Metod Suzuki (Suzuki) is a world-famous method of children's musical development, created by the Japanese violinist and teacher Shin-ichi Suzuki (1898–1998) in the middle of the 20th century. Suzuki believed that music is based on a musical language consisting of the sounds of notes , just as speech is based on a spoken language consisting of spoken letters ( phonemes ); and therefore the child’s musical language can be taught in the same way that he learns his native language, listening to the speech of others and trying to repeat after them. The essence of the method of Suzuki is to surround the child with the earliest possible age with music, and teach him to repeat the notes, musical phrases, and then whole works on a musical instrument by ear . Initially, the technique meant playing the violin, being a violinist, Suzuki created a small violin on which even a very small child could play. Nowadays, adaptations of his methods for other musical instruments are created.
Content
Sources
The idea of his method came to Suzuki, when he began to learn German as an adult. He noticed that although he himself was given a very difficult language, but small children mastered the language unusually quickly. He suggested that the brain of the child is arranged in such a way that it allows him in a very short time to master the spoken language by just listening and repeating what was said by others. After that, he realized that the musical language is also based on sounds, as well as spoken, and the child's brain, apparently, can use the same mechanisms for quickly mastering the spoken language to master the language of music. Starting to engage with young children, he confirmed the correctness of his assumption, and, having convinced himself of the effectiveness of his approach, began work on its dissemination. Suzuki said that at the beginning he mainly wanted to bring the joy of music to the difficult childhood of the children of the war-torn Japan , then, as his method spread, his dream was to teach the musical language of all the children of the world. He called his method "Educating talents" ( Jap. 才能 教育 sainō kyōiku ) .
Suzuki Philosophy
If a child hears beautiful music from the day he was born and learns to play it himself, then sensitivity, discipline and endurance develop in him. And he will have a noble heart. (S. Suzuki)
Suzuki believed that musical talent was hidden in any child, and that any child, if you start to engage correctly with him at a rather early age, is capable of tremendous musical accomplishments. Nevertheless, Suzuki believed and emphasized many times that his method was not aimed at cultivating professional musicians and geeks from music, he was extremely negative about the parents' desire to make a child prodigy, to “harass” children. Suzuki said that his method was created in order to enrich the life of the child, make him happier and nurture high moral qualities , a “noble heart” through music.
Principles of methodology
- Early start of classes with a child, usually from 3-4 years.
- Learning to play music by ear before learning to read music .
- Maximum full immersion of the child in the musical environment. It is recommended that the house almost constantly sounded music. Also, the child must often hear the works on the reproduction and learning of which he is currently working.
- Parent involvement. According to Suzuki, there cannot be enough classes with a teacher, parents should deal with a child, this is especially important at the first stage of education. At the same time, the attitude of parents should be always careful and positive.
- All teachers of the Suzuki method must undergo special training and have a certificate confirming their qualifications.
- The emphasis on extracting a beautiful sound on the instrument is the most natural for a child technically from the very beginning of learning.
- A child should play music with other children, this should teach him to hear other instruments while playing. To do this, educators and schools around Suzuki around the world use a single, regularly updated repertoire.
- A child should actively communicate with other children-musicians, this will maintain and deepen his interest in music. [one]
Comparison with the traditional method of teaching music
The main difference of the Suzuki method from traditional methods is the teaching of listening to music before learning to read music. According to Suzuki, it gives the child great advantages, because the child develops a better ear for music and a better musical memory, because, unable to read notes, the child has to remember everything. In addition, a child can play more complex pieces without being bound by his limited ability to understand printed notes. Suzuki believed that the initial training of a child to read music hampered the development of his hearing, memory and technology, makes the child play slowly and with hesitations for years trying to read music, and ultimately kills interest in music, rather than maximizing the potential of the child the most valuable early years.
At the same time, teachers of traditional methods note that a child who has already learned how to play music by ear and memorize it is very difficult to get to read notes, going back to the most simple and uninteresting works, which can negatively affect the child’s progress later need to read on the notes complex scores, poorly perceived by ear.