Book: Winning Ways
Winning Ways: Strategies for Suzuki Parents : a Collection of Articles for Parents from the American Suzuki Journal and Suzuki World. (2006). United States: Suzuki Association of the Americas, Incorporated.
A collection of the best American Suzuki Journal articles for parents
Pg 3
Joyful Learning by Timothy Durbin
I believe there is something that can define a Suzuki teacher, a belief that does set us apart, a quality that is unique and that all good Suzuki teachers that I know psosess. And that is – we put the student first and use music to build the child.
Building the Child
To build the child, teachers and parents must put the student’s health and growth before their own desire and expectations of performance. External expectations cannot be the underlying reason for achieving excellence.
pg 4
We need to build a core love for learning and music that can withstand the storms that we all encounter in life. If that core love for learniningand the subject matter is no developed, then there is no motivation to continue once outside pressures cease to be exerted. Teachers and parens of young children are the ones who help develop a core love of learning and music that will sustain them. We dont just teach the art, we use the art to teach students how to learn.
Einsteins… “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge”.
Creating Receptive Learns
I once had a Book 1 student who was having trouble making this Twinkle variation rhythms even. I decided to use words to the thythms, hoping that hearing the eveness of the spoken syllables would make him more senstivie to hearing even notes when he played th;em. After given him the first one, I challend him to make up one on his own and then play that on his violin. He made one up andplayed it and was so excited that he had to make up a second one. And a third, and a fourth. After about ten or so, I suggested we go on to Lightly Row. He played three or four notes, stopped in midstream and yelled, “Hey, jI’ve got another.” After getting him turned on and motived, I literally cound not turn him off. His mom told me that he could hardly be stopped from practicing that week and had such fun nhe ddi not know lhe was practicing nearly an hour each day. By the way, his rhyths were very even the next week.
Pg 5
Build Motivation by Renewing – not Reviwing – the Music.
Suzuki told students to build their ability by contining to play pieces they know. He was telling us to improve old pieces by incorporating the new ideas into old pieces to bring them to a higher leve. Add phrasing, lifed bows, irator, shifting, positiongs, hand and elbow shape, dynamics, emotions, etc, to old pieces – then they are renewed, not just reviewed.
Build the Child through Mistakes.
If a student is hypercritical and says to me, “I made a lot of mistakes,” I immediately say, “Would you rater make the mistakes, now, or on stage at Carnegie Hall”” Then I tell them two things. If you aren’t making mistakes then you aren’t stretch your technique. And some of the greated sicoveres were thr result of making mistakes.
Pg 6
Build the Child by Being in the Moment.
[notes – this story is often retold at Suzuki workshops/parent talks]
I once heard a story of a harried mom who listend t opractice over the clag of pots and pans in the kitch as she fixed dinner, yelling instructions into the liviging room. This morther was tellng the childr that the violin was not important engough to be given full attentions. So it was no wonder the little girl had ttention and focus problems at her lessons. Make the time with your child or student a magicall, wonderful ourney together. Be there and create a relataex, fun, exciting atmostphere every time you get the violin out and play. Rember that patience is controlled furstation, and frustration is controlled anger.
Pg 7
Build motivation by not doing too much
A child needs time to be be a child, time to model his world through play. Play is serious beusiness to a child and is essentail to the emotional, social, and medial well being of the hcild.
Build the child through celebration
Celebrate the effor, not the level of achiement.
Find the celebration point and you will find a motivated student who is a joyful learner.
Build the Child through Games
Games are an ideal way for chidlren to learn.
Games in the Suzuki enviornment should be orientaed so that students don’t compete against each other, but work on improving some idea or technique for themselves..
Small things like fidgeting can be tolerated if they do not detract from the ultimate goal of creating an overall stimulating learning enviornemtn.
Buil motivation by making connections
The things that makes children learning sponges can be the very thing that frustrates adults. In categorizing information, cahildren can take up tangents that may seem irrelevant. THE LISTENING CYCLE: A LESSON FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS
by Josphen McSpadden
pg 8
We search for “gimmicks” to motivate kids, a kind of remedial medicien, while Dr. Suzuki came up with the preventative medicine years ago. His “cure” is listening. And it works!
Pg 9
“just what is self-motivation?{” Many answers came to mind, but among them were always self-esteem, pride in one’s achievement, and confirence. Confidence! I ha… I have found in my setudents that, invariably, the ones who are motivated, who practice, who do what they are asked without hestiation, are the ones who have laid such a solid foudation that they are aboslutely condient about what they are doing. These are the ones who will pick up their fiddles at the drop of a hat and play for anybody, and it it well, besides.
In music our condidence comes from listening to music, repeatdely, to the point of internalization. Listening until we can remember is not enough. We ust listen until we can’t forget!
When discovering the imporance of listening for motivation and inspired condifence, we realise that without listening, the kid’s’ wheels aren’t evne turning. Listeing is the hub of the wheel, the power source, the focal point from which the energy is pspread to the other parts of the wheel.
… This studenThere is a student I know, whose mother… firmly asserted that she did not believe “this business about listening.” … This student always had a struggle. He practiced a great deal, often two house a day, but did not listen. Consequently, his intoation was atrocious. The child could no more hear the correct intonation than he could fly. Yet he practiced! But what he heard day after day was himself. He had no good example to follow. Pg 10
If you expose the children to saturated listening from the beginning, later they will learn their songs much fastser with feweer listenings. There listening ability will have developed to the point where thy can perceive not only the basics, but also the intriciacies and subtleties of te sounds very quickly.
Pg 11
If a child has internalized the music through repated listenings, when reproducing that music on his instrument, he will match the sound to the sound in his “mind’s ear.”. If the output of the instrument does not match the desired sound, the input is altered until the desired match is achieved.
One parent in mu program consistently tapes lessons. Whe I start to remable she pushes the pause button It’s a little ego-deflating, but very effective in controlling my rambling.
Pg 12
The role of listening – by Cherie Larson
…
pg 13
But is it beautiful? by anne castleton Busath
pg 14
The media compouds out problem To get coverage for an event, one must either have money,, friends in powerful place, or a troops of star three-years-olds. … the problem is simply that the publicity it receives often tends to focus our attention on quantity at the expense of quality. Carried o the extreme, one finds adults exploring very young students.
Many teachers note that most of their students drop out at the beginning of their teends. … unheaCould our {american} fixation with “est” be the start of unhealthy competition and the sprouting seeds of teenage burnout? What happens to the cutre little four-year old playing Vivaldi when he’s 13 and his playing is no longer so unique?
“my you played that beautifully,” or “your playing made me fell warm all the way through”; instead of , “That surely is a hard piece for someoe so little.” Feelings versus things.
To Make it Beaitiful
- Review should be part fo every lesson. By reviing one can learn to play senstively. By being part of each lesson the student reliazes the imporantce of review. It is most appropriate on pieces that are tehnciallyp erfect. At this point Dr. Suzuki says, “now we can make it beautiful.”
- 2. At home, try: