What makes the Dr. Suzuki’s ideas about music education so valuable is that he believed that the youngest child had the potential to play music in the same way that they learned to speak, and he believed that talent is a learned ability. Dr. Shinichi Suzuki was a Japanese educator and musician who believed that all children could learn things well, especially if they had the right type of environment. |
When Dr. Suzuki wrote his first volume of violin music for children in 1945, he included six folk songs, five pieces that he wrote himself, and songs by Bach, Schumann and Gossoc. Each song taught a new skill, and each skill built on the next. Sometimes the skill learned was helping a child prepare in advance for a much more difficult piece in a later book. The use of folk songs gave the children the joy of being able to |
play familiar tunes The crew at Up-a-do Unlimited realizes the importance of using folk songs to teach young children music. |
The twelve page Music Pattern Song Book created by Up-a-do Unlimited to accompany their precision tuned eight-note glockenspiel xylophone contains ten folk songs made popular by Dr. Suzuki as well as a Bach Minuet and a harmony piece. Dr. Suzuki believed that talent could be developed in any child. He created a teaching method that has helped many students do just that. His ideas inspired the team at Up-a-do Unlimited to create an educational music pattern song book to assist a new generation of young music students. | Free Folk Song Audio Click Here |
Wishing you joy on your musical journey!
Debra Newby
P.S. I am a “Suzuki Mom” who spent many hours helping both of my daughters become proficient violinists, and I attended all of the concerts shown above. (And many, many others!) Both of my daughters are now Suzuki Violin Teachers.