By Cristina Crespo
The Suzuki Method was created by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki with the purpose of raising children to be happy, confident, noble, fine human beings, with splendid ability. He used violin playing for that purpose, and soon his way of teaching extended to other instruments, such as cello, piano, guitar, recorder and flute. He believed that, provided with the right environment and tuition all childrencan acquire and develop high musical ability.
There are some well documented benefits of learning a musical instrument, such as development of sensitivity, auditory and language skills, manual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, creation of connections between left and right side of the brain and enhancement of self-esteem. Well, with the Suzuki Method children benefit from all the above plus improvement of attention span and memory, integration into a music community that provides a with a network of social relationships, numerous performance opportunities from an early age, development of self-confidence that manifests itself in all areas of the child's life, plus it provides with an anxiety-free environment in which to thrive. Furthermore, the Suzuki Method brings some benefits for the parents too, like learning some extra parenting skills and strengthening the relationship between parent and child.
The main principles of the Suzuki Method are:
Early Start: Children can start learning the instrument from the age of three.
Performance Opportunities: These are regularly provided in the form of concerts.
Intensive Listening (the mother tongue approach): As with language, children learn initially by copying the sounds they hear and repeating them over and over, thus developing long-term memory skills.
Parent Participation: Parents play a crucial role in Suzuki learning. They participate in the lessons (no need for prior musical knowledge) and, guided by the teacher, provide the positive environment at home, where talent can be nurtured and ability developed.
Individual and Group lessons: As well as the individual lessons, children benefit from the group lessons, where they develop their musicianship, ensemble skills, memory and concentration; with the added motivation brought about by social interaction.
Set Repertoire: Each instrument has a carefully selected and stepwise structured repertoire, shared worldwide.
Positive Approach: Teacher and parents keep an encouraging attitude, always focusing on the achievements, thus allowing the child to develop the self-confidence and motivation necessary for further learning.
The flute (after the violin) is the second most chosen instrument by children who play music in the UK. The Suzuki Method was adapted for the flute in 1980, and has since spread throughout the world; however learning flute through the Suzuki Method is still relatively new in the UK. Suzuki Flute Teachers are a rare variety, however precious, since on top of their background music education they have been specifically trained to teach and adapt to the specific needs of every individual child and parent.
If you want to find out about more about Flute Lessons in London using the Suzuki Method goto: www.londonsuzukiflute.com
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