Suzuki Violin School, Volume 1 International Edition (The Suzuki Method)

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Suzuki pioneered the idea that preschool age children could learn to play the violin if the learning steps were small enough and the instrument was scaled down to fit their body. He modeled his method, which he called "Talent Education" ( 才能教育, sainō kyōiku), after his theories of natural language acquisition. Suzuki believed that every child, if properly taught, was capable of a high level of musical achievement. He also made it clear that the goal of such musical education was to raise generations of children with "noble hearts" [2] (as opposed to creating famous musical prodigies). Rather than focusing on a specific instrument, at the stage of early childhood education (ECE), a Suzuki Early Childhood Education (SECE) curriculum for (pre-instrumental) ECE was developed within the Suzuki philosophy by Dorothy & Sharon Jones (SAA), Jeong Cheol Wong (ASA), Emma O'Keefe (PPSA), Anke van der Bijl (ESA), and Yasuyo Matsui (TERI). The SECE curriculum is designed for ages 0–3 and uses singing, nursery rhymes, percussion, audio recordings, and whole body movements in a group setting where children and their adult caregivers participate side by side. The Japanese based SECE curriculum is different from the English-based SECE curriculum. The English-based curriculum is currently being adapted for use in other languages. The flute repertoire is compiled and edited by Toshio Takahashi. In fourteen volumes, beginning with Mary Had a Little Lamb and ending in the Flute Concerto by Otaka. Also included are concerti by Mozart, Cimarosa, Ibert and Quantz. Students also study music by Bach, Handel, Blavet, Fauré and other major composers.

Preucil, William & Doris (November, 1985). "The Evolution of the Suzuki Viola School". Journal of the American Viola Society Vol. 1, #2, pp18-20. Lavie, Karen (Summer, 2005). "On Gastronomy and Tonalization." New Zealand Suzuki Journal Vol. 16, #4, pp. 5–6. Suzuki, Shinichi. Nurtured By Love: A New Approach to Talent Education. Warner bros. Publication, Miami, Florida, 1968 The core Suzuki literature is published on audio recordings and in sheet music books for each instrument, and Suzuki teachers supplement the repertoire common to each instrument as needed, particularly in the area of teaching reading. One of the innovations of the Suzuki method was to make quality recordings of the beginners' pieces widely available, performed by professional musicians. Many traditional (non-Suzuki trained) music teachers also use the Suzuki repertoire, often to supplement their curriculum, and they adapt the music to their own philosophies of teaching.

Course Materials

Supplementary materials are also published under the Suzuki name, including some etudes, note-reading books, piano accompaniment parts, guitar accompaniment parts, duets, trios, string orchestra, and string quartet arrangements of Suzuki repertoire. Suzuki, Shinichi. Ability Development from Age Zero. Warner bros. Publication, Miami, Florida, 1981 Using sound recordings is another technique common to all the musical instruments taught in the Suzuki method. Thibeault's (2018) history of Suzuki's mediated pedagogy presents Suzuki as a technological innovator who created new ways of learning from sound recordings. Pre-recorded music is used to help students learn notes, phrasing, dynamics, rhythm, and beautiful tone quality by ear. Suzuki pointed out that great artists (such as Mozart) were surrounded with excellent performances from birth, and that the advent of recording technology made this aspect of their environment possible to achieve for large numbers of "ordinary" people whose parents were not themselves great musicians & music teachers like Mozart's father was. So-called "traditional" (that is, not Suzuki trained) music educators have used this technique since the earliest days of recording technology; the difference in the Suzuki method is the scale on which Suzuki systematically insisted on daily listening in the home, from before birth if possible, and his focus on using recordings of beginner's repertoire alongside recordings of advanced repertoire. Although Suzuki was a violinist, the method he founded is not a "school of violin playing" (like the French or the Russian schools of playing) whose students can be identified by the set of techniques they use to play the violin. However, some of the technical concepts Suzuki taught his own students, such as the development of "tonalization", were so essential to his way of teaching that they have been carried over into the entire method. Other non-instrument specific techniques are used to implement the basic elements of the philosophy in each discipline. The Suzuki method does not include a formal plan or prescribe specific materials for introducing music theory and reading, in part because Suzuki created the method in a culture where music literacy was routinely taught in schools.

The classical guitar repertoire was compiled through a collaborative process involving teachers from the United States, Europe and Australia, and edited by Frank Longay. The nine volumes begin with Twinkle Variations and many folk songs, and adds pieces originally written for the lute in the Renaissance, and spanning all musical time periods, including pieces by Sanz, Vivaldi, Bach, Carcassi, Giuliani, Sor, Tarrega, Albéniz, Mudarra, and Yocoh's Sakura Variations. Music in book one is performed by Frank Longay and Bill Kossler, with books two through four recorded by Seth Himmelhoch, Andrew LaFrenier, and Louis Brown. George Sakellariou has recorded books five, six and seven and William Kanengiser recorded books 8 and 9, with the exception of Recuerdos de la Alhambra in book 9, which was recorded by Scott Tennant. While teaching alongside other violin faculty at a Suzuki institute, I was surprised to observe many controversies surrounding Gavotte by Gossec. Some teachers insist that it does not belong in Suzuki Book 1 due to its difficulty and length. Sometimes, they will teach it after the student completes Book 2, and sometimes it is not taught at all. In fact, my program director banned it from student recitals for many years. On the other hand, other teachers require their students to learn the piece and perform it in recitals before graduating from Book 1. Meyer, Constance (2003-09-07). The Mom-centric method. LA Times, 7 September 2003. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2003/sep/07/entertainment/ca-meyer7. Barber, Barbara (Autumn, 1991). "Traditional & Suzuki Teaching: A Comparison". American String Teacher.Eventually, the center of the Suzuki movement in education was established as the Talent Education Research Institute (TERI) in Matsumoto. TERI hosts thousands of people each year—students, parents, teachers, (and teacher trainees). Other organizations have sprung up all over the world to help oversee the movement and train teachers. These include the Asia Suzuki Association, the Suzuki Association of the Americas, the European Suzuki Association (which is currently assisting in the beginnings of the Suzuki movement in Africa), and the Pan-Pacific Suzuki Association.(International Suzuki Association, 2016).

The voice repertoire is in five Levels. Developed in Finland since 1986, the vocal repertoire of the Suzuki method has spread to over 20 countries including The United States, Australia, Europe, Asia and New Zealand. Teacher training courses are scheduled yearly in Europe, US and Australia. This includes attending local classical music concerts, developing friendships with other music students, and listening to recordings of professional musicians in the home every day, starting before birth if possible.Campell, Don. The Mozart Effect for Children. Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., New York, NY, 2000, ISBN 0-380-97782-6 Trumpet was added to the International Suzuki Association's list of Suzuki Method instruments in 2011. The application of Suzuki's teaching philosophy to the trumpet is currently being researched in Sweden; the first Trumpet teacher training course to be offered by the European Suzuki Association in 2013. (Suzuki Teacher Training for Trumpet, 2013). The application of Suzuki's teaching philosophy to the mandolin is currently being researched in Italy by Amelia Saracco. Bradley, Jane (Spring 2005). "When to Twinkle – Are Children Ever Too Young?". American Suzuki Journal Vol. 33, #3, p53.