Suzuki Moms Help Needed

[katydid1971]

I'm taking DS to try a Suzuki lesson tomorrow and would love some advice on what to ask and what to look for. There are a few people in town who teach it and I've spoken with three of them and we're trying the one I liked over the phone best tomorrow. Of course nothing is set in stone, looking to see if this will work for DS. These are expensive lessons so I would really appreciate any feedback you might have on how to get the most from them. Thanks so much!!!

[MMEand1]

Suzuki what? They teach all types of lessons. My DH and DS took Suzuki Violin. My cousin took Suzuki Piano.

I know that they do not teach them how to read music. My cousin could play the heck out of a very few songs, but could not read music to save her life.

My DS got bored with the violin lessons because for the first 6 months he was not allowed to touch a violin. They gave him a VHS box with a ruler attached for the violin and a set of chopsticks with a pink eraser taped to it for the bow. He lost interest VERY quickly.

My DH got bored with playing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star about 50 different ways. Seriously, he would play about 6 different variations of the song and when the recital time came, almost every song that was performed was some TTLS variant! Very boring!

I used to teach music lessons and would teach the child to read music along with playing. One of my students auditioned for a very prestigious orchestra in London and ended up touring with them for several summers! Needless to say, she was a very gifted child.

Good luck. We looked into it again for my DD, but they were asking almost $200 a month and were going to start her on the VHS box - can't see paying that kind of money for my DC to play a BOX!!

[katydid1971]

Oh sorry its violin. I won't be signing him up at $140/month to play a box, let me tell you. I knew they don't start them reading music right away but I thought they started on little tiny violins, not some sort of home made instruments. I will be asking about the instruments for sure at tomorrow's lesson. I'm writing these down in my notebook right now.

[carolinamama]

Not a Suzuki mom, but I took Suzuki piano for 15 years. It was a great experience. I didn't learn to read music right away - you learn by ear and then progress to reading music. And I did do Twinkle, Twinkle alot at first, but you really do move along to a broad array of classical music. My sister did Suzuki violin for atleast 15 years too. She started with a margarine tub with a ruler contraption but you do move beyond it. She, too, learned by ear at first, but learned to read music when she was ready. There is great involvement on the parents' part, but I look at my childhood experience with it as positive. I am considering it for DS in the next year or so. I would go with your gut when looking at teachers. Also remember, you are not committed to a particular teacher forever. I know I switched several times when a teacher was not a good fit for me as a child when we would move to a new area.

[mom2akm]

I have been a Suzuki mum for 10 years and my kids and I all love it. They both played the violin. Here're a few things to consider when looking for a teacher:

- What Suzuki training does the teacher have? A Suzuki trained teacher spent hours observing classes and those experience is valuable.
- Does the teacher present materials to a young child in a fun and engaging manner? Does your child like the teacher? I would suggest before taking a lesson, spend time observing a lesson first.
-Suzuki lessons are made up of 2 parts: private lesson and group lesson. How often is group class? Does the group class fit your schedule? Does the tuition include the cost of group class or is that extra?

I wish you luck in finding the best teacher. Here's a website that may provide you with more info:
http://suzukiassociation.org/

[daniele_ut]

I know that they do not teach them how to read music. My cousin could play the heck out of a very few songs, but could not read music to save her life.


That's not entirely true and it's a big misconception about Suzuki. My husband is a certified Suzuki Cello teacher and his students all learn to read music at an appropriate time during their musical development.

From http://suzukiassociation.org/about/suzuki/aboutmethod/
Please teach mothers to read music so that they can help their children learn new pieces, but wait to teach the students until an appropriate age and time. Until that time, I think that it’s more important to develop the ear so that children listen to and judge their own sound, use an expressive forte and piano, and have a fine sense of tempo and rhythm. The goal of instruction is to develop students who depend upon the sound of a piece rather than upon a musical score.

Even now, my husband will learn long pieces of music using the score and then be able to play them back from memory.

[lhk777]

My dd has been doing suzuki violin for over 2 years.
I am very impressed with how much and how fast she has learned.

She is 6 yo now and started reading notes this summer.
She is great at note reading and is now playing songs by reading the music.

It does involve a lot of parental involvement.
You need to be present at every lesson and basically learn with your child.
Now I video her lessons since her pieces are getting more difficult. Then she can replay the video at home.

My dd's teacher is good at positive reinforcement and they are rewarded for good playing/practicing.

My dd started out with a very small violin - I've never heard of playing with a box.
About every 6 months she had to get a bigger violin to accommodate her growth.

[o_mom]

Just a note on the "box" issue. Many Suzuki teachers will start younger kids (3's and 4's) with a fake instrument for the first few lessons. They use this time to teach the proper handling of the instrument, positions for holding, etc. When the child can demonstrate they are going to treat the instrument with respect (no swinging it around, no sword fighting with the bow, etc.), they can move on to a real one. In the meantime, they start training their ears.

Here (https://www.ymonline.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=1045&CFID=1967762&CFTOKEN=29691760) is an example of a fancier "training violin", but you could easily make something to represent it instead, which is what it sounds like other people have seen. It is not meant to be a long term thing (6 months is way too long), just a way to impress upon the child that they need to take care with their instrument.

The music reading is something that should be part of any program at some point, but the ability to hear what is being played is very important. I knew many violinists when I played who could not tell that their pitch was off. They still had the little dots on the fingerboard and thought that as long as they put their fingers there, it was right. They literally could not match a pitch (these were college students who had been playing at least 6+ years).