drop-out rate from instrumental study occurs among busy and self-critical teenagers. A child, who started before the age of five, will have reached a high level of accomplishment by the teenage years. This allows for personal ownership that prevents dropping out.
It is easiest to develop a good working relationship between parent and child during the preschool years.
Finally, a child that began lessons between the ages of 3 and 4 will not remember a time when violin practice was not part of daily life, making it much more likely that the child will stick with the instrument. |
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The Suzuki Triangle: Teacher - Parent - Child |
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The Suzuki Method of talent education differs from other early childhood education methods, in that it teaches highly technical, instrument-specific skills. Efficient practice requires close cooperation between parent and teacher, for the benefit of the child.
The Suzuki parent attends all individual and group lessons with the child and takes careful notes or recordings for home practice.
The parent sets up a nurturing listening environment for the child and establishes a daily practice routine, at home. S/he makes sure the child arrives to all lessons prepared and on time, and is responsible for all necessary lesson materials.
The child’s job, at this point, is to be a child. Gradually, the student is weaned from parental supervision by being taught to take more and more responsibility for the learning. By adolescence, s/he will take full responsibility and ownership of his or her learning.
The high level of accomplishment of Suzuki-trained students, by a relatively young age, is due to close cooperation between parent and teacher.
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By-Ear Learning |
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Learned pieces are not dropped, but continually refined, thus growing the child’s playing ability. The child acquires a large working repertoire that s/he may play at the proverbial “drop of a hat,” for any occasion. The delight of family and friends at such impromptu concerts further motivates practice. Foundational skills are continually reviewed, and the child grows self-confidence and a sense of empowerment. As a result, the learning curve for a child that is allowed to listen and practice every day will be exponential. |
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Students are initially taught to play their instruments by ear. This teaches pitch awareness (so necessary for all tuning instruments), as well as training the child’s auditory memory. Learning to play by ear is a very different process from so-called rote learning! While learning to play by-ear, pre-reading and reading skills are also taught, from the beginning, but away from the instrument, until technical skills are well established and attention can be diverted to the written page. |
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Success breeds Success! |
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Encouragement is Essential! |
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Playing an instrument is a highly complex task, at any age! The well-trained Suzuki teacher introduces one small “baby-step” at a time. Each small accomplishment is acknowledged and celebrated. The Suzuki teacher is able to correct with encouragement, rather than criticism and able to teach the Suzuki parent how to do this at home. This highly motivates the child to learn the next step, and so on. |
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Children Learn From Each Other |
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To quote Dr. Suzuki, “One student, one teacher – bad idea!” Dr. Suzuki instituted the weekly group lesson and mutual lesson observation, because he realized the effectiveness of peer learning.
As older students become role models that younger students want to imitate, group lessons provide them with a sense of responsibility, contributing to self-esteem. Younger students learn by example from older, more skillful players, often more efficiently than they learn from the teacher!
Weekly group lessons provide a supportive environment for frequent performance practices. Ensemble skills, performance poise and social skills are learned, while collecting positive memories. The latter ward of anxiety in future performance situations.
In weekly group lessons, children come together to make beautiful music in a nurturing environment - a fertile ground for experiencing the joy of music making and for learning cooperation and a nurturing spirit.
The weekly previews of more advanced pieces in group lessons are strong support for home-practice motivation—a boon to the practice parent. |
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Character first… then ability! |
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Dr. Suzuki’s vision of raising human beings with noble hearts through music is the most important aspect of the Suzuki method. He would often admonish parents, “It is your duty to raise your child to become a noble human being.” And to students he would often say, “It is not enough to be become a fine human being. You must try to become the finest human being.” He believed that children who are bathed in beautiful music, from the time they rise in the morning to the time they fall asleep at night, will acquire highly developed sensitivity, perseverance and determination, self-discipline, high self-esteem and a deep love for other human beings. Suzuki teachers all over the world continue to labor tirelessly to actualize his dream of changing the world...one child at a time. |