About the Suzuki Method

“All japanese children can speak japanese”

Shinichi Suzuki

With this statement, Shinichi Suzuki begins the development of what is known today as the Suzuki Method: If all children can speak their native language perfectly and use it as a communication tool, it’s because, from the moment they are born, they are immersed in a set of conditions that make their success possible.

Every child can learn

From here, he concludes that talent, contrary to what he previously believed, is not innate but must be worked on and developed to be achieved. Suzuki concludes that to fully develop a skill, it’s necessary to start as early as possible, be in a suitable and motivating environment, be instructed under a careful and detailed educational method, practice every day, and have good role models to imitate.

From Language to Music

For Suzuki, the key was to understand the reasons for the success of native language learning to be able to apply them with equal success to musical learning. Therefore, he decides to study, organize, and analyze the principles on which such success is based:

Language learning

Listening: from birth, children hear the language they will eventually speak.

Repetition: repetition is constant from the time they start to speak. How many times we can hear the word “mom” in a child’s first linguistic interactions?

Motivation and encouragement: isn’t it a joy and a moment of celebration when children begin to say their first words? They are encouraged to continue and urged to keep repeating, steadily but unhurriedly. There is no pressure on the pace of learning; the child sets it naturally. The adult accompanies them, knowing all this, because ultimately, they know that the children will end up mastering the native language just as an adult does.

Practice: the act of speaking becomes a daily practice. Speech practice is not limited to specific days or moments but is understood as something always present, aiding a greater understanding of the surroundings.

Vocabulary is cumulative: the words learned are not put aside but are expanded with other uses and included in other contexts. Each new word becomes easier to pronounce and remember.

Reading and writing are later steps that begin once one can speak and express oneself through verbal language. Many children will become great speakers, and others will not, but all will enjoy the learned language and communicate because they will be masters of it. Having analyzed these steps, Suzuki decided to apply them in instrumental learning:

Music Learning

Listening: no one is too young to listen to good music. If from the moment of birth, a child hears quality music, they will easily and naturally integrate the beauty of sound. Similarly, if they listen to recordings of the pieces they will play daily before and during their instrumental learning, their approach to the instrument will be much more direct and rapid than if they do not know the melodies.

Daily practice: just as with spoken language, musical learning, as another language, must be present every day. Practice is part of the success in developing both motor and musical skills.

Positive and encouraging environment: music should sound at home! Instrumental learning should become a daily routine, where skills and knowledge learned in class are reinforced through practice based on respect, affection, and enjoyment. If music sounds and is played every day, music will become another language!

Cumulative repertoire: each piece helps to add, reinforce, and build the skills necessary for gradual and effective learning. This is why reviewing is so important. Review helps us level up and prepare for new difficulties more easily. Each new piece becomes easier to memorize.

Reading: just like with the native language, will begin once the child knows how to play the instrument and understands the language of music. Many will become professional musicians, and others will not, but all will be able to communicate with and through music as a medium of expression.

Mother Tongue Method by Suzuki

Suzuki educated generations of children following these steps and demonstrated that his Mother Tongue Method was just as effective, global, and natural as the most natural of all learnings, which is the acquisition of the skill to speak our parents’ language masterfully. With this, he showed that skill can be worked on, developed, and enhanced to the fullest extent of one’s abilities, regardless of initial aptitudes.

“I only want to make good citizens. If a child listens to good music from the day of their birth and learns how to play it, they will develop sensitivity, discipline, and endurance. Their heart will be noble.”

Shinichi Suzuki