THE SUZUKI METHOD

Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998) comes from a Japanese family of violin makers. In the 1920s he came to Germany to study the violin. He was looking for a teacher who would not only teach him the technique, but he wanted to get a beautiful tone out of his instrument, he wanted to know what the art means and how it can enrich people personally.

Key experience for Dr. Suzuki: he found it very difficult with the German language and didn't understand why very small children could speak perfect German next to him, but he couldn't. Back in Japan, he realized that not all Japanese children only speak Japanese, but also a very specific dialect. The kids in Osaka had a different dialect than the kids in Tokyo. But why?

It is the secret of the mother tongue. dr Suzuki applied the "native language principle" to learning an instrument.

The mother tongue principle  includes the following key points:  

- Learning by imitation
- Early onset (between 3-4 years is common in Europe)
- Maintaining the repertoire (like building a vocabulary)
- In the beginning, everything is about hearing, reading (reading music) comes later, but it is just as important as reading texts, which always comes second in education, after learning to speak (usually around the age of 7 -9 years)

- Cooperation with parents

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The Suzuki method came to Europe in the early 1970s. Especially in the USA, it is now standard for children to learn an instrument using the Suzuki method, since the early start and the strong emphasis on group lessons have had a very positive effect on the children's motivation.