"Without hurry, without rest" (Shinichi Suzuki)
We had some insightful sessions. As we met in small, seperate groups, it was a chance for parents to open up more freely concerning Suzuki matters. As usual, observations on the ongoing subject of practice at home were discussed! For those who attended, and for those who weren't able to do so, and in order to coordinate the ideas brought up in individual groups, three principal themes are presented below. Concerns in particular were expressed about the perceived limitations of the Suzuki repertoire as well as a lack of background listening.
>Repertoire: this exists so that the playing facility of pupils can be developed. Suzuki music is based on the building up of recognisable aural and visual patterns. This can be considered to be both its strength and its weakness. The strength lies in the fact that it lays good technical foundations through the development of technique which when approached properly in home practice, produces a beautiful tone. However, later on, this does result in a limitation of keys used and styles of music covered. The inclusion of other repertoire at appropriate times, addresses this imbalance. By the time Book Two is reached, explorations into other music can start. But where possible, it is still best at this stage to move as much as possible with the Suzuki material as it does, when studied well, accelerate the learning process which is not always immediately evident.
"Don't rush but don't rest, patience is an important faculty for achievement" ('Nurtured by Love' Shinichi Suzuki). Suzuki, I feel certain, did not intend that pupils only study music from the repertoire, but to use it as a 'spine' on which to drape other material.
At one meeting a request for a compilation of music to augment the repertoire was suggested. This will be put on the blog site once it has been gathered together.
>Listening: this subject became an important focus of these group meetings.The Suzuki CDs are ofcourse the backbone of instrumental lessons but parents were encouraged to introduce other listening material as well. This approach has worked particularly well with the composer group who have expanded and developed their own writing by listening to the music of others. This theme will be addressed more during the course of the teaching year 2009 - 2010 for everyone.
To use the Suzuki CDs successfully, daily imput was stressed. Breakfast was considered a good time for this, with the music to be sufficiently audible behind conversation. Car journeys were also found to be good opportunities. It was important though for parents to realise that the whole book ie. a whole spectrum of repertoire is heard regularly, both the book on which pupils are working, and material from higher books. There was a widely held misunderstanding that only the current learning piece was the one to be listened to, and sometimes short car journeys only facilitated short bursts of listening so that some pieces were hardly ever heard. The Suzuki method is also known as 'The Mother Tongue Method' and like learning any language requires regular listening input to become fluent.
>Reading: the acquisition of musical literacy was also stressed. But this is done in the wake of the listening and playing. The important thing was not to expect a pupil to achieve this in a set period of time and to allow this to take place naturally. And rather than thinking about the development of sightreading, which at the keyboard, is a particularly challenging task at the best of times, one should encourage the nuturing of reading and being able to make sense of a piece of music through a self study type of approach. Reading can be developed in a number of different ways, beginning in the junior groups when the foundations of reading are laid, away from the keyboard. Proper reading from printed music should begin once the pupil is beginning to play fluently and can take on the reading of music more easily. It is also important not to forget that learning difficulties can demand approaches suited to individual needs, and the Suzuki method is a wonderful way to enable such pupils to be able to play freely without at first having to
deal with the demands of reading at the same time. Sometimes an older beginner, and particularly one who already reads music by learning another 'first' instrument, can take on reading from the music in piano lessons more quickly.
Following along with the music and listening to the CD at the same time is to be highly encouraged from Book One onwards. 'Sightreading' books are introduced in order to teach how to read, not how to sightread. The use of the cardboard pull-out notefinder for parents and pupils has proven invaluable.
Let's not forget that music existed in sound long before anyone thought about writing it down. And there are some fantastic musicians around who can't read a note of music!
Comments please!
Welcome
Hello! and welcome to this site. Let me tell you a bit about myself. I live in Edinburgh,Scotland, and run a private piano teaching practice. Initially I trained as a class music teacher at Newton Park College of Education, which at the time was part of the University of Bristol education department. Later I specialised in piano teaching and for a number of years I taught class music lessons as well as giving individual piano tuition.
I have taught in all manner of schools, situated in the south of England,Brussels,and now Scotland. Although I specialised initially in secondary education my teaching experience has embraced all age groups ranging from three to seventy three! My school teaching posts have included several as head of department,as well as other senior positions.
Always searching for new ways of doing things from a more holistic and therefore alternative viewpoint I eventually trained as a Suzuki piano teacher. This nurturing, mother-tongue approach to learning an instrument works so naturally and organically that I now cannot imagine teaching the piano any other way. But I still like to include other repertoire as and when appropriate and my students often take higher graded practical examinations or at least follow the syllabus. Certainly I like to encourage the exploration of a wide range of styles.
I also enjoy composing and arranging and have recently written material for my students' use. These have been performed at my own gatherings and concerts as well in school on the students' own initiative. We have had a number of notable successes in the EPTA(European Piano Teachers' Association) young composers' competitions and recently I have started up a special group for those aspiring composers from amongst my students. During the summer months I organise a mixed age-range music activity club and teach at the Deeside Suzuki Piano Festival which is a highly popular event in the Scottish Suzuki piano calender and a very special experience.
Complimentary to my teaching I have qualified as an NLP( Neuro Linguistics Programming ) practitioner and as a life coach. I constantly find myself applying the skills I have gained in these areas to my teaching. I also love writing stories for children as well as educational articles on musical subjects. The object of this site is to make these and other materials I have produced available to parents, teachers and students. I hope you will find it helpful. Good wishes. Marie.
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