The Suzuki method is a way of teaching music developed by the Japanese violinist Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. It starts from one observation: every child learns to speak their native language, so every child can learn music the same way. Suzuki students listen to their music often, learn to play it by ear with a parent's help, and learn to read music once their playing is established.

Dr. Suzuki was a violinist, so the method began with the violin. It has since spread to many other instruments, the viola among them.

Who was Dr. Suzuki?

Shinichi Suzuki was born in Nagoya, Japan, in 1898. His father owned the first violin factory in Japan. Shinichi taught himself to play the violin after hearing a recording of Mischa Elman playing Schubert's Ave Maria, then studied in Tokyo and, from 1921, in Berlin.

Back in Japan, he played in a string quartet with three of his brothers. At a rehearsal in 1933, he surprised them by stating something they thought was obvious: all Japanese children speak Japanese. That observation became the basis of his method.

In 1946 he went to Matsumoto, in central Japan, and helped start the music school that became the Talent Education Research Institute. He kept teaching into his nineties and died in 1998. He told his life story in his autobiography, Nurtured by Love. Today, five regional Suzuki associations support Suzuki teaching in the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific.

Learning music like a first language

Dr. Suzuki called his approach the Mother Tongue Method, and the whole system of teaching Talent Education. A toddler hears the family's language every day, copies it, and is praised for each try. Speaking comes first, and reading comes later. Suzuki students learn music the same way: by ear first.

Behind this is a belief about ability: talent is learned, not inborn, and with the right support every child can succeed.

The core elements of the Suzuki method

Here are the method's core elements, with the violin in mind.

  • Listening. Students often listen to recordings of the pieces they will learn, so they take in the language of music the way they take in the sounds of their first language.
  • A parent at lessons and at home. Parents attend lessons and serve as home teachers during the week. Suzuki teachers think of parent, teacher, and student as a triangle, and any caregiver, guardian, or grandparent can be the parent. Parents need not be musicians: the teacher shows them, step by step, how to help at home. Our Parent's Guide to Supporting Young Violinists has more.
  • An early start. Many Suzuki students begin at three or four. We cover readiness in What Age Should My Child Start Violin?
  • Repetition and review. Suzuki students keep playing old pieces as they learn new ones, the way children keep using old words. Playing pieces again and again strengthens old skills and builds new ones.
  • Encouragement. Each child learns at their own rate, in small steps, and teachers and parents meet every effort with sincere praise and encouragement.
  • Learning with other children. Along with private lessons, students take part in group lessons and performances. Group lessons reinforce what students learn in their individual lessons and teach them to play together.
  • A graded repertoire. All Suzuki students on an instrument learn the same pieces in the same order. Dr. Suzuki chose the violin pieces so they present musical and technical points in a logical sequence. The first is his set of variations on "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Violists have their own books and recordings, the Suzuki Viola School; see our viola lessons page.
  • Reading after the basics. Music reading waits until a child's ear and playing are well established, just as children learn to read words only after they can speak. That leaves the early lessons for posture, tone, intonation, and phrasing. Suzuki students do learn to read music, and we explain how ours learn in More Than By Ear.

If you are weighing Suzuki lessons against traditional ones, we compare the two in Suzuki or Traditional Violin Lessons?

What it looks like at our studio

Triad Suzuki Academy is a Suzuki violin and viola studio serving families across the Triad. With us, a family can expect:

  • individual Suzuki violin or viola lessons at our studio
  • Group Class, where students learn together
  • a parent at lessons, who also practices with the child at home
  • practice at least five days a week, our studio policy (see Practice Makes Progress for ideas)
  • performances in studio recitals

Our classes page describes each program. Our FAQ gives the age we start children and where lessons are held, and our tuition page lists lesson lengths and policies.

Adults learn this way too

Dr. Suzuki developed his method teaching young children, but it is never too late to begin, and many Suzuki programs welcome adults. One Suzuki teacher who writes for the Suzuki Association of the Americas teaches students from age four into their eighties, and finds that adults often come with a piece they have always wanted to play.

We welcome adult students on violin and viola. Read more in Starting Violin as an Adult.

Come see a lesson

To see the Suzuki method at work, book a free trial lesson and bring your questions. Our FAQ explains how trial lessons work, and when you are ready, you can register for lessons or Group Class.

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