The mother tongue approach. When Dr. Shinichi Suzuki created his method, perhaps the greatest challenge was discerning how best to teach young children to play the violin. He noted children’s innate ability to learn complex languages, such as Japanese and English by mere exposure. Through interaction with their parents and the act of listening and repeating sounds, children would easily learn to speak at a young age. Dr. Suzuki had an epiphany. He realized that by creating an environment where children were surrounded by music as they were surrounded by speech, they would be able to play an instrument as easily.
Parent involvement. With the parent as a home teacher, children can begin sooner, and progress faster. Their home environment becomes one that nurtures and develops a love for music. The rewards for parents are numerous: a stronger bond with their children, shared joy of accomplishment and a sense of having made a worthwhile contribution to the their children’s development.
Learn to play first, then read. Just as one learns to speak before learning to read, students in the Suzuki method learn to play by listening to recordings of the music they will learn, and playing pieces for memory before learning to read music. Pre-reading concepts are taught from the beginning to foster rhythmic understanding, and lay the groundwork for a natural progression into reading notes. The cultivation of a beautiful sound is of primary importance.
Listening is fundamental. Students must develop listening skills in order to self-correct, while learning the skills necessary to play a string instrument. The Suzuki child’s ear is trained by listening to music daily, just as it is trained to hear the nuances of language pronunciation and accents. If the student repeatedly hears recordings of pieces played perfectly in tune with the desired articulation, he or she will develop a highly attuned sense of pitch, and the ability to sing and play in tune.