Mother Tongue Approach and Dr. Suzuki Method

Dr. Suzuki, a Japanese violinist, believed that every child has the potential to play the violin. Just as young children learn their native language from their parents and environment, above all Dr. Suzuki was confident they could also learn to play the violin through a similar approach—by ear. This is the first major difference in Dr. Suzuki’s method: we begin teaching at a very young age, sometimes as early as three years old, and as a result young children learn to focus on listening rather than reading sheet music.

Why I want to be a Suzuki teacher?

When I first heard about the Suzuki method, I didn’t fully understand its depth. I assumed it was just a way to teach young children with fun stories and songs from Suzuki books, however, that turned out to be just a small part—only about 1% of everything I’ve learned. The core of the method is its approach. We always start with positive feedback, followed by suggestions for improvement. For me, this kind and encouraging way of teaching is essential. I’ve had many wonderful violin teachers, but I’ve also had teachers who discouraged me from wanting to continue and that’s why I’m committed to making this change.

Why do I want to be a Suzuki Teacher?

Teaching music is not my main purpose. I want to make good citizens. If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart.

Firstly, I couldn’t resonate more with his saying that we need to raise kind human beings first of all. Secondly, my goal is to teach violin, to teach music, and to build discipline and respect.

On the other hand, I can hear very often people saying “Suzuki is not a method, it’s just a song”. However, that is the very opposite, every song is guided by technique, and with every song we developed the technique.

Beautiful heart, beautiful tone!