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Talent Education - In Research Findings

Talent Education

In Research

Findings

Petra Schwarthoff

School of Music

Ithaca College

Fall 2000

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Abstract

Talent Education, often called the Suzuki Method, is an interesting, but

heavily debated pedagogical approach. Teachers are heavily divided in

their opinions about the Suzuki method: a teacher either belongs to the

Suzuki circle, or he/she is outside it and called a traditional teacher.

This paper gives an introduction into the Suzuki method, its history and

main principles in areas of parent involvement, listening, rote learning,

note reading, movement, group and private lessons, and child

development. These principles are compared with current research

data, and enhanced with viewpoints from Suzuki and traditional

teachers. The idea of this study is to combine the principles of Suzukis

Talent Education with the current research, and to find important

applications for violin teachers in general. The paper concludes with a

universal call to all teachers to take advantage of every opportunity to

improve teaching and to keep an eye on the current research.

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Contents

Introduction

History of Talent Education

Method of Instruction

1. Parent Involvement

2. Early Beginning

3. Listening

4. Private lessons

5. Group lessons

6. Rote learning Memorization7. Reading

8. Motivation

9. Teacher characteristics

10. Step-by-step learning

11. Repetition

12. Repertoire

13. Practice

14. Cooperation15. Special approaches

Research Findings

Conclusion

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References

Introduction

Fifty years since its conception, Talent Education, often called the

Suzuki Method, has spread all over the world. It is currently growing in

over 30 countries. A World Wide Web search (Yahoo!) on Suzuki and

Violin resulted in with over 1200 hits. There are 336 articles in the

Online Computer Library Center (OCLC).

While browsing through pedagogical string literature, readers will

become aware of the Suzuki Method, which is mentioned everywhere. In

Strategies for teaching strings and orchestra published by the Music

Educators National Conference (MENC), Suzuki book I is used as

repertoire book. Other Suzuki books like Nurtured by love, Shinichi

Suzuki: The man and his philosophy, and Suzuki cello school are listed

for additional resource information. The author of The strings - a

comparative view (Skoldberg, 1982) writes: The Suzuki approach which

has been so highly successful with young children, stresses an early

development of aural sensitivity through rote teaching and the playing

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of recordings. String guides like Teaching strings by Klotman and Guide

to teaching strings by Lamp have extra chapters on the Suzuki Method.

In contrast to Carl Seashore1, who believed that musical talent was

an inborn trait that was only given to a few individuals, Suzuki strongly

believed that every child has an enormous learning potential and that

an early and appropriate environment could enhance it.

Howard Gardener2 developed a theory of multiple intelligences and

noticed that talents (or intelligences) cant develop without at least

some opportunities for exploration. To cultivate the musical intelligence

he often refers to Talent Education. He mentions Suzuki Education quite

often, three times in Multiple Intelligences and seven times in Frames of

Mind, including two subchapters: The Suzuki Talent Education Method

and a critique of the Suzuki approach:

I am impressed with the method of training developed by the Japanese

master Shinichi Suzuki for teaching music to young children. The

method works because Suzuki has identified the factors that matter in

developing musical skill in early life such as finger arrangements

possible on the violin, the kinds of pattern that can be readily

recognized and sung by young children, the capacity to imitate mothers,

the tendency to identify with slightly older peers, and so on (Gardener,

1983, p.48).

1he developed the first standardized tests of musical aptitude

2 Professor at Harvard University and Director of Project Zero

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The idea of this study is to combine the principles of Suzuki Talent

Education with the current research, and to find important applications

for the violin teacher, insofar as he/she has not adapted these already.

Many of Suzukis principles, as brought up by Fink (1985), are

mentioned in a traditional violin school from C. H. Hohmann published

in 1888.

The first exercise should be practiced by ear, the teacher to play, and

the pupil to imitate. At first the open strings will suffice. The pupil must

first practice short bows (in the middle of the frog) and then longer

bows: at first in slow tempo, and then more rapidly. These exercises

should at once assume a rhythmic form, and very soon the pupil may

play upon the open strings and with the proper division of the bow. For

exercises to be played from memory, the teacher may choose songs

and hymns already familiar to the pupil from his school-days. Hymns are

particularly well adapted for the cultivation of a full and vigorous tone.

It is time that traditional teachers and Suzuki teachers meet in the

middle and draw from each other. Both should treat each other with

respect, because both have the same goal: happy and fulfilled human

beings, who grown up with an appreciation for music. It is time to end

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the destructive debate Suzuki violin versus traditional violin (Coff,

1998).This little story reveals how much work needs to be done:

On director reported that a mother requested permission to sit in at an

orchestra session to observe and evaluate the operation of the class.

This mother displayed the concern common to many parents of Suzuki-

trained players, often reinforced by Suzuki teachers, about whether

those public school students are good enough to make music with their

children (Brathwaite, 1988).

History of Talent Education

Shinichi Suzuki was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1898. His father was

founder of the largest violin factory in the world in that time. At the age

of seventeen he heard his first gramophone recording with Mischa

Elman, a famous violinist. His interest for the violin was awakening.

It made a tremendous impression on me. To think, the violin, which I

considered a toy, could produce such a beauty of tone! Elmans Ave

Maria opened my eyes to music. I had no idea why my soul was so

moved. But at least I had already developed the ability to appreciate

this beauty. My profound emotion was the first step in my search for the

true meaning of art (Suzuki, 1983, p. 69).

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This marked the beginning of Suzukis violin study, which soon

brought him to Tokyo to study with Ko Ando Koda. In 1920 he went to

Berlin, Germany. On his three-month search for a good and soul-

touching teacher he heard Karl Klingler and arranged to study with him.

While in Berlin he met a German singer who became his wife. At the age

of thirty-one he returned to Japan and formed a string quartet with his

brothers. Their main goal was the introduction of western chamber

music to Japanese audiences. During that time Suzuki started to teach

violin in various universities using a European traditional method.

However, he became more and more interested in the education of

young children.

In 1945 he started to develop his Talent Education School. Two

major incidents had an effect on Suzukis philosophy. The first occurred

during an audition, where Suzuki noticed great resemblance between a

father and his son. The only teacher the son had so far was his father.

Suzuki was so impressed by this fact that he decided to teach children,

stressing cooperation with their parents. The second incident occurred

while Suzuki was in Germany. He noticed that all German children spoke

fluent German. In fact, all children throughout the world speak their

native tongues with the utmost fluency. While this observation seems

trivial, Suzuki made the transfer from speaking the native language to

playing a musical instrument: He assumed that any child is able to gain

musical abilities if only the correct methods are used for the training.

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This led him to the conclusion, that the perfect educational method for

all learning processes, especially music, is the mother tongue.

For thirty years now I have been pleading with people to believe that all

children can be well educated, and not to turn away those who drop

behind in learning. I named my method Talent Education, and began an

educational movement in which children dropping behind or struggling

to get along are not turned away. The day of my startling discovery

became for me the starting point in my search for human potentials

(Suzuki, 1983, p.3).

Suzukis basic ideas are: talent is not inherited; good environmental

conditions produce superior abilities; what does not exist in the cultural

environment will not develop in the child; and we need to look at the

parents to guess what the children will be like.

In 1958 a Japanese student at Oberlin College presented a film of

Suzuki's young students performing in a national concert. American

string teachers became interested in the Suzuki method and began to

visit Japan to learn more about his work. Interest intensified in 1964

when Suzuki brought a group of students to tour the U.S. and perform at

a joint meeting of the American String Teachers Association and the

Music Educators National Conference. The method began to grow in the

U.S. with visits of American teachers to Japan, performances of Japanese

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tour groups, and the growth of hundreds of Suzuki programs across the

country.

Today the Suzuki Association of America (SAA) has 7,500 active

teachers and 200,000 students, parents and other professional

members. International or Regional Associations exist in Japan,

Australia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, East Asia and elsewhere. SAA

has a membership directory, teacher registry, job listings, a library, and

insurance programs for instruments and health, and is publisher of the

American Suzuki Journal, free for all members. Many Suzuki Schools also

publish newsletters for parents and teachers to support their ideas and

announce concerts, upcoming events, and changes in the local school

settings. Summer institutes offer student and teacher training. This

activity is getting more and more popular. Many retailers like Shar

Products, Southwest Strings or The String House offer special features

and extra sections for Suzuki products.

Method of Instruction

Suzukis dream is that every child should have the opportunity to

learn music in a nurtured and positive environment that respects the

individual. He envisions the development of the whole child, growing

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into a fine human being with feelings of self worth. A slogan from Suzuki

is: "Education through music!"

Suzuki believes that if children are surrounded by music in the same

way that they are surrounded by speech, they acquire the ability for

music as easily as they acquire the ability to communicate. With this

idea in mind, he developed the mother tongue approach, or talent

education. His philosophy is nicely explained in his book Nurtured by

love (translated into English by his wife). Unfortunately the text gives

only little insight into the method used by Suzuki and thousands of

Suzuki Schools to teach violin or other instruments. Many people wrote

guides for the developing Suzuki Schools: Kendall, 1973; Starr, 1976;

Slone, 1982; Landers, 1984; Romeo, 1986; and Lee, 1992 to mention

only a few.

Blaker (1995) investigated the scope and implementation of Suzuki

violin instruction in [41] community music school programs. She

investigated the size of the faculty and student enrollment, the

characteristics of the teachers, and the characteristics of the programs.

Most programs were successful in implementing the basic principles of

the Suzuki method. Following is a summary of these principles used in

Suzuki Schools all over the world. The information in the following 15

principles was mainly found on the internet 3.

3Armadillo Suzuki Organization: www.main.org/aso/index.htm; Boulder Suzuki Strings:www.bcn.boulder.co.us/arts/bss/bssindex.htm; Suzuki Association of the Americas:www. Suzukiassociation.org; International Suzuki Journal:www.shs.nebo.edu/1996AdvProj/Suzuki/Dr.htm

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http://www.main.org/aso/index.htmhttp://www.bcn.boulder.co.us/arts/bss/bssindexhttp://www.suzukiassociation.org/http://www.shs.nebo.edu/1996AdvProj/Suzuki/Drhttp://www.main.org/aso/index.htmhttp://www.bcn.boulder.co.us/arts/bss/bssindexhttp://www.suzukiassociation.org/http://www.shs.nebo.edu/1996AdvProj/Suzuki/Dr


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1. Parent Involvement:

When a child learns to talk, parents function very effectively as

teachers. Children imitate their parents manner, accents, interests and

hobbies. Parents can decide what skills they want their child to develop

through adjustments in the child's environment. Parents are the primary

educators of young children.

The Suzuki Method creates a learning triangle of parent, student and

teacher. The parent attends all lessons and classes and practices every

day with the child as a "home teacher." In some Suzuki Schools parents

learn to play the first songs that the child is going to study before the

child starts with violin lessons. This approach motivates the child to

imitate what he/she sees the parent doing. It also helps the parent to

understand the difficulties involved in learning to play an instrument

and increases their patience with the learning process.

2. Early Beginning:

During the years of language acquisition children's aural capacities

are at their peak. These early years are crucial for developing mental

processes and muscle coordination. This is an excellent time to

establish a musical environment. Children respond to music from before

birth. Musical ability is developed at a very young age (mainly between

0 to 4 years).

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Suzuki emphasizes the importance of listening that should start in

the womb. Formal lessons begin between the ages of three to five,

depending on the school. Some Suzuki Schools encourage an even

earlier start around two or two and a half.

3. Listening:

Children learn to speak in an environment filled with language.

Hearing is the first sense to develop; very young babies can recognize

the voices of their parents. Parents can make music part of the child's

environment by playing recordings and attending concerts. This enables

children to absorb the language of music just as they absorb the sounds

of their mother tongue. They develop an "ear for music."

In the Suzuki Method, students listen every day to recordings of the

music they are studying and will study in the future. Recordings are

often played as background music for hours each day. With repeated

listening to the pieces children become familiar with them and learn

them easily. Children learn not only the melody and rhythm but also the

nuances of phrasing, the construction of the piece and all the tiny

details about the subtleties of music.

4. Private lessons:

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believes this spirit will extend beyond music lessons and into the

student's everyday life, which leads to a more peaceful world.

6. Rote learning Memorization:

It is normal that children speak for several years before they learn to

read. Just as one learns to speak before one learns to read, students

learn to play from memory before they learn to read music notation.

This allows the students to concentrate on elementary but essential

skills.

Suzuki teaches the instrument, the sound, first, and then he teaches

how to read music. Suzuki students do not begin reading until they are

comfortable with the instrument. This sequence of instruction enables

both teacher and student to focus on the development of good posture,

beautiful tone, accurate intonation, and musical phrasing. This process

usually takes a few years, depending on the student's age.

7. Reading:

Reading, writing, and creative skills are developed when basic skills

are established. Music reading is a skill that needs to be taught. Many

Suzuki teachers have developed ways of doing this at the appropriate

time for each individual child. Suzuki does not have any concrete

suggestions on how to teach reading, but all Suzuki Schools implement

delayed reading in their curriculum.

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8. Motivation:

Children start to talk when they are ready; this can be quite different

for each individual. No child is hurried, but all children are encouraged

by the environment to talk and become an active member of society.

Praise from parents plays an active role in development.

Suzuki children start violin lessons in the same way. They need to

be mentally and emotionally ready and willing to learn to play the violin.

Once they show interest in learning, they start at their own pace.

Motivation is encouraged through listening to recordings, attending

concerts, and observing other lessons including lessons from their own

parents.

9. Teacher characteristics:

Children learn material better when they are having fun than when it

is being forced upon them in a negative way. A positive approach is

more effective than a negative one. As with language, the child's efforts

to learn an instrument should be met with praise and encouragement.

Suzuki teachers and parents work closely together to motivate the

child in a positive way so that lessons and practice are enjoyable. The

Introduction of new technical skills and musical concepts stands always

in connection with already familiar pieces. A normal lesson focuses only

on one aspect. Suzuki teachers respect each child and see him/her as a

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unique human being. Teachers are encouraged to take part in Summer

Institutes and rethink and refine their teaching skills.

10. Step-by-step learning:

During the acquisition of language children slowly learn new words

to complement the old words, one after the other. Language and Music

learning are skills that require step-by-step learning. Building on small

steps so that each one can be mastered creates an environment of

enjoyment for child, parent and teacher.

Suzuki planned his Method in small steps. Each piece the student

learns demands only a few new skills, and reinforces those previously

learned. The sequence of skills taught is based on a thought-through

progression. Each small step is mastered through daily practice.

11. Repetition:

When children learn a new word, they use it over and over again.

After a while they start adding new words to their vocabulary and

repeating all words. The same happens when a child learns a simple

task. In this way, children develop skills and talents.

In the Suzuki Method students continue to play all the pieces they

have been learning. They use the skills they have learned and add new

songs while repeating and polishing old ones. Consequently, students

always have something ready to perform. Suzuki students are not

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allowed to drop one piece in order to learn another. They refine their

musical skills with pieces they have already mastered.

12. Repertoire:

Children do not have exercises to learn how to speak. Instead, they

are using language in their normal daily life. Suzuki students learn

musical concepts and skills in the same way they learn language, in the

context of the music. The Suzuki repertoire presents a sequence of

pieces for technical and musical development, often called the standard

repertoire or "vocabulary." Children learn songs they have heard and

seen performed by other Suzuki students. They look forward to learning

these songs. Since they all play the same repertoire, which they

continually review, they are always ready to perform in groups or as

soloists.

13. Practice:

People practice their language skills every day without even

noticing. Music learning demands exposure and practice as a consistent

and regular part of the child's daily life. Once lessons have begun,

practice and listening routines are established and carried out by

teachers and parents. The parent can help the child focus on the

established goals during the lessons, and can make the practice time a

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pleasant learning experience. Practice advice is found in newsletters,

books or even on-line.

14. Cooperation:

Psychological-social factors like cooperation (in contrast to

competition) need to be stressed. People use language to communicate

or sometimes to tell jokes, but very seldom to compete, or to show off.

Suzuki emphasizes cooperation and respect over competition. There

are many social aspects in the Suzuki Method. During group lessons and

in master classes children are encouraged to support the efforts of other

students. They are often asked to reveal what they liked about the

performance of another student. They are involved with other children,

play games and violin together, and struggle with the instrument

together. Many musical and social skills are learned during the group

lessons. Concerts and recitals are given together; everybody plays,

even the beginners.

15. Special approaches:

Many Suzuki teachers use little helpers to make it easier for the

beginner. One common one is the foot chart. The feet location in rest

and playing position is marked on cardboard; the child stands on it

during his/her lessons and at home. Eisler (1993) explains some

techniques she values: At first we use cardboard boxes and sticks to

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teach the children posture and position and strengthen their fingers

The fingerboard is marked with tapes for finger placement The initial

bow-hold places the thumb under the frog, because a small childs hand

is not strong enough for the normal hold. There are also other tools

used by some Suzuki teachers like corn pads or nests for a round pinky

(bow hand), hair elastics for better finger distribution, long sticks on the

sides of the violin to keep the bow straight, vibrato pads and more.

Research Findings

Most works in the Suzuki area focus on the application of the Suzuki

Method to new fields. Three main fields are identified. The first is the

application to other instruments: Guitar by Griffin (1989); Piano by

Rutledge (1983), Hwang (1995), and Beegle (1998); flute by Nichols

(1973); Brass Wind class by Blaine (1976); and Clarinet by Layne

(1974). The second area is the use of the Suzuki method in preschool

education in general, with written works from Smith (1976), Price

(1979), and Arimitsu (1982). The third field examines the function of the

Suzuki method in other countries like Italy (Delfrati, 1990); Israel

(Menczel, 1997); New Zealand (Friar, 1993); and Germany (Ltzen,

1978; Steinschaden, 1982; Hartmann 1993).

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Many works compare the thoughts of Suzuki to the thoughts of

other violin pedagogues like Havas, Rolland, Galamian, and Flesch

(Romeo, 1986; Schlossberg, 1987; Eales, 1992; Perkins, 1993; Nelson,

1994) or to general pedagogues like Orff, Kodaly, Dalcroze (Ruff, 1979;

Gordon, 1991; Lyne, 1998; Beegle, 1999), and Montessori (Ward, 1983;

Rile, 1999).

In recent years there has been some ongoing research in the

American Suzuki Talent Education Center. In reaction to the questions

that had been identified in the International Suzuki Institute Research

Symposium by Aber in 1990, Duke4 conducted two research projects on

teacher and student behavior in Suzuki string lessons (Duke, 1997

and 1999). The complete data, presented in 1999, was intended to

serve as a basis for describing the practice of private, Suzuki-based

teaching conducted by well-regarded teachers.

The results illustrate that excellent Suzuki teachers instruction

regarding music repertoire is characterized by a great deal of active

student involvement (56% of instructional time devoted to student

performance and performance approximations, 11% to student

verbalizations), high proportions of teacher talking (65% 0f instructional

time) and performance demonstrations (27% performance, 9%

performance approximations), and prominent use of physical positioning

(13%). The majority of teachers verbalizations comprised information

statements (27%) and directives (24%), with relatively fewer questions

4 Professor of Music and Educational Psychology at the University of Texas

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(10%), and high ratios of positive (12%) to negative (2%) verbal

feedback.

Other studies in this area are from Gholson (1998) who observed the

violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay, from Duke, Flowers & Wolfe (1997)

who looked at children who study piano with excellent teachers in the

united States, and Siebenaler (1997) who analyzed the teacher-student

interactions in piano lessons.

In contrary to all this research, there have been only a few attempts

to put the Suzuki method into a psychological and research based

context (Nelson, 1983; Cherwick, 1994; Beegle, 1999). Beegle explains

the momentary research in the field of genetics and other areas clearly

and logically. She establishes in her report that talent is ability and

must be developed, that musical ability has more to do with the

environment than with heredity, and that it is important to start

musical training very early. A lot of research exists for the basic

principles of the Suzuki schools. Looking at these findings separately will

bring a deeper understanding of the method, its principles, teaching

techniques, and further research ideas.

Parent Involvement

In interviews with twenty-five concert pianists Bloom (1985) found

that the young pianists grew up in families where parents often

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accompanied their children to lessons, monitored practice time and set

an example of commitment. The study the role of parents and teachers

in the success and failure of instrumental learners (Davidson, Sloboda

& Howe, 1995) confirms earlier findings that support by both parents

and teachers motivates initial music making. In addition, over time

motivation becomes increasingly intrinsic and self-sustaining. In the

final discussion they write: It is important, therefore, that parents

understand that it is their commitment to assist their child that is more

important than a high level of musical competence. Zdzinski (1996)

further researched that affective outcome relationships increased in

strength as subject age increased, whereas the opposite was the case

among cognitive and performance outcomes. Performance and

cognitive musical outcomes were significantly related to parental

involvement only at the elementary level, while they were not related at

either the junior high or the senior high levels. It is importance for

every Suzuki teacher to know this and to think about the involvement of

parents when teaching older students. Suzuki schools have no policy on

when to loosen the parent involvement, to stop accompanying their

children to lessons, and to stop helping them practice.

Early Beginning

Since the early beginning is already thoroughly discussed in other

research papers (Nelson, 1983; Cherwick, 1994; Beegle, 1999), aspects

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in other areas related to childrens development like singing are

explained here.

Scott (1989) found that children between three and nine months old

have a vocal range of three and a half octaves, and that most children

can imitate familiar songs with two and a half years. This development

is largely dependent on parents who sing and speak to their child daily.

Sims (1995) looked at childrens ability to demonstrate music concept

discriminations in listening and singing. She found that preschool and

elementary-age children have difficulty sorting out musical

characteristics and making discriminations when a listening task

requires attention to more than one musical element in one example.

[] There are some indications that the transition from lack of success

to success with these activities occurs within the window of age ranges

typical of children enrolled in second and third grades. She also noted

that children by age three have no trouble to use combined elements in

imitation. Nelson (1984) did a study in the conservation of rhythm in

Suzuki violin students. This seems to indicate that prior training is less

of a factor in rhythmic conservation than age. Each of the subjects

possessed the aural and technical skills needed for performing the six

musical examples. This ability did not necessarily mean that a subject

was able to conserve the rhythmic concept embodied in the music. The

relevant question here is: What is a good beginning age to study violin,

singing, or general music?

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Another research in the area of learned versus inherited abilities is

the perfect pitch. Critchley and Henderson (1980) found that 95% of

students who started musical training before age four had perfect pitch,

but only 5% of students who started after age twelve. If perfect pitch is

of particular value or even a hindrance is a different question.

Listening

Bloom found in his study of concert pianists, that all families listened

to music regularly. After her study of the effect of different incidental

listening experiences on performance achievement Chang (1999)

suggests that simultaneous incidental listening to the piece studied

and a variety of other music is most profitable for the performance

achievement. Another finding was that the mean rhythm aptitude

gains of non-violin students who received typical Suzuki listening

treatment were greater than those who did not receive any listening

treatment. Another listening supportive study comes from Amuah

(1994) and checks memory for music and its relationship to aspects of

musical behavior and environmental and personal factors.

Just a year ago McLean (1999) indicated that subjects [Grades five

and six] who sang thematic material had a significantly higher rate of

aural recall than subjects who did not sing. But, there was no greater

preference for the studied repertoire. This study emphasizes a singing

approach over an only aural approach in listening with children in 5 th

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processes. Group lessons seem to be an ideal place for mutual

experiences.

Rote learning Memorization

Two studies were published under the same name: playing by ear.

One explores its nature and application to instrumental learning

(Priest, 1989). The other deals with its application in classroom activities

(Toplis, 1990).

For Gardener there are two ways of approaching music. The first

way is the figural approach, the know-that. It is intuitive and based on

what is heard. The second way is the formal approach, the know-how.

A person has knowledge about music as a system, understands it, and

can analyze passages. If formal and figural modes are too far apart in a

young person this situation can lead to a crisis, a musical breakdown.

Menuhin was a great example for that. Research regarding the

discrepancy between figural and formal approach is unknown to the

author. Since Suzuki emphasizes strongly the figural approach (rote

learning) it would enhance the discussion to see what happens with the

growing Suzuki student and how they coup with the gap.

Gardner has some warning thoughts in regard to the Suzuki method:

Much of the method focuses on a slavish and uncritical imitation of a

certain interpretation of the music. . . . Children are likely to come away

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with the notation that there is but one correct way to interpret a piece of

music, rather than there being a range of equally plausible

interpretations. Even more problematically, children receive the

impression that the important thing in music is to replicate a sound as it

has been heard and not to attempt to change it in any way. No wonder

that few, if any, Suzuki-trained children display any inclination toward

composing. The whole notation of doing it another way, of decomposing

a piece into ones own preferred variations, is bypassed in such a highly

mimetic form of learning (Gardner, 1983, p. 377-378).

Reading

Kornicke did an extensive study on sight-reading achievements. She

says the finding that greater sight-reading achievement was related to

a relatively late age of beginning sight reading [mean: 7.46] offers

evidence that while young children do learn to read music, they may be

processing the information differently from adults, according to they

developmental stages. The number of pieces performed was not

related to sight-reading achievement. This supports the view from

Suzuki that sight-reading should be developed independently from

performance. Kornicke suggests that there should be more focus on

teaching aural imagery as a separate skill from ear training. She found a

relation between sight-reading and students field

dependent/independent style. Feeling types could be placed in group

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or duet situations so that sight-reading can be carried out within the

context of interpersonal interaction. Other students would receive

greater benefit by practicing sight-reading alone. Therefore different

types of experiences could be offered. Kornicke suggests an

introduction of wide range styles during the earlier years of playing.

Here again some critical remarks about the Suzuki method from

Gardener (1983, p.377):

Shifting to a notation-based strategy after the ages of six or seven

would seem to be a desirable ploy, if the habits acquired by ear-and-

hand have not become too completely entrenched by this time. The

very plasticity that initially allowed rapid learning may already have

given way to a rigid and difficult-to-alter style of performance.

Motivation

The most common element between students who began string

education was identification of socializers involved in instrumental

music. . . . Almost all of the students had parents, siblings, or friends

who were actively involved with instrumental music (Hurley, 1995).

Asmus (1994) says intrinsic motivation has been shown by a number of

researchers to have more positive effects on achievement than extrinsic

motivation. He quotes different research findings: Werpy (1987)

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Teacher characteristics

An interview study from Sloboda and Howe (1991) showed that

children regarded the personal warmth of their first teachers as a

significant influence to reach competency. In a follow up study, together

with Davison (1995), they noticed that children at a later stage learn to

differentiate between personal and professional qualities of

teachers. . . . This suggests that in the early stages of teaching,

personal warmth is a vital characteristic of the instrumental teacher.

Pedagogic competency is not enough. Descriptive research works by

Duke (1997 and 1999), Gholson (1998), Siebenaler (1997), and Duke,

Flowers & Wolfe (1997) mention other teacher characteristics like active

student involvement, teacher talks, physical positioning and positive

feedback.

Repetition

A comparison of fetal and newborn responses to music and sound

stimuli with and without daily exposure to a specific piece of music

(Wilkin, 1995) showed that the fetuses in the daily listening group had

significantly more fetal movements and heart rate decelerations . . .

than did the control group fetuses. . . . The babies appeared to show a

greater willingness to listen to the test tape and displayed significantly

more movement responses to the music. This research underlines

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Suzukis demand for early exposure to music. Two researches regarding

repetition have been found (Moskovitz, 1992; and Martinez, Malbran &

Shifres, 1999), which both suggest a careful handling of repetition. The

first study looks at the role of repetition in aural identification and

noticed, once the image has been shaped as a percept it will be

difficult to change it. When the response is incorrect, repetition was

found to operate in a paradoxical way by imprinting the error. . . .

Findings show that repetition per se does not provide a basis for the

improvement of performance. Every teacher should be aware of this

effect. The other study looked at the effect of repetition in comparison

with childrens preferences. Their finding is: repetition [of slow

movements] had a positive effect on childrens preferences for slow

movements. This suggests that repetition is a powerful tool and can

change preferences in all directions!

Repertoire

In 1974 Maag compared the effect of pentatonic and diatonic

instruction. He discovered that the pentatonic group (after six months)

had a better intonation and more improved test results then the diatonic

group. This suggests beginning material in the pentatonic area would be

beneficially for the beginner (result description found in Nelson, 1983).

Sims discovered in 1990/1991 that preschool children found it easier to

respond to tempo than to articulation. She found that singing to

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demonstrate smooth was an easy task, while singing with a choppy

voice was very difficult, even after classroom instruction and

experiences (1995). Interesting is that many songs in the Suzuki book

use fast and short bow strokes. Whether this research is adaptable for

violin needs to be shown.

Many Suzuki teachers start to complain about the Suzuki repertoire,

because of its preponderance of Baroque music and some very big

technical jumps at the advanced level. Teachers are complementing the

later volumes now more than ever before with pieces from other

sources that provide more stylistic and technical variety and give the

students the change to grow more gradually into the major repertoire

(Barber, 1991).

A more serious charge against the Suzuki method pertains to the limited

character of the musical skills and knowledge which it develops. For one

thing, the music played is exclusively Western music from the Baroque

through the romantic periods []. Yet, again, because the children are

so deeply immersed in (or imprinted on) this common idiom during the

most formative and critical years of their musical training, the Suzuki

program may engender an unnecessarily parochial taste (Gardener

1983, p.377).

Practice

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While Woodruff (1984) was testing the validity of the Primary

measures of music audiation he stumbled over data that suggests,

that rigid rhythm training [as used in the Suzuki method] may have a

negative effect upon the developmental rhythm aptitude of

kindergarten children. Further research was recommended, but has not

been done, to the knowledge of the author. In the study children who

study piano (Duke, Flowers and Wolfe, 1997) they discovered that

nearly all parents report that they listen to their childrens practice,

although fewer parents reported that they provide assistance to their

children.[] It is clear that both parents and students overall believed

that piano practice requires more parental intervention than does

study for school. They also found that one third of the parents

attribute decreases in their childrens television viewing time to

involvement in piano. Many Suzuki schools try to help parents and

students with practicing. They publish nice looking practice sheets,

emphasize the importance of practice, and give advice to parents. There

are even on-line chat groups.

Cooperation

Collier-Slone questioned in her study, reviewed by Bresler (1991), 26

now adult Suzuki students (between age 25 and 62). These students

saw themselves as having a place within an extended family where

generally consistent rules, values, and attitudes provided a feeling of

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has to start at home, and that is where Suzukis Method starts. But do

we all have to play violin?

In an investigation of attention and perseverance behaviors of

preschool children enrolled in Suzuki violin lessons and other preschool

activities Pierce (1991) noticed that children receiving both individual

and group Suzuki violin lessons demonstrated significantly more on-task

behavior than did children in the creative movement class and they

tended to have higher scores on each of the attention task variables.

But she also explained, that it is possible that through the involvement

in Suzuki violin lessons, a control of attention may be developed. Suzuki

students often are reinforced for focusing on playing the instrument in

distracting situations and the Suzuki teachers demonstrated

significantly more teacher approval than did the creative movement

teacher. In another investigation of the effect of Suzuki instruction

and early childhood music experiences on developmental music

aptitude and performance achievement of beginning Suzuki string

students Stamou (1998) found that Suzuki students who received early

childhood music instruction tended to receive higher, although non-

significantly so, instrumental performance achievement ratings.

What, if music education would emphasize the whole body including

dance and singing more, instead of starting so early with violin

education, with its small and precise movements? In many cases singing

was the magic tool to make musical concepts clearer. Children often

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The Suzuki method promotes itself well through journals,

newsletters, institutes, web pages, media, t-shirts and concerts. All this

leads to strong communities. Why dont traditional music teachers bring

out newsletters, inform people, give concerts and get together with

others?

Interesting will be the introduction of computer technology into the

music classroom. First researches are already established: the

development of a computer-assisted approach to the teaching of violin

tone production by Ho 1990; a computer system to improve violin

intonation by Meyer, 1993; the pitch master machine by Smith,

1995; an exploratory study to incorporate supplementary computer-

assisted historical and theoretical studies into applied music instruction

by Kim, 1996; the development and pilot testing of a hypermedia

program to supplement undergraduate string techniques class

instruction in upper string vibrato by Mueller, 1997. Hopefully teachers

are flexible and open enough to take the next steps.

Like any other educational process, [the Suzuki method] is only as

good as the teacher who teaches it. . . . Whether we call ourselves

traditional or Suzuki teacher, each of us should take advantage of

every possible opportunity to improve our own playing and teaching,

extracting ideas from many sources and combining them with our own

to develop a personal style. (Barber, 1991). Even if people do not like

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