The Difference Between Traditional & The Suzuki Method

What is the difference between traditional method and the Suzuki method?

     Well, the main difference that some people already know is that traditional music teaching methods are based off of learning by note-reading and the Suzuki method is based off of learning by rote or by ear. Some people have had problems with the Suzuki method due to some students having difficulties with notereading later on, but a good suzuki teacher knows that even if they are learning by ear, they also need to be learning how to read from day one.

     The biggest difference between traditional and Suzuki methods are parents involvement. What other activities for children do you learn alongside your child? Dance? Soccer? Swimming? Nope! When your child struggles with something in these activities, do you find yourself wishing you knew how to better help them?

     As a Suzuki teacher, it is our job to not only educate the child, but to educate the parent as well and really moreso. The parent needs to know how to do everything the child is learning (technique, scales, etudes) up through the end of book one as a minimum. On top of this, the parent needs to know practicing strategies and how to implement daily practice into their already crazy schedules!

This is ESSENTIAL to the success of the child, because with other activities, it is common practice to drop the child off, and pick them up when practice or rehearsal is over. Music is incredibly complicated and with a parents help, a child can progress so much faster and therefore stay motivated! Without parents help, the teacher often finds themselves teaching the same thing in every lesson and parents end up wasting their hard earned money.

     The biggest advantage to having parents involved with the child’s music lessons, is that they can help oversee that repetitions are quality repetitions and not just quantity. Children will want to sit down and just rush through everything and say they’ve done it. BUT that doesn’t help them learn or master anything.

     A good Suzuki teacher is patient not only with the students, but with the parents as they try to figure out how to make the method work for them. It can be a challenge, but I guarantee the outcome is SO incredibly worth it.

     Another major difference between traditional and Suzuki methods, are that the Suzuki method’s priority is actually not on learning music at all! It’s on building good character!

We focus on yes, the obvious like daily practicing, which builds discipline… but there are some major underlying themes that music can teach us about real life. Such as concepts like “chunking”. When we get overwhelmed, instead of giving up, we break things down into tiny “chunks” and accomplish one chunk at a time, until we can master the bigger chunks! I recently got told by a non-musical mentor, that I was letting my to-do list overwhelm me and they proceeded to hand me an article to read about “chunking”. What a kick I got out of that! All the lessons I teach my students, can apply to my own life as well! How about yours? Do you need to add some “chunking” to your own to-do list? I know I do!

     Good character also means that when we make a mistake, we don’t just repeat the same mistake over and over again and not stop, slow down, and try to fix it! It also means that even if we have a hard time with those mistakes, we do NOT give up and build grit and resilience to our failures. We use failure as the best teacher out there!

     How you approach your child’s Suzuki music lessons, is how you teach your child to approach life themselves. You lead, by example! It can be really tough to hear sometimes, but truth is the only way to get better at something. For example, if you let the child get away with not practicing their minimum requirements, you are telling that child it is okay to superficially approach any challenge or commitment in their future lives. OUCH, right!?

     

     The Suzuki method is set up in such a wooonderful way because the concepts build upon one another in a sequential way. You start with learning the foundations in the twinkles, and reinforce those concepts throughout the rest of the books. So it is REALLY important to master these techniques in the very beginning! If you let or encourage a child to play pieces ahead of their current piece, even though they have no idea what techniques are needed to play those pieces, you are saying “It’s okay to not work hard on what you are supposed to do, before what you want to do. It’s okay not to master something really well, before moving on to the next concept!” Again, OUCH!!

Not to mention that for every time you practice something wrong, you have to practice it right two times because of our best friend and our worst enemy… muscle memory! Ugh!

If you want to give the child something different to work on, find out their interests and let them explore that! There are so many beginner, big note Disney song books, Taylor Swift sheet music, etc. etc.. Or have them pick a song they really love and try to figure out the notes by ear… whatever you have to do, to keep them motivated and engaged, but NOT trying to sneak forward in the method book!

     These are things that can sometimes be difficult to think about in the moment, when you’re tired and exhausted from a long day. Trust me, I get it! Although I don’t have children, I teach long hours sometimes and run two separate companies and yet STILL have to sit down and make myself practice. Pablo Casals, a legendary cellist that significantly contributed to the world of cello, was asked at age 90 why he still practiced? His answer was “Because I think I’m making progress!”

One comment I have gotten from a lot of former students’ parents is that “So-and-so really enjoyed lessons with you, you find a way to make it fun and more interesting than our current teacher”. I’m not saying this to stroke my own ego, I’m saying this because if you do not make something fun for a child, that child will begin to resent it and dislike it, eventually getting so sick and tired of it they will convince you to let them quit. Perhaps it’s because I have ADHD which is a blessing as well as a curse. It helps me sometimes see through the eyes of a child, which clearly screams at me “I want to like this, but you’re making this too complicated and boring for me!” Of course with anything in life, there is a good balance that needs to be had. If you’re having too much fun, you’re not getting anything done. At the same time, you need to be engaged or you won’t learn!

I will share strategies for making at-home practice fun at a later date.

     My point today, is that I too often hear parents say “Johnny is tired of this piece and wants to move on”. In traditional methods, they do “move on” very quickly. But they take much longer to master skills, and their tone and abilities suffer because of that. By asking your teacher to move on, you are enabling the child’s short attention span and you are teaching them to allow their frustration to win. You are allowing them to not master something to the best of their ability. You are saying “teacher, IIII am bored of this and want Johnny to move on….” But isn’t the greater lesson for your child, to work really hard at something and polish it to a level of excellence?

I hope you have this session helpful! Please send me ideas for future sessions! I cannot help you, if I do not know the struggle! 

Happy Practicing!!

-Ms. Leilah

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Things a Parent Needs to Know to Encourage Success in Their Music Students

Yes! I said Parents & their music students! Because parents need to be the at-home teacher, when their private teacher isn't around! Music lessons aren't just beneficial for children! They are beneficial for parents too! They can help bond you and your child through hard work and discipline!

Think about lessons as your own personal challenge.

          a.) They need you to be involved!

Kids under the age of 12, absolutely need their parents to help them remember how to do the technique properly and exactly what they were supposed to be working on. How are you going to show your kid how to do the technique, if you've never done it yourself? How are you going to help them be successful and remember what they should be practicing, if you weren't paying attention in the lesson? (This also shows your child you are not just drifting off into "what am I going to make for dinner?" land. I know, it's super easy to do!)

    *In my studio, I usually do not let parents get away with skating by, not participating in the lesson. That being said, I do teach elsewhere sometimes and the parents sometimes drop the children off, or will sit so far away they can't be involved or even listen to the lesson and sit there reading their magazines or whatever. These children are as young as 4-7 years old! Do you really expect a 4 year old to sit down at the piano everyday and go "Okay, I need to practice this, this, this, and this..." (Not going to happen!)  Whose students do you think move 3x's as fast and stay motivated because of this?

          b.) It is your job to make sure they practice!
Students don't really develop intrinsic motivation until later and sometimes they need help keeping their materials in order too! You are teaching them discipline and habit building strategies. It's just like teaching them to brush their teeth. If they whine and say "but I'm tired" are you going to let them out of it? No! Music lessons can be fun, but they can also be hard work!

          c.) Language is powerful!
I probably should have put this first because it is that important. STAY POSITIVE!! The language we use in teaching and with our children in at-home lessons or helping them with their practicing, can have a HUGE impact on a student's self-esteem and motivation. If you  internalize nothing else in this post, you will still get the biggest lesson out of it. I will repeat it, because it is SO important!!! "The language we use in teaching and with our children in at-home lessons or helping them with their practicing, can have a HUGE impact on a student's self-esteem and motivation." Stay away from "No" or showing your frustration. Patience is a virtue and if a child is displaying unwanted behavior, it is probably not the child's fault. It is ours, for not addressing it. When we don't address it, we condone it!

     d.) Give them time!
Children do not have the same processing power as adults, but that doesn't mean they don't know or can't do it. It is tempting to just take their hands and do it for them, but give them a chance each time, with a little time to think about it! The more they do things for themselves, the better they internalize the lesson. (That being said, if you have to do it for the really little ones for awhile, that's okay too, so long as they don't become dependent on it!)
Also, you may think of something one way, but the child may need you to explain it or show it in a different way. No two people are alike, no matter how close the apple falls to the tree. Instead of saying "no", say "Does that one sound like this one?" or "Does your hand do what my hand does?" or "Try it more like this..." (etc..) Staying positive doesn't just mean giving your child two thumbs up, clapping for them, etc! This means adopting a growth mindset and working hard to learn how to interact with your child while at home. This is not always easy.
Sometimes when you try to show a child how to play something by grabbing their hands, they will get angry and pull away, or plead with you that they don't need you to show them, they can do it themselves. The best way to approach this, is to ask to "borrow" their hand. This gives them the illusion of more control, which they need. Another  approach is to say "I know you can do it, but let me help you once and then you can do it by yourself." I think sometimes they think when you help them, you think they are stupid and don't know how to do it, or they think you're going to help them and not let them try to do it themselves. By using "My turn, your turn" approach, you are letting them know that they will get that chance to show you.

These are just a few of many parental strategies to have a successful experience with music lessons!!

Which one(s) will you implement this month?

Happy Practicing to both you & your child!

Persian Proverb Applies to Music Study

This quote came on the tag to my tea this morning.

       I found it pretty applicable to music, so I made a pretty little image to inspire me and others. Everybody wants to be able to play like Yo-Yo Ma or Glenn Gould. Yet nobody wants to put the time in to get there. Isn't that what makes the great, well, great? Last night over dinner, I was telling my boyfriend about an invention I thought would make my job so much easier if I could just find an engineer to make it. It would be like a full sleeve that you put on your arm, and it makes the motions for you, so that you can remember what the motion felt like. This would help with the toughest element of music making, muscle memory! My boyfriend looked at me like I was crazy, so I said "what?" He responded, "Leilah, that would take away everything that is beautiful about music. That would make it incredibly mechanic and think about the many years and efforts that you put into learning your instrument. What you're asking is for is basically information to be uploaded immediately. This would mean that anybody could learn to play music well almost immediately. Where's the beauty in that? Where's the struggle and beauty in defeat there? That would just create mass of robot-like musicians."
      Wow. I was just trying to make my job easier. Haha! But he's right! It would only devalue music even more so than it already is, because "everybody could do it".
      I hope this is encouraging for everyone as you struggle to find the right balance of work and fun in your music practice.

Happy Practicing,

-Ms. Leilah

Build Grit!

I just started reading this book called "Build Grit". I have a LOT of habits I would love to be able to change. But my pattern is to do something for one week and then get lazy. I am so sick of this cycle. In order to be the best teacher to my students, I need to be in tip-top mental shape. In order to be in tip-top mental shape, I personally need physical exercise. In order to do this, it comes back down to that little thing called "willpower". Or in today's society, we like to refer to it as "Grit". I'm only in the introduction and have already written down quite a few inspiration quotes. Including the one in the picture I am attaching to this post. There was one quote in particular that really hit home for me regarding talent. It aligns perfectly with the message I believe Dr. Shinichi Suzuki was trying to say:

"People think that an innate talent is enough for success. Indeed, it is true, those people have the advantage of skipping the first mile in a marathon, but the additional miles must be completed as well to reach the finish line!" -Zoe McKey

Isn't that the truth!? When parents purchase music lessons for their children, they are not just encouraging musical talent to grow. They are encouraging the development of "Grit". Because you can only get to a certain point in music with your natural talent. Then, you have to put the work in just like everyone else. Anyone can be a great musician... it doesn't take talent. It takes forcing yourself to see the end goal and putting in the personal efforts to get there.

I was about to type "I will hopefully", but I recognize that old pattern of laziness in that phrase. I WILL make myself more "gritty" this year and in doing so, will hopefully be a good example for my students.