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Some people still don't understand what a sea change Suzuki wrought in the music world. In the city near to where I live, one of the earliest Suzuki Talent Education Schools opened in the mid-to-late 1960s. There were plenty of criticisms about the millions of little robots it would churn out, but the pioneers of the local school stuck it out, and I was privileged to have their oldest daughter, now a respected Suzuki teacher herself, in my high school orchestra's violin section. I had lunch with her the other day, and we were discussing just this sort of thing. I mentioned that if you went to a symphony orchestra concert and polled everyone in the audience 40 years old and under, you would be surprised at the number who studied under the Suzuki approach. My friend had a surprising number for me, too. She said that something along the order of 60% to 80% of students entering the high-powered conservatories were Suzuki-trained at some point. What is most fascinating of all to me is that Dr. Suzuki didn't even start in this country until he was 65.

 Excellent post, Laurie.

One thing I've come to notice is how Americans like to categorize things.  Parents of prospective students will frequently ask "So what IS the Suzuki method?"  I'll usually reply with some response along the lines of equating music to language and the no-fail environment.  But in all honesty, there's no straight answer.  There's really no such thing as "Suzuki" versus "non-Suzuki."  The point that he was trying to get across was creating that positive, nurturing environment that would allow children to succeed.  It's really not about following the pieces in the book step by step.  It's entirely possible to not teach from the Suzuki books at all and still have a "Suzuki" approach to teaching.

Danielle, certainly he was trying to create those things, but he did have a pedagogical plan, especially when it came to the violin. What makes it rather complex is the fact that there is no one-size-fits-all "method" for implementing that plan. He recognized that a teacher must see the plan from the inside and then find his or her own "method," if the teacher is to really connect with students. Suzuki's books alone do not lay out his plan, and that's why the Suzuki movement has put in place all kinds of teacher training. The teacher training is very valuable and points you along your way; I certainly would not be the same teacher that I am, without considerable study in Suzuki pedagogy. It's nitty-gritty, specific, detailed stuff. But then, ultimately, you have to take the last step and put in your 10,000 bow circles. You have to know how to play the violin yourself, inside out. You have to figure out what every student needs to learn, make that a part of your being, and then be fully fluent in a 10,000 different ways of communicating it.

And also, you have to have the humility to know that you still have to keep finding new ways, growing and stretching as a violinist and as a teacher!

I have 4,580 circles left to go!! :)