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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/Dr8/3/2019 Psy Final Paper 1
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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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