My Suzuki rant
I admit it--I do use some of the earlier Suzuki books. It's convenient. The local store has them. Kids hear other kids playing the pieces. But when--or can--the books ever be edited to reflect modern sensibilities? I think the later books are so out of date as to be useless. Let me put it this way: If someone learned a Mozart concerto using the bowings and fingerings from Suzuki and played it for a professional audition, he/she would be laughed off the stage.
Even some of the middle books--what's with the crazy bowings in the Vivaldi concertos (all those ridiculous added slurs)? I don't think the added slurs represent pedagogical considerations, but rather fin de siecle sensibilities that went obsolete decades ago.
I still remember a vestige of this attitude that one can add anything to music: at a lesson for a Paganini caprice years ago, my teacher started writing in all sorts of octaves, explaining "that's the way Liszt did it."
I said-quite innocently--"I didn't know Liszt played the violin."
He was not happy.
But he was of a different generation.
Anyway, it sometimes seems to me that Suzuki has one basic draw: it's one of the world's best-known musical brands, right up there with Stradivarius and Steinway, and often the only brand parents recognize, and therefore ask for.
Another problem is that every possible dynamic marking and articulation has been added, teaching students that such markings, no matter how silly, must be adhered to. And while a teacher could discuss these things with a student, it would mean
pencilling out all those markings, and leaving quite a mess on the page. And if the markings are simply adhered to, it means every student taught the same, and every student playing the same (I could also level the same canon at the Galamian edition of the Bach Sonatas).
I'm curious to know whether others feel the same way. And if you totally disagree and think I'm missing something, I'd like to hear it as well.
Fire away!
Replies (18)
I've wondered whether works like Kreutzer will be superseded really, as things change. Not that those works aren't as good as they always were, but as things coalesce informationally and progress in general... I doubt they use the same batting manuals Babe Ruth used anymore.
Just because it is print a certain way does not mean you have to teach it that way. Nor do you have to use the books if you find them annoying. The Minuets, Judas Maccabeus, Hunter's Chorus, and Bouree are often found in method books. And there are certainly other editions of Vivaldi available. The pieces that are not by Suzuki are found in the public domain, so if you really wanted to, you could use your software of choice and publish your own editions with your preferred fingerings and bowings. You could even post it on the Sibelius music website and occasionally make a $ or two. I have plenty of music that has been re-edited by my teachers and/or me (even a Galamian fingering or two-gasp!). So, if you don't like to mess with editing, get a different resource. Otherwise, I would suggest a nice stash of pencils and a bottle of white out :)
My professor once went on a rant to me about Suzuki. He's almost positive that some of those editings were NOT put in by Suzuki.
He was actually going to go fly over to Japan to talk to Suzuki, but about a week before his appointment, Suzuki died. He was planning on asking him about the bowings, etc.
Do other resources have intensive bowings and fingerings is the question....
Dr.Suzuki was a music student in the early 1900's in Germany, so a fair amount of the editing likely stems from the romantic style of his teachers' late-1800's violin-playing/training. It is a moot question whether he organized some of those bowings and fingerings himself or not. It is easy to speculate things were added or deleted in the earliest printings that just stayed that way. As to the books having all those fingerings, that is a reflection of the premise that the parent, not the student, would use the book for reference. In the most "traditional" Suzuki studios, no sheet music is placed before the student. The student is supposed to have listened to the piece many, many times, and learns the notes and bowings by rote from the parent verbalizing, from imitating the teacher, from watching other students'lessons or in group plays. It's just another way, and also has historical roots in European piano study of the late 1800's, early 1900's. This certainly persists in piano studios at university level, where some teachers don't hear the piano student until he/she has committed a piece to memory. If the Suzuki student is not looking at a book, then awkward page turns don't obtain. My suggestion is that Suzuki students/teachers who intend to participate in regional events such as camps and workshops or who play the pieces as solos for events like New York state's Solo Festival adhere rather strictly to what is on the page. If not, teachers can edit as they might any music, though doing so in accordance with back-up sources such as manuscripts when available, texts detailing current thought on Baroque practice, Elizabeth Green's book, etc., better than the common, "It's easier this way, so... " The Suzuki cello books were edited a few years ago, especially to make the shifting more consistent. I have heard that the cost of redoing the violin books versus the profit on same negates the practicality of editing, but since the cello books were done, don't know why that would be. Sue
I, personally don't like any of the music in the Suzuki books past book 4. We used to "white out all the fingerings, because it made my younger daughter rely on numbers instead of notes.
With my older daughter we sometimes use the Suzuki books, but her teacher adds additional slurs and fingerings etc.. I see no problem with it. She took a Suzuki solo to festival with all the teachers edits and it was excepted. I see no problem with adding fingerings etc.. it is interpretation.
I could rant about the bad Suzuki teacher experience, but that is another thread and I don't wish to insult any Suzuki teacher because there are good teachers.
The same critique can be made of any of the fin -de-siecle pedagogical texts and editions. I was taught with Laureaux not to mention Wallingford Rieger and a number of other texts which came out of another musical mileau entirely. And yet wjen I looks at collections for the fiddle today of concert pieces the same literature is always there--Wieniawski, Wilhelj, David, Hermann, Auer--one would think that the 20th century never existed. The only majot new addition to the pedagogical lit seems to be Kurt Sassmanshaus. In any event I still work on my Gavinies and Dont and Paganini 10 and 14 and wait for my fingers to catch up to my ears.
This issue is one that is being explored and experimented with even within the Suzuki world.Firstly,the editions that Suzuki was familiar with were probably German ones from the late 19th/early 20th century, before we had the wealth of historically informed editions that we now have.Many markings in the Suzuki literature became teaching points for particular pedagogical reasons that Suzuki apparently wanted to stress.There is a whole body of teacher training and student training that has been built upon these ideas.Even so,some of these have been changed in the Japanese editions that were published after Suzuki passed away. These emphasize the use of the fourth finger right away (even in the twinkles), add scale exercises and arpeggios to book one, and change a number of bowings (ie:musette in book two, Bach Gavottes in Book three)to reflect more historically accurate ideas.There is also more ornamentation in the Bach Minuet in G in book three and more position changing early on. There has apparently been discussion on a revised common international edition, but there are a lot of people who feel strongly about things staying the same because of the different teaching emphases required by changed fingerings/bowings. I don't think that agreement has been reached.The original idea as far as I learned it was that the commonality of bowings and basic fingerings was so that children could join together in group playing of the repertoire, which is one of the cornerstones of Suzuki teaching. When you have pupils from all over the country/world who are playing repertoire together they have to have a basic agreement on how to play a piece.
Having said that,the official viola editions of some of the core pieces have corrected notes(Bach Bourree), and many teachers teach the Suzuki version of the Vivaldi a minor (based on the Nachez versions, which are sort of 19th century holdovers with modified notes and bowings)then teach better, more authentic versions. There are supplemental teacher training courses offered on "authentic" style in the baroque pieces at Suzuki institutes. Certainly not all Suzuki teachers are stuck with what is in the books, but sometimes they are judicious about how they make changes.
Here's the deal as I've experiences it when using a Suzuki book piece for a solo competition like New York's NYSSMA Festival. In some cases the NYSSMA manual specifies editions, and if so, the manual committee chose and assigned a level to the piece based on the technical points included in the given editing. More than a modest number of bowing or fingering changes, especially removing shifts (w/o adding some elsewhere to demo knowledge and skill at shifting) can mean the piece has been that much easier or harder that it no longer fits the parameters of the level assigned. As a NYSSMA judge, I have felt I needed to deduct points for making the piece "too easy for the level", and commiserated with the student pushed to play "like level 5" when he or she is being heard as a four. Sue
Remember the Suzuki literature is intended to teach! Bowings and fingerings are there to challenge and to illustrate. They are not intended to be finished performance style editings. They replace etudes...and scales...and all sorts of things. The crazy shifts are to teach the student to shift crazily and easily.
Relax folks.
Aw, but we like dissing on Suzuki! It's even an official recreational sport for some.
That was funny as usual, Emily--love your humor.
Suzuki made an important contribution, for which I'm grateful. That being said, the Suzuki approach can become "fast-food-ized" just like any other method. Is that a diplomatic way of saying it?
I remember as a Suzuki kid the biggest event of the year was this Suzuki concert where hundreds of kids would go on stage and play Suzuki piece together. At that time, I don't really think I could imagine that bowing/fingering could be changed, since everyone else was doing it.
Only since I started teaching (with Suzuki books) have I realized how unintuitive some of the bowings/fingerings are, and have re-edited it for my students. However, a lot of the fingerings I like because they make sense for the small hand or the young player. One time, a young student innocently exclaimed, "You can change the bowings in the book??"
I think also that for a generalist learning violin that Suzuki is fine. I'll be starting book 4 by the end of the summer hopefully, and try not to get discouraged by the Suzuki Dissing, mainly because I'm going to use it irregardless.
Further, I think that my experience in looking at the history of violin, pedagogy, innovations and changes including the very core of symphony tells me that there simply is no etched in stone method for this instrument, contrasted to piano specifically.
I s'pose the good thing is that innovation is at the core of violin if anything. This alone helps me not get hung up on finding my way too much.
Don't be discouraged by the dissing. Rather, be overyjoyed at the thought of discovering wonderful music in the future, once you've left the Suzuki books. ;)
I'm not... It's just a track I've chosen as a generalist--because I can teach myself fairly well using it and the CD's.
I started using Suzuki books and CDs in my teaching about 30 years ago (it was cassettes then) - when I first "discovered" the method through some actual Suzuki teachers who were in the various ensembles I played in in that small city.
I found the books useful because they covered the material I wanted to cover in an orderly and gradual way. It has rarely been sufficient to use only those books and when necessary i supplement the material with appropriate studies or musical pieces from my "shelves."
I am not a "Suzuki teacher," but my playing friends who were got marvelous results starting with children as young as 3. A number of these went on to become college majors in violin performance (some with additional Music Education majors). Those who progressed that far usually left the Suzuki program at some point (even before the last 3 or 4 books) and followed a more conventional pedagogy from about middle school on. Among all those very good students was one real star - Anne Akiko Meyers - who left to follow big-time teachers around age 7 or 8 (or so) and on to Julliard with DdL
I realized early on that some of the modifications to conventional fingering and bowing were for teaching purposes and were often counterintuitive and more difficult that would normally be used.
I also use the Suzuki books in my cello teaching and for my own brushing up on viola music reading (I did that latter one by buying viola books 4 - 8 and just reading thorough them). I think any violinist can do some viola chamber-music sessions by dinner time with those books acquired in the afternoon.
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April 9, 2007 at 09:18 PM · Hi Scott,
I totally agree with you that the Suzuki books, especially the popular violin edition are absolutely horrible: tiny notes with fingerings above every note and total disregard to page turns.
In the library I once saw the first Suzuki book under a different name edited by John Kendall. (I cannot recal the name now). It was far superior....and out of print now.
Lucia