 “If a child hears fine music from the day of his birth and learns to play it himself, he develops sensitivity, discipline and endurance. He gets a beautiful heart.” – Shinichi Suzuki
The Suzuki Method is a very popular and effective approach to music education and we are fortunate to have Suzuki music teachers located here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The Suzuki Method was named for Shinichi Suzuki, who was born in Japan in the late 1800s. Suzuki was an educator and a musician who believed that learning music could be compared to language acquisition. He observed that children learn their native language through listening, imitation, and repetition, and felt that children could also learn to play a musical instrument in the same way, through listening, imitation, and repetition. He developed a method of teaching music, starting at a very young age, just as the learning of language begins at a young age. Since children learn to speak long before they learn to read, he felt that children could also learn to play music before they could read music.
Suzuki also stressed parental involvement, repetition, encouragement, and the ability of all children to acquire musical ability with the proper training. With the Suzuki Method, parents play an active role in the learning process. This is an enjoyable experience for both the parents and children.
Suzuki believed that just as repetition of words builds a child’s vocabulary, frequent repetition of musical sounds builds a child’s knowledge of music at an early age. Formal training can begin at the age of three or four, but it is never too late to begin, and students of all ages are encouraged to take lessons.
Encouragement of progress is a part of the training, taking into account that each individual progresses at his or her own rate. In addition to private lessons, students may work with others at their level in an environment of cooperation and mutual encouragement.
Suzuki believed that any child could develop musical ability with the proper training, and technique should be taught in the context of pieces rather than through dry technical exercises. Students perform frequently, individually, and in groups.
Here in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Suzuki School for Strings, located at 26 Union St., Kingston, has celebrated more than 25 years of music instruction in the Wyoming Valley. Started by Lillian T. Supplee in 1985, it has grown to approximately 100 students. The faculty is comprised of highly qualified professional musicians and music educators who have received specialized training at universities and Suzuki institutes, bringing many years of teaching and performing experience to the school. The staff members include Jule Supplee, violin; Jean Supplee Brubaker, cello and bass; Peter Brubaker, cello and piano; Gerard McGlone, viola and violin; and Rachel Galassi, who is a violist and a violinist.
The Suzuki School for Strings also offers ABC Music & Me, created by Kindermusik group classes. ABC Music & Me is a research-based language and early literacy program built around music, which helps two- to four-year-olds develop pre-literacy and language skills through a child’s most-loved rituals: music and story time.
Visit www.suzukinepa.com for more information or call (570) 287-6671.
Also located in Northeastern Pennsylvania is the Suzuki string program at the Arts YOUniverse, 47 North Franklin Street in Wilkes-Barre, with Director Mary Ann Saylor. The YOUniversal Suzuki string program offers high-quality music instruction for students from ages three and one-half years on up. Instruction is available for violin and viola, and the program includes lessons, group classes, and frequent performing opportunities. The program also aims to foster and promote a learning community that strives for excellence and nurtures the human spirit through music.
Saylor is a violin and viola instructor. She first encountered the Suzuki Method when she was homeschooling two of her daughters, who were Suzuki violin students. After observing as a parent for several years, Saylor decided that the Suzuki Method of teaching music offered limitless possibilities to students and began her training as a Suzuki teacher herself. She was the director of the Erie Suzuki Strings for more than 20 years and is currently on the faculty at Moravian College, in Bethlehem. Saylor also directs the Valley Suzuki Strings, in the Allentown-Bethlehem area, and performs with the NEPA Philharmonic, Allentown Symphony, Erie Philharmonic, and the Fort Smith Symphony in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She is an avid chamber music player and enjoys playing for weddings, parties, and other special events. She can be reached at (570) 823-5800.
|
