The Suzuki Method is based on the belief that talent is not inborn. Suzuki believed that every child has the ability to learn and every child has a "sprout of talent."
The whole idea lies in the importance of the environment surrounding the child. The environment must be that which nurtures the talent and allows the child to learn and succeed. A huge part of the environment used to nurture musical talent is listening.
This is the key to the philosophy of the Suzuki Method and is where Suzuki's "mother tongue" method comes in. Suzuki was astonished at something that most people see as normal learning and growth. He was amazed at how children learned their native language fluently by the age of five or six. What a huge accomplishment! He decided to study the way children did this. Children learn to speak by listening and imitating what they hear. They are not born speaking, but on the contrary, they learn to speak from their environment. It would only make sense that this would be true of learning music or any other form of education.
Suzuki said that "advanced abilities can be nurtured in any child but, the fate of the child is in the hands of his parents." If a parent says that their child has no talent, then that parent has not done a good job of nurturing the child's talents.
The philosophy of the "mother tongue" method is derived from the fact that we don't teach our babies to read before they learn to speak, so in the same way, we should not have children read music before they learn to play it well. How do they learn to play it well? This is done by listening to music many times and developing a good ear. Suzuki said that listening to music is very important and should start at birth.
If the beginning violinist listens to Suzuki Book 1 many times, then they will begin to play the songs, they will be familiar to the child and will be learned much easier. The child will learn what the music sounds like correctly and this will stick with him or her.
In the Suzuki Method, every child is taught with the hope that he or she will play the instrument with joy. Learning should be a joyful time. Children develop talent with a sense of joy and achievement when the learning environment is up-beat and the teacher gives praises at the appropriate times. This should also be true of the child's practice time at home.
Parents are very involved in the Suzuki Method. They are the student's home teacher. To better help the student at home, parents are asked to sit in on every lesson and take notes. Parents are also responsible for establishing a daily practice routine with their child. The practice time at home should be kept as much of a positive experience as possible. This should be a time for the parent and child to spend quality time together. This will continue to nurture the child's talent.
