From an article by Sanford Reuning

Shinichi Suzuki

Brief History

Ten Key Elements in the Suzuki Philosophy by Sanford Reuning

Curriculum

Loma Linda Academy Suzuki String Program

Photos

          Suzuki found that children can learn very well beginning at the age of 3, and in some cases even earlier.  Teaching in the U.S. has substantiated this belief and experimentation is constantly employed to see exactly how young children can begin instruction.

2.  Learn by Memory.

          This is the so-called "mother-tongue" approach.  All learning in the early years is without printed music.  Children learn by small steps, hence memory is developed in a gradual manner until it becomes a high skill.  Young children have an almost uncanny ability to work in this manner, the "natural" manner of language learning.

3.  Creative Repetition.

          The analogy to language learning is obvious, since the child is encouraged to say the same simple words over and over until they are mastered.   Suzuki limits the amount of material on any given level and encourages much repetition.

4.  Active repertoire of pieces learned.

          In one's native tongue, one never gets to the point where a word is learned only to be forgotten.  The Suzuki student constantly reviews repertoire he has learned, and then effectively reinforces his memory, his technical skill and musical expression.

5.  Listening to recordings.

         As the mother speaks often to her child, so the violin student hears recordings of the pieces he is to learn and becomes knowledgeable regarding a fine violin, cello or piano tone.  This is the environment at home that determines much of his learning.

6.  Involvement of Parent.

         A parent attends every lesson with the child, encourages him and helps him practice at home each day.  The parent becomes the teacher's assistant responsible for playing recordings, encouraging the child, teaching notes, and practicing with the child.

7.  Encouragement.

         The mother of a small child doesn't scold her infant for mispronouncing words he is learning, but encourages him to repeat it.  Likewise, Suzuki parents must always encourage a child.  The lessons should be a happy experience.

8.  Step-by-step mastery.

          Each skill is broken down into small steps easily mastered by the student.  It is imperative that these steps are mastered before attempting the next step, so as to engineer a "built-in" success for each step.  This takes skill on the part of the teacher to assess the potential and limitation of learning at a given point in order to effectively challenge the learner. 

9.  Reading after physical control.

          If one uses the analogy of native language learning, one speaks before one learns to read.  By no means, however, should memory learning be ignored once one starts to read notes.

10.  Every child can learn. 

          Eliminate the talent test, and believe that they can learn to play the violin or any other instrument in the world.