Before Suzuki students ever receive the piano/strings, they observe others who are doing what they will eventually do. Even after receiving and working with the instrument, they continue to observe others in the masterclass setting and group lessons.
Suzuki group classroom structure enables students to work alongside with peers who share a common repertory, musical skills, and aspirations. Social interaction and the opportunity to play as a group are important features that make lessons a productive and satisfying. Cooperation is fostered. Great care is taken to avoid competition and its negative effects.
Traditional (RCM) teachers use a classroom structure based on the one-on-one lesson model, using a “hands-on” approach that offers little or no opportunity for observing the lessons of others. Typically, children are given a piano/strings without much, if any, preparatory observation. In this environment, the teacher conveys points by playing musical samples or use verbal explanations.
Traditional (RCM) lessons are modeled on an environment of isolation. When students do interact, competition between individual students is often used as a means to motivate them. Cooperative learning techniques are neglected or ignored. With the one-on-one model, students don’t get much opportunity to study and play music with peers.
Suzuki study is “parent intensive”. The parent and the teacher become true partners. Parents attend all lessons and attentively note the teacher’s instructions. Parents’ attendance at class enables them to work closely and skillfully with their children at home. They assume the role of “home- teachers”. Parent involvement gives the Suzuki student a substantial advantage.
Suzuki study requires so much parent involvement that many might feel that the time and dedication needed is excessive. While Suzuki study demands a great deal from parents, the payoff is big. Students achieve greater success with the skillful assistance and participation of parents, and the shared activity is an opportunity rather than a burden.
Traditional (RCM) study typically has the parent play a marginal role in their children’s training, reminding (or admonishing) them to practice. They may attend or deliver the student to the occasional recital.
Traditional lessons are usually conducted without the parent’s presence in class. Parents are rarely trained or encouraged to work closely with students at home. Although many parents may feel that this is convenient, by excluding the parent, a student lacks the advantage that a parent’s help can bring, and both miss the shared experience that is made possible through Suzuki study.
Suzuki piano/strings pedagogy imparts technical skills needed to play the instrument in a way that has similarities with the approach used in traditional Asian martial arts. There is meticulous attention to form, detail, and movement. Suzuki formulated a highly original piano/strings technique that is radical and remarkably efficient. He has disseminated these ideas to teachers and students in the form of “teaching points” - specific descriptions, each dealing with a single aspect of technique and recommended exercises for its mastery. In the process of renovating piano/strings study, Suzuki dramatically improved the way the piano/strings is technically mastered.
Traditional (RCM) pedagogy is far from standardized in its approach to piano/strings technique. Some traditional teachers focus on “musical” aspects of playing and are vague or not concerned with form, position, and movement. Others teach laborious, elaborate, and inefficient ways of playing, using standard scales and the traditional etudes. On the whole, technical training in traditional pedagogy has been a clumsy affair. Many students with the potential to become fine pianoists have been discouraged by the “trial by ordeal” nature of technical study taught in the traditional way.
At the beginning of this article, the section, “VARIABLES THAT AFFECT THE DISCUSSION”, referred to the differences found within each of the piano/strings teaching schools. To round out the discussion, some points should be noted. While the Suzuki method may be the superior approach, within both the Suzuki method and the traditional (RCM) schools of piano teaching, there are some good teachers, few excellent teachers, and too many teachers who are less than adequate. Additionally, certifications don’t mean as much as one would hope. When evaluating a teacher or program, all of this should be taken into consideration.
