The Mother Tongue Method

Shinichi Suzuki, violinist and teacher, had a great intuition around the middle of the last century: all children, in any part of the world, easily and successfully learn their mother tongue, pushed and encouraged by the love of their parents and the family environment.

This observation, almost banal in the eyes of everyone, made a brilliant idea flash through his mind, that of using the same method to teach music.

How does a child learn his or her mother tongue?

• The process begins at birth;
• It is supported by a favorable environment;
• It happens through listening and repetition;
• The opportunities for “performance” of each single progress are numerous and are always appreciated. (How many times do we see grandparents, parents and relatives rejoice in front of a single little word pronounced by the child?)
• It happens in a playful way, following the learning pace of each child;
• Slow progress, especially at the beginning, is respected
• It occurs in the absence of stress;
• You learn one thing at a time;
• The vocabulary already acquired is reviewed, reinforced and perfected;
• We learn by heart through imitation: the child first learns to speak, only later, when he acquires fluency and confidence in spoken language, that is, at school age, does he learn to read.

However, this entire process requires an essential condition: a stimulating environment and the active participation of parents.

S. Suzuki's intuition: apply the same method to learning music!

• The child begins to play as early as possible, already at preschool age;
• The environment must be stimulating and music must become a completely natural part of the life of the child and his family;
• Learning occurs by imitation through listening, only when the child has acquired the fundamental technical knowledge of the instrument does he begin to read by playing. Reading notes is introduced about halfway through the first volume.
• Just as a child learns to speak by listening to and continually repeating the words said over and over again by his parents, so he learns to play by listening to and continually repeating a musical fragment, a rhythm, a melody that the parents themselves, guided by the teacher, will propose to him during the day.
• The Suzuki repertoire is very captivating, from the first exercises the child can try his hand at small performances, receiving appreciation and gratification.
• Every child has his or her own learning times and must be respected. Not all children speak, crawl or walk at the same age, the same thing happens with the instrument. Learning to play is not a competition, but an educational path. Talent is not innate, but the result of the environment, listening and practice.
• The learning times of musical language, especially at the beginning, are very slow. From the first lessons we work on the correct posture, on the precision of intonation and on the production of a beautiful sound. The child, on the other hand, does not read and therefore can concentrate better.
• The educational process is conducted in the absence of stress.
• Suzuki used to say: “one thing at a time”. It is very important that the exercise is focused on learning one detail at a time, which can be technical, musical, memory-related, etc.; once that is resolved, you will move on to perfecting another detail and so on. The satisfaction of collecting many small successes will reinforce the child's motivation to study.
• The pieces of the repertoire, which are approached and technically resolved one at a time, are never abandoned. They are constantly perfected in order to improve memory, fluidity of execution, intonation, sound, interpretation, etc. The child will thus have a rich repertoire to perform at any time. A very gratifying event is the "recital" at the end of the volume.
• The pieces are learned by heart both at the beginning, when the child is too young to read, and when he is older and is able to read what he is playing, to better concentrate on the interpretation of the pieces.

In this whole process, the figure of the parent who actively participates in the educational action is indispensable.

The educational triangle

With the Suzuki method, the child learns to play a musical instrument as early as possible, just as it happens when learning the mother tongue. This educational path, favored by the stimulating environment in which the child grows, involves three people: child, parent and teacher.

The parent

The Suzuki parent is someone who wants to educate their child through music, without necessarily thinking of making him or her a future professional musician.

Its first task is to create a favorable environment around the child:

• by providing an adequate space to study without sound and/or visual distractions;
• providing themselves with an adequate tool;
• planning a regular study program, which at first will be just a few minutes, but repeated four or five times a day. As the pieces become longer and the child's concentration times become longer, the study sessions become more continuous and less numerous;
• working together with the child with love, being available and trusting, creating a positive and encouraging environment, appreciating every little progress and even giving small rewards;

The parent becomes the home teacher and, like a coach, works on forming good habits: repeats the lesson regularly, frequently and in a focused way. Organizes his time and that of the child in order to participate in group lessons, summer camps and workshops.

It is not necessary for him to have musical knowledge, he will learn what is necessary in class together with his child.

At the beginning, the parent's task is to carefully observe the posture and technique that the child must use to produce the sound. Later, he or she can concentrate on the notes, the fingering, the correct balance between melody and accompaniment, how to interpret a musical phrase, the production of a beautiful sound, etc.

Organizing home study is not easy, especially because the child is not always available and willing. First of all, it is important not to talk about "study", but to invite the child to "play for a while". At the end of listening, the parent must never underline the mistakes, but on the contrary appreciate the positive aspects of the performance and, after having precisely identified the point to correct, work calmly using the strategies suggested by the teacher. The child does not like to be interrupted during the performance of the piece, the parent must learn to listen to the whole piece and only at the end isolate the passage to study.

Listening to the CD must become a daily habit, like studying. The speed of learning is directly proportional to the amount of listening. The child does not necessarily have to sit in front of the recorder, he can also listen while playing, during meals, in bed before sleeping, in the car and so on. Children love repeated actions, they will appreciate listening to Suzuki songs just as they love listening to the same story every night.

The parent organizes the study in such a way as to find time to go back to the repertoire pieces. "Most children like to play the pieces they know," insists Suzuki. When the parent says about their child, 'He's bored playing this piece all the time,' in reality he is expressing his own state of mind, without realizing the negative influence that this observation has on the child's behavior. The same thing happens when he says, "He doesn't like this piece" or "This piece is too difficult."

Private lessons at “Talent Education,” the school Suzuki founded in Japan, were always open to the public. Attending other lessons, especially those of older children, promotes learning and motivation to study because it creates in the child the desire to learn more quickly in order to play more advanced pieces. For this reason, it would be a good idea to organize your time to attend at least one other lesson per week, in addition to that of your child.

The teacher

For Suzuki, helping children and participating in their growth through music is a privilege, not an obligation. He said: "My teaching is my free time... pleasant time for children, parents and teachers."

The teacher should be proud of every step that the children take, even if at first they are very slow improvements like those of learning the mother tongue.

"The greatest good we can do for others is not to share our riches with them, but to bring their riches to light for ourselves." Anonymous

The Suzuki teacher must promote the musical learning of the child, aiming at the achievement of highly qualified skills, always in a positive and natural way. He helps the student to achieve his own success by discovering and developing his potential: the child must master the repertoire pieces without any failure. Furthermore, with his teaching he promotes the development of concentration, memory, coordination, self-discipline and self-esteem: these are important skills in life.

The teacher must be very clear in communicating the functioning of the method to the parent and has the responsibility of coordinating and promoting a good relationship between the protagonists of the educational triangle. He works through the method of self-discovery, repetition and revision of the repertoire.

At the beginning, organize very short lessons, suitable for the student's concentration times, but also interesting and fun. Simplify and divide the teaching units into small parts, so that the child can have the feeling of learning and progressing every time. Having a common repertoire helps a lot because the child, listening to the recording or the performance of his classmates, wants to learn the next pieces. The teacher works only on one point at a time: listens to the whole piece, smiles, highlights all the positive aspects of the performance and chooses an aspect to improve such as the quality of the sound, the notes, the articulations, the interpretation of the phrase, memory, etc. To do this, he uses different strategies: small steps, repetitions, separate hands, different rhythms, rhythms of variations, playing slowly, exaggerating in the demonstrations, playing the same passage in two different ways and then asking the child which one he prefers, etc. Only when the child, after understanding why and what he needs to improve, does the teacher assign the homework to study at home, making sure that the parent has understood how to do it.

The child

The child begins to play the chosen instrument very early, in preschool age. He learns in the same way he learned to speak: listening to his mother tongue from the day he was born, repeating the word "mamma" thousands of times, receiving appreciation and gratification from adults, adding to his vocabulary one word at a time without forgetting the previous ones (repertoire), learning by ear.

This is the infallible method that S. Suzuki applied to teaching music!

Suzuki says, "Knowledge is not skill. Knowledge 10,000 repetitions becomes skill." The child learns from a large number of repetitions. Practice automates some elements of playing, which once acquired, allow the child to focus on musicality and expressiveness.

Not only the quantity, but also the quality of the study is very important. When the child and the parent return home from the lesson they must have understood what to work on, why and how. Studying does not mean playing the piece from beginning to end, but identifying the technical point to isolate and resolve.

The exercise will be successful if during the lesson the parent takes detailed notes, if the parent and child are relaxed during the home study, not tired or hungry, if the child gets a reward after studying, if each study session is varied and interesting.

Children also need to perform concerts in public regularly. The performance must always be a beautiful experience: the concert piece must be carefully and long-rehearsed.

As the student grows older, he or she gradually begins to study alone. The parent's role recedes into the background, but remains important because he or she continues to help the child in class by taking notes, helping the child for five minutes a day or only the day after class or the last day before class. Gradually, the student becomes more and more responsible for his or her own studying. At this point, the teacher and parent will have to pay even more attention and find other strategies to motivate the child to study.

How does cooperation between the protagonists of the educational triangle occur?

Suzuki's philosophy is based on the belief that talent and ability can be developed in all children. Exercise and targeted education, inserted into the natural growth process of each individual, will bring out these abilities. This educational method works if the interests, thoughts and ideas of the child are continuously stimulated and reinforced by cooperation between parent and teacher. The adults who accompany the path have a common goal: the education of the student. The child's task is not to be a small adult, but to continue to be a "child", that is, to be himself, to enjoy the fact that he is able to make good music and that his commitment leads to great satisfaction. When this triangle is well balanced and all the parts communicate freely while carrying out their task, success is assured. All members of the triangle perceive themselves as an integral part of a great project.

Let's analyze in detail how the three protagonists of the educational triangle interact.

Teacher ↔️ Child

• During the lesson they work together in a calm and fun atmosphere;
• The teacher pays care and attention to the child throughout the lesson, rewarding him by always highlighting his strengths;
• The child attends lessons willingly and uses positive attitudes;
• The path is organized “step by step” that is, broken down into many small objectives;
• The cornerstone of teaching is the “demonstration” that is, the child listens, repeats and learns from the musical examples performed by the teacher;
• The teacher solves the technical or musical problem in class and communicates to the child and parent the strategies to continue studying at home.
• Teacher and child work continuously on producing the “beautiful sound”, on the precision of intonation, on posture and technique;
• As the child grows, the teacher ensures that he gradually becomes more and more independent in his studies;
• The teacher works with enthusiasm and transfers the passion for music to the child;
• Once the Suzuki repertoire is completed, the teacher helps the student choose the next musical path;

Teacher ↔️ Parent

• Before starting the educational path, the teacher explains to both parents in a clear and detailed manner the objectives and functioning of the method;
• Parents must agree and be aware that this educational choice will have consequences on their family organization;
• The teacher also recommends books or articles regarding the method that parents will take care to read.
• The parent who will take care of the child must have teaching skills, patience, enthusiasm and availability of time;
• During the lesson the parent listens in silence, observes and takes detailed notes. Asks questions if specific clarifications are needed;
• For general questions or problems, it is best to talk in the child's absence, even via messages or emails;
• To address general issues regarding methodology, lessons or conferences aimed only at parents can also be organised;
• The teacher always encourages the parent and gives practical advice on how to organize the study and how to face any difficulties;
• The topic of the lesson and the strategies to adopt during home study are explained to the parent in a simple and detailed way.
• The parent respects the teacher and follows all his advice;
• As the child grows, the parent will gradually have to step back and accommodate their child's need for autonomy.

Parent ↔️ child

• The parent becomes the child's "housemaster";
• His working method must be encouraging and positive;
• Work at home with your child with love, creating good habits and a supportive environment;
• Daily exercise at home becomes a routine for both child and parent;
• The child respects the parent and learns to work with him as he does with the teacher;
• Parent and child listen to Suzuki song recordings daily;
• At home they work regularly, focusing on the task assigned by the teacher;
• They pay attention to the quality of the exercise: posture, position of the arms and hands, dynamics, rhythm, notes, balance between melody and accompaniment, fingerings and phrasing;
• The exercise is aimed at developing the child's listening skills and the production of "beautiful sounds";
• We also work every day on reviewing the repertoire;
• Parent and child observe other children's lessons, attend concerts, recitals, group lessons, summer courses and workshops;
• As the child grows, the parent will adopt different approaches and will work especially on motivation;