The individual instrument lesson

You can access it after having attended the first year of CML.

The choice of instrument to play is made easier by the fact that during this period the family has had the opportunity to participate in various events: instrument tests, concerts, recitals and individual lessons. The child thus has the opportunity to begin to express his or her preferences.

Peculiarities and characteristics of the method:

• Active participation of the parent in the lesson. The parent regularly attends the lessons, pays attention to what is explained and takes on the role of "house teacher", that is, the one who has the task of taking care of the daily exercise of his/her child.

• Taking care of posture and correct position from the first lesson. The first pieces that the child faces, the "Variations of Bella Stella", were created by Maestro Suzuki both to form the rhythmic and melodic ear of the child, and to acquire the use of a correct basic technique. There is no need to rush, each child has his own learning times. However, it is necessary to practice every day, for a few minutes, preferably several times a day. Children love repeated actions (like when they always want to watch the same film or listen to the same music), the important thing is to make studying part of the daily routine.

• Care for beautiful sound and intonation. The technique, in the Suzuki method, is directly linked to the production of sound. The child not having to read can concentrate and take care of this aspect.

• Daily listening to the CD containing the pieces to be studied. Through this practice the child memorizes the pieces in advance, also grasping the interpretative nuances, learns them more quickly and notices mistakes while playing. He develops his musical ear to such an extent that sometimes he plays by hinting at the pieces he still has to study.

• Review of all the pieces of the repertoire. Once the variations are completed, an operation that requires a long period of time (even six months), the child masters the technique necessary to tackle the entire repertoire of the first volume. The pieces are tackled and solved one at a time and then continuously perfected and revised. Once the book is finished, the child performs in a recital, that is, he plays all the pieces of the volume from memory in front of friends, relatives and teachers, obtaining the "First Suzuki Level" certificate. The same thing then happens with the subsequent volumes and at the end of all the course he obtains the "Suzuki Diploma".

• Learning to read musical scores. At the end of the second year of CML, that is, at about the age of 5, the student begins to familiarize himself with some elements of musical notation and continues in the following years to study in depth all the different aspects of reading. At the same time as in instrument lessons, when he is about halfway through the first Suzuki volume and has acquired a fairly correct posture and position, the “reading book” is introduced, a very easy book with graphics suitable for small children with large notes, drawings and attractive figures. Reading will accompany the study of the Suzuki repertoire and after some time, generally towards the end of the second volume, the child will be perfectly able to read everything he plays.