What`s this `Suzuki Method` for playing violin all about? I keep hearing about it. Has anyone here used this method? Does it work?

I is really better than traditional teaching/ learning methods, or does it just depend on the person?

~ Stravinskysaurus

i haven`t used the Suzuki method but from what i understand it teaches u to play by ear. which if u ask me isn`t the best way to learn. but th``s all i would be able to tell u.

umm i dont know who you heard that from, but i`d recommend never listening to them again.

The Suzuki Method is a method of teaching music that was pioneered by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki in the 1970`s. It focuses on the application of musical theory and techniques through the use of pieces of varying levels, and in the violin method 10 books. They are all cumulative. It also emphasizes perfect posture, intonaiton, and tonality.

It is a very effective method, but after a point students become independent and prefer different learninq techniques. That`s when a more tradiotional style of Scale books and music is best to be used.

The thing with Suzuki is that it`s really fast...U can like whop up a song or two in a few lesson ...caz it`s about sound. So it`s not a good thing in the long run. The person`s note reading and technique becomes really Argghhh! Remember: There`s only quantity in Suziki method, not real quality. That`s why alot of violin teachers prefer to incoparate with lots of technic drills if they happened to be using Suzuki. Some teachers even dun use Suzuki at all. Since Suzuki is only about repertoires...not much technic stuffs that will support yr development.

HI i relly thinck thate suzuki
relly works !!!
um if you ask my advise do it
im 10 and i sarted abot a month ago!!
ate a colege!! and it works good
so its good do it!!!
you wont be disoponted
k

The thing I`ve found about Suzuki-taught students is that it`s really hard to get them to play a new song. Lots of them can`t read. There are too many "support" things in the Suzuki method, because most teachers let the students put tape on their fingerboards, tape on their bows, those grip things; and when they take it all off, they can`t play.
It really pißes me off so just stay away from Suzuki.

No! I disagree... Suzuki is a good method to teach espeically to children and some adults who have very short attention span. Suzuki makes learning more exciting. In a few lessons students learn Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Its basic logic, if you want to fall in love with something you will want to appreciate it well first. The best way for beginners to appreciate the violin is when they can play something nice and familiar with it.

But in may case, I didnt go strictly Suzuki. Suzuki is also a spoiling method. True it makes kids want to look at the finger tapes in the fingerboard. It also teaches you music by listening. Its difficult to show a student a piece - suzuki students find it hard to read notes. That is why my teacher gave me supplementary etudes and it is best for the student to take music theory classes.

Suzuki also favors group classes and enourages the parent to be present at classes and even learn the instrument themselves. Dr. Suzuki was a smart man, he intended to create this method for children. Its simple child psychology in action. You cant say that Suzuki is a bad method because a lot of good players started with Suzuki. Most of the Asian musicians took Suzuki because there is a Suzuki method for almost any instrument. Children as young as 4 can already play instruments. Why do you think there are so many young Asian virtuosos nowadays, i bet because of the Suzuki Method. Try teaching traditional methods to young children...

I`m in the middle of reading "The Suzuki Concept" and it`s very interesting. The thing that you have to keep in mind when you hear things like suzuki students can`t read, or they use tape on there bows and fingerboards as a crutch, or they learn to play by ear, is that this method is used to teach children as young as three or four.
Dr. Shinichi Suzuki developed this method based on his observations of how quickly children learn to speak their native language fluently. Young children have a huge capacitly to learn, and they pick up language very fast. They are taught to play before they are taught to read music, just like they learn to speak before they learn to read and write. Older students can read just as well as students taught traditionally.
There practice time is divided into three activities: Listening to records, Tonalization, and Playing Music.
Parents play a very important role in the musical education of the child (how many three year olds do you know that could practice on their own) and they are encouraged to continue helping and supporting the student as he grows.
Tape is used, but not to extensivly, places for the first and third finger, and perhaps the second, are put on the finger board, and one for the fourth finger when the students begin using it (small chilren do not have very strong fingers and for the first songs in book one only the first three fingers are used). Tape is often put on the bow too, to help the student with bow division. All the tape is gradually removed as the student learns where his finger go, even if his intonation isn`t completly perfect yet.
The suzuki method is not intended to create child prodigies, and children are not pushed to practice for unrealistic periods of time or anything. When asked how long a young child should pratice Dr. Suzuki said something like "two minutes with joy, five times a day."
The Suzuki method is used for people of all ages as well, and older student learn to read music almost right away, and they do not keep the tapes on there violins for very long (a nine year old girl I know is in her second year of lessons and she has no tapes and plays beatifully, I`m not sure if she is learning completely with the Suzuki method but she is using the books.) Every teacher is different too, and they might mix suzuki with traditional methods expecially for older students.
Thats the shortest summary I can give of my limited knowlege

Well I can tell u...Suzuki is only seemingly `good` in the beginning. It doesn`t allow the student to grow any further. So normally, most violin teachers, in fact all, will incorporate em with other etudes or studies.And most, will stop using the Suzuki collection after the first few volumes. Suzuki is only good for the `ear` in the beginning. And that`s pretty much it. And get real! U can`t produce young virtuosos with Suzuki books. There`s alot more to that. And trust me...those young virtuoso kids do more Kayser than they do Suzukis. If not, yr technic will never grow. And yr note-reading will always be slow. And most of em will totally abandon the book after maybe volume 4/5. There are some who sticks with Suzuki ubtil book 8, but that is not the main book they used. That is more like a fun supplementary to em. I`ve not yet come across a good, young virtuoso who used Suzuki as their primary playing book. Thank You.

I would avoid the Suziki method once you get past the first couple books. It kinda screwed me up with sight reading.

are you shere tht iy=t scrood you up im on my first book and think it
works

thanks you for sharing your knowledge of the suzuki method. been looking for advice. so thanks for the objective opinion. any idea which is a better instrument for young children to start with, violin or piano?

I did Suzuki for years. I could write a lot about it but you seem to have been given a lot already! To summarise, I think that incorporated into another method it would work very well and that listening to the music as you are learning is a very good idea. But yes, now, my reading is horrible and my technique could be better. It all really depends on how good your teacher is though, like any method.

Anyway, as for violin and piano. I only really play violin but I would have loved to have learnt piano. I do bash around on it from time to time.

It`s really a personal preference of what the student wants to do. Pros and Cons: Of course it`s hard to play any instrument really well, but it`s a lot easier to get an OK sound on a piano than a violin. Violin technique is DIFFICULT DIFFICULT DIFFICULT. Piano also makes a lot more sense visually: you can SEE the notes in front of you, and simply have to press the keys whereas in violin you spend a while learning how everything works. This makes learning tones, semitones, etc (important when learning scales) a LOT easier and having a piano on hand significantly helped me with this when learning scales on violin. Piano is also a very versatile instrument you can play virtually any style on. Theoretically you can play any song on a violin as well but I`m sure you`ll find yourself playing mostly classical as that is what is mostly what is taught on, composed for and available for violin. Playing piano and singing is also good fun and it`s nice be able to accompany people. You`ll learn a lot more about chords and that sort of theory simply by playing piano than will a violin, which will help your musicianship.

On the other hand, there`s violin. One, it`s transportable. Don`t underestimate this as a benefit! Also, socially (a big influence, I find, on inspiring you to practice and become better), there are a lot more opportunities to join an orchestra or other ensemble with a violin rather than a piano. Violin is, as I said, difficult, but violinists through their hard work are rewarded with very good ears because you have to learn precisely where each note is (a millimetre`s shift in fingers makes a hugely noticeable difference) and many pianists I believe lack this to the same extent because they don`t have to worry about their notes being in tune (provided the piano is!). In this way, while you miss out some chord theory and the like through violin unless you investigate it yourself, you get a good appreciation for being in tune. I can sing in tune, which I think is at least partially attributed to years of violin.

So as I said, it`s down to a choice of what YOU want to play, but I hope I`ve given you some things to think about. I say start with the one you want to play most!

My teacher doesn`t use Suzuki. But some of the other kids I know are learning it that way. I didn`t get it but now I get it better.

I`ve been using the suzuki method for 4 years... and I disagree. Suzuki is a great way to learn, but it also depends on your teacher and how they utilize the books. I`m currently in book 9 (and i have been at this one song for a year for solo) so technically i would probably be done with the program by now. I also am one of the, if not the best sight readers in my orchestra. Which i need to be since i`m concertmaster and when we sightread pieces, they need someone to follow. Also, playing by ear is equally important to being able to read notes. How else do you adjust to an instrument that isn`t perfectly in tune? You can`t match tone/pitch to an orchestra if you can`t play by ear. for example, if you were to tune to a piano, and it was flat, you would need to be able to fix that...
just some food for thought...