The Piano Studio
Sue strives to create a warm, engaging, and creative studio space. Students attend all lessons with a parent. The parent is given the role of “teacher’s assistant” or “home teacher” and is an integral part of the Suzuki experience. Most importantly, she strives to create a positive environment for learning and works to develop a successful parent, teacher, and child relationship.
What makes Suzuki philosophy different?”
The “Suzuki Triangle”, the relationship between the child, the parent, and the teacher, is essential in the Suzuki approach. Parents and children learn to work together and to successfully navigate the ups and downs of acquiring a skill.
In today’s society we are often asked to drop off our children at their activities. Activities like dance, basketball, art class, and even school, the parent is often excluded from the learning relationship. Today we see a huge emphasis being put on becoming independent learners outside of the family relationship.
In contrast, in the Suzuki philosophy, parents are asked to be intimately involved. For the parent of of very young child, this includes learning the basic skills of the instrument, hands on practice at home, and working as the “home teacher”. For slightly older beginning students, the parents may not serve as the “home teacher” but rather as the “teacher’s assistant”. In this role, they provide crucial physical and emotional support throughout the learning process.
“Where love is deep, much can be accomplished”
Shinichi Suzuki
What is my role as the Suzuki parent?
I am often asked, “so what makes this different from traditional music lessons?” The answer is you. The parental involvement is crucial both at the lesson and in daily practice.
Of course, this is a small list for an activity that often spans years. The parents role will can change over time as the child develops in age and ability. The two most important qualities a Suzuki parent can have are to value music education in your child’s life, and to have unfailing belief in your child.
As a Suzuki parent you will:
- create a positive, nurturing environment
- play the recordings of the Suzuki repertoire every day
- create opportunities for listening to classical music with additional recordings and live concerts
- attend lessons with your child
- take notes with an emphasis on how to create a successful home practice
- practice with your child daily
- become aware of how your child learns
- learn the basic skills of the instrument
- observe and learn from other children’s lessons