C had her very first Suzuki violin lesson yesterday, and here she is with my mother in law after her lesson, practicing positioning the violin properly. Janice was a music teacher in the public schools for about 40 years, so she’s a wonderful asset to have for C as she learns the violin.
Janice is the one who suggested the idea of violin for C, and who is providing her with the lessons, as well as working with her between lessons. Yep. She’s awesome. And my kids adore their “Mimi.”
Have any of your children (or you) learned an instrument using the Suzuki method? What did you think? I find the Suzuki concept fascinating, sort of like Montessori for music. I am really looking forward to seeing how it unfolds with 5 year old C.
Yes, my four year old daughter started suzuki violin lessons this Spring. Here is the crazy thing – she is super shy, like won't look at the grocery store clerk or anyone who tries to converse with her. However, she has no problem playing for large groups within our family. She actually enjoys it!! So fun and she loves how people think her violin is so cute.
My DD (almost 9 YO now) has been taking Suzuki violin lessons for around 2 years. She is 2 songs away from finishing book 1. She can play some very impressive pieces! I think she started out using a 1/4 size violin, and she's using a 1/2 size now. I was a little unprepared for the quick outgrowing!! I think the Suzuki method is the only way to go with little kids!!
Completely off music topic. C is one adorable girl and that photo of her with her tender, loving Mimi is beyond precious.
That is all.
I'm not a fan. A has been doing it for about 4 years (she's gone through a couple of books) and while she can play really well for an 8-year old, she hasn't been taught to read music yet! Four years into an instrument, and no music-reading? We're moving her to a teacher that does a combo technique that is part Suzuki and part traditional music instruction.
I took Suzuki piano from the time I was 4 until my senior year of high school (so 14 years). I think what is good about it – the structure of the books (no build your own curriculum and inconsistency if you change teachers), the performance teaching style (we worked on posture, bowing, etc). I also can play things very well by ear still and hear lines of music. I do wish I could read music better (my teacher integrated some music reading into my lessons as I got older and I've gotten it from other places as well. I think Suzuki is especially good for young learners.
My sister took Suzuki piano for years. I'm not sure she can read music even now. But that wasn't the fault of the method–she can play by ear and when you can memorize all the pieces without reading the music, there doesn't seem to be much of an impetus to learn how! Enjoy the many, many variations of Twinkle you will soon be hearing.
My only issue with strict Suzuki is that it leaves many feeling uncomfortable with reading music, which in violin is crucial in order to play in an ensemble reliably. Fortunately many teachers in the US employ a hybrid method that uses the books and materials but also introduces reading earlier. Maybe Janice can help with that on the side. I talk to so many musicians in my violin store, and too many adults tell me they quit in high school or college when the need to read the music became too overwhelming, which I find sad because reading music doesn't have to be hard at all. Of course, for the truly dedicated, any method will be fine because he or she will put in the work required regardless.
My niece does Suzuki. She is 7 and has started playing onstage with her dad's bluegrass band. She has also been learning to read music for the last year or so of it, so must be her teacher is ok with that as well. My four-year-old is now interested. Plenty of awesome adult fiddlers got their start in suzuki!
I started Suzuki violin lessons when I was 3. I took lessons for about 4 or 5 years, and I never learned to read music. What I did learn was respect for the instrument and the learning process. Before we were allowed to use our violins and bows, we were first taught how to hold them correcty using a shoebox and ruler. I learned disclipline in Suzuki that served as a good foundation for the rest of my adolescence.
Any suggestions for getting a 9yr old girl (who has no previous experience with any instrument) started in violin lessons?? Certain methods? Teachers in the Oak Ridge/Knoxville area? Or is there another instrument that might be a better choice? (And am I getting her started in this too late?). I'd REALLY appreciate any suggestions…because I'm pretty much clueless in this department! Thanks yall!!!!
Nine is not too late to start. That's when I started playing and I caught up with the kids who had started much earlier and were on the Suzuki method. I played for several years without being truly dedicated to practicing, though I was a decent player in the "first violin" section of my middle school orchestra. My parents made me practice, but I watched the clock for the specified time and stopped as soon as time was up. The hope with young musicians is that something will click with them that will make them want to be really dedicated to becoming better players. I found my passion for it when I was about 14 and then I practiced a lot more and that made all the difference.
Hey, 9 isn't too late. My DD takes lessons from Bethany Hankins, from Knoxville. She starts students out with Suzuki, but around the time they finish Book 1 she begins teaching music reading in addition to the Suzuki method. I highly recommend her. Good luck!
My son started violin lessons when he was 5 with the Suzuki method. I thought it was wonderful and he enjoyed. Practicing was not a joy, but he got very good on the violin in a short period of time. I wish he had stayed with it, but he stopped and now plays the trombone.
I have been playing the violin for over 30 years. Full disclosure: I did not do the Suzuki method. My observations of those who did is that they start out really well, progress incredibly fast and knock everybody's socks off at a young age. The kids I knew who started on Suzuki method, however, peaked and the rest of us who weren't Suzuki learners eventually caught up and surpassed them. I think Suzuki is a really terrific way for little kids to start. Learning to play by ear is priceless — I can do it, but not at ALL like I would be able to if I'd had Suzuki training. After the first couple of years, or so, a hybrid method that introduces reading music would be a great next step. But if C sticks with it, I definitely would recommend taking her off Suzuki method — not even doing a hybrid method — once she gets to be 10, or so. Then find a really accomplished player who is also a good teacher who emphasizes both the technical parts (big in Suzuki method) and the artistic and musical interpretation side (not big in the Suzuki method). I was very fortunate in middle school and high school to have a teacher who really emphasized the technical side, but whose husband (the retired concertmaster of the Hartford [CT] Symphony) really emphasized the artistic side. I took lessons in their home and even though she was my teacher, he often came in in the middle of my lesson and offered far more than his two cents. I am so, so grateful to them for working on both aspects of being a good musician with me.
What ended up happening with me was I somehow auditioned into a really good string orchestra when I started high school. I was the last seat of 12 violins. A guy in my grade who had started really young on Suzuki method and was an amazing player in elementary school (when I was still squeaking away) was 3rd seat. By our senior year, we were co-concertmasters. I had continued to improve so much during high school and beyond. He had leveled off — and the same was true of many other Suzuki kids.
I completely agree with this comment. I play piano & taught piano lessons for quite a while. I did not learn Suzuki method, & am always jealous of those folks' ability to play by ear. However, my experience with students who had started that way was that most of them were very frustrated by having to read music. My experience was that it really hindered those kids' ability to go from good showmanship to the type of skills needed to understand music on a cognative level (reading music, transferring skills from one intrument to another, etc). I have always said though that I would start a child off with Suzuki & then switch before they are old enough to get frustrated by sight reading.
my niece started playing violin (with the suzuki method) when she was 4…he's 21 now, and in Oberlin, majoring in violin…she was the first freshman to make the Oberlin Orchestra, and she toured with them in asia (china and singapore) a few years ago…
My 5 year old son's first Suzuki violin lesson starts in an hour! We're all looking forward to it, but I appreciate the comments about learning to read music. I had assumed that that would be part of the method eventually. I'll keep an eye on that, and ensure that we move into that sort of instruction in a few years.
Comment on "how old is too old" to learn an instrument. I recently published a profile of a jazz pianist who didn't start playing piano — at all — until he was 14. In 2012 at age 26, he won the only piano spot in one of the most elite grad student jazz program/ensembles in the world. Full ride for two years. (He also graduated from a prestige undergrad conservatory program.)
However: this fellow's parents are both talented professional musicians/teachers (at a local level, not known elsewhere, but they are good). He is definitely "gifted" musically. He was home-schooled from 7th grade on and had both the time and motivation to practice 4-6 hours/day for the next six years. You can start late, but the exceptional talent and drive have to be there, too. Add in parental support and here you are. 99% of kids aren't going to get there, but that doesn't mean putting a lot into music lessons isn't worthwhile. My HS friends who made All-State Band or Orchestra say they used skills learned in music to be successful in other fields, and I believe them. That is also true for any area of endeavor that requires dedication, practice, perseverance, overcoming obstacles and frustrations to always do better. So maybe it will be music, or sports, theater, carpentry, whatever—just find something your kid will try hard at and support them.
I started taking piano lessons at 46. Knew how to read music from guitar lessons in junior high, so could plunk out some songs, but always wanted to take lessons. Took them for 4 years, loved it, was her best student.
Never going on tour or going to cut an album, but it brings me great joy. Music lessons, at any age, are always worth the money, in my opinion.
I remember the school our son went to in junior high got a new band director. He only wanted the best of the best to be in his band (junior high, give me a break!!). So essentially he bullied the kids who weren't good out. Ended up being a fairly big brouhaha, and he eventually got fired. I remember one of the teachers saying to me "what he doesn't seem to understand is that whether they are the best or not, or even good at all at playing their instrument, for some of these kids this is the one thing in their lives that is good and pure and that they enjoy,."
I hope C enjoys the lessons, and if she doesn't, finds something else that she does, just for the joy it brings.
I never knew S training impeded learning to read music. I did S for so many years- played from 5 through high school. Reading music has always been such a trial for me. And I quit as soon as I was able to decide if I wanted to do it for myself or to please my parents. The best year of violin I had was the year I took a break from my violin school and had a non-Suzuki based teacher. I even won a state-wide award…So really, if C really wants to do it, then support her. Learning an instrument is learning another language. I do not regret my years spent playing, though do still think of my Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings as wasted. It was such a relief to stop practicing and performing! The motivation just wasn't mine. I may start again to encourage my kids' interest in playing an instrument. I still have everyone of my violins, down to the 1/4 size!
Katie, I remember your mother-in-law from teaching music lessons to my kids at Adrian Burnett 1986-1990. She was such a talented and patient teacher. I observed their lessons a lot because I used to substitute. How cool that she can teach her grandchildren now!
My 8 year old daughter plays violin, and I deliberately steered her away from Suzuki. As someone who is very enthusiastic about Montessori (both kids have been in Montessori from the very beginning), I can assure you that Suzuki is nothing like Montessori…
One of my daughter's best friends, K, (also a Montessori kid) has been doing Suzuki from the age of 4; he's 9 now. He's very talented, and plays brilliantly. You are very, very lucky that you have a grandmother with a musical background to undertake the Suzuki, because it is very onerous on parents if done as prescribed. Parents must be there for each lesson, individual ones as well as group ones (2 sessions a week, with more when they are rehearsing for recitals). As well, parents are supposed to practice with the child every day; it's a big commitment. K's mom, one of my closest friends, has said to me many times over the years that Suzuki has taken a real toll on their relationship. Remember Tiger Mom? Amy Chan wrote about how well Suzuki melded with her parenting style, and both her daughters started off in Suzuki.
Right now, K is playing brilliantly, winning competitions, and is learning to sight read… but I would ask — at what cost? When he gets home from school, it is homework, violin, dinner, bath and bed. The family's weekends are organized around his Saturday practices, and solfège lessons. What about playing with friends, getting bored and having to be creative, what about getting to be a kid?
So, besides the sight-reading issues, I think that the Suzuki method, when followed as prescribed, can rob a child of their childhood, and even take them away from music after they burn out. I am very leery of it after having watched out friends' experience.
My daughter loves violin, but there is no way she would be able to stick to a rigid Suzuki schedule without a lot of tears, yelling and frustration, and I refuse to do that to her, our relationship, and our family. We hope that she will play for enjoyment, learn to play jazz or fiddle. She's already teaching herself to play piano (we don't have one) by playing all her violin pieces on the piano in the hallway at school. It's supposed to be fun, not a career, not at the age of eight.
I agree with the burning out part, Monika. I've always suspected that part of the reason the Suzuki kids peaked was from burnout.
I started piano at age three and must have had some sort of hybrid training. I remember my books being Suzuki, but I also distinctly remember learning to read music at 3 or 4. I cannot recommend learning to read music early MORE HIGHLY. It is second nature to me, despite not playing for years. My brother, on the other hand, started trombone at 13 and never learned to read music – he just write the slide positions over each note. I was horrified.
regardless, this is a fascinating conversation.
As for the music, I got irritated with being forced to practice and stopped in high school. I will probably pick it back up in a few years…
I am a big fan of the Suzuki method. In the hands of a properly trained Suzuki teacher, there is no reason a child shouldn't be learning to read music at a developmentally appropriate pace. Ditto the level of parent involvement: a good Suzuki teacher will assist the process (at whatever age is appropriate for the individual child) of teaching the child how to take notes on their own during lessons and how to practice on their own. My take-away from the Suzuki method is precisely what it has in common with the Montessori method: developmentally appropriate, individually paced lessons. (Both my kids went to Montessori schools from pre – K through 5th grade.) We learn language aurally, for years, before we ever learn to read & write; and so it is with learning an instrument!
I have a 14 year old who studied Suzuki piano for years, and (despite a hectic H.S. schedule) still enthusiastically practices, on her own, and reads music well. I also have a 10 year old who studies Suzuki cello (also enthusiastically). She is doing plenty of music reading, and her teacher is helping her learn to practice on her own – all while following the Suzuki curriculum. We also go to Suzuki camps in the summer. Both girls started when they were around C's age, and after the first 2 years, I (yearly) began giving them the option to quit. I really want music lessons to be their choice. They always choose to continue!
What a great thing that your M.I.L is doing for C!