A Comparison of Teaching Techniques:

Suzuki, Rolland, and Zweig

Suzuki, Rolland, and Zweig have all been successful pedagogues in different ways.

Suzuki became the catalyst for the string education movement in the United States when

American string teachers viewed a film of his students playing at a very high level.1

Rolland and Suzuki first met at the joint The National Association of Music

Education/American String Teachers Association (MENC/ASTA) convention in

Philadelphia in 1964 when Rolland invited Suzuki to be filmed teaching American

children and their mothers the violin. The final product was supposed to be part of

Rollands University of Illinois String Research Project entitled Suzuki Teaches American

Students and their Mothers, but for reasons unknown, Rolland decided not to have this

film included in the final report. Nevertheless, during this time, the two pedagogues had

the opportunity to observe each others work, and Rolland praised many of Suzukis

teaching philosophies, especially those regarding rote learning and the review of material.2

Mimi Zweig came upon Rollands film series, The Teaching of Action in String Playing in

1972; she then combined his ideas with Suzukis to create a method of her own.

The four basic principles of Suzukis teaching methods are: 1) listening, 2) proper

technique, 3) motivation, and 4) reinforcement. Rolland and Zweigs methods are

modeled closely after Suzukis latter three principles: awareness of physical and technical

set-up (proper technique), group playing (motivation), and repetition of old material

(reinforcement). The main differences among these pedagogues lie in their beliefs about

1
Michael L. Mark and Charles L. Gary, A History of American Music Education, 3rd ed. (Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2007), 441.
2
Marianne Murry Perkins, A Comparison of Violin Playing Techniques: Kato Havas, Paul Rolland, and
Shinichi Suzuki ([S.l.]: American String Teachers Association, 1995), 28.
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reading versus learning by ear, early bow hold, parental involvement, and their

preferences in repertoire.

All three pedagogues discuss the importance of body movement in string playing.

Rolland stresses the importance of correct positions, free movement, and the use of the

entire body in playing an instrument, rather than just hands and fingers.3 Suzuki and

Zweig also stress the importance of balance and posture and require that students remain

in a standing position while playing, with relaxed joints and muscles. There are

similarities among all three pedagogues in regard to the standing position. However,

Suzuki prefers that the weight of the body be centered primarily on the left foot, with that

foot placed more forward than the right. Rolland and Zweig recommend that the weight

be equally balanced on the two feet. To assume playing position, students first make a

V with the heels of their feet touching, then move their left foot one small step to the left

without moving the foot forward.

Both Suzuki and Zweig teach the upper half of the bow before using the whole

bow to aid the students in making a better sound. They also mark the middle of the bow

stick and teach bow division at a young age. The magic X, circle block (toilet paper

roll), and balancing sticks are used by Rolland and Zweig to relax the muscles, create

good posture, and demonstrate good bow hold and arm movements.

Rolland, Suzuki, and Zweig all advocate a special beginners bow hold, distinctly

different from the regular bow hold. Suzukis modification helps to avoid tense fingers

3 Paul Rolland, The Teaching of Action in String Playing (Champaign: University of Illinois, 2008),
DVD.
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and grabbing of the bow and to facilitate the beginners bow control (see Fig. 2).4

Zweigs beginning students also practice this bow hold.

Figure 2. Suzukis Early Bow Hold

Rolland advocates a different early bow hold, in the manner of the seventeenth and

eighteenth century (see Fig. 3). He recommends placing the thumb and middle finger on

the balance point of the bow. This way, the bow feels lighter and is easier to use.5

4
Starr, Suzuki Violinist, 62.
5
Paul Rolland, Basic Principles of Violin Playing: a Report Prepared for the MENC Committee on
String Instruction in the School (Washington, DC: Music Educators National Conference, 1959), 8.
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Figure 3. Early Bow Hold from Rolland, Action Studies, 4

In regard to finger spacing for the bow hand, Perkins writes, Suzuki advocates

almost no space between each of the fingers on the bow, which he believes allows for

greater finger flexibility.6 Rolland and Zweig advocate the traditional spacing with slight

separations between the index and second, and third and fourth fingers. Suzuki believed

that the function of the little finger is to be a pusher rather than a lever; whereas Rolland

and Zweig recommend putting the pinkie on the top of the bow stick for additional bow

balance when needed.

The three pedagogues share similarities in technical training of the left hand,

including the use of colored tape to mark the fingerboard in the beginning stages to ensure

that students play in tune. As for the order of training the fingers, Suzuki waits until the

first three fingers have been firmly trained before introducing the fourth; whereas

Rolland introduces fourth finger training in the earliest lessons with the Octave Game

6
Perkins, A Comparison of Violin Playing Techniques, 183.
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and harmonics.7 Zweig uses methodology from both pedagogues: the Ant and Gee

Dee Gee songs are played with left-hand fourth-finger pizzicato, but students do not play

with that finger placed on the finger board until Perpetual Motion in Suzuki Book One.

The motivation aspects of the students training stem from group playing. Zweig

views mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve. Younger children learn from more

advanced and trained players and are encouraged to both participate in and attend concert

performances. Competitions are part of their musical education, but as Zweig says, the

real benefit of a competition lies in the preparation.8 Evidence of the same beliefs can be

found in Rollands instructional videos, in which children learn rhythms and perform

together and in Suzukis writings on the importance of group participation and learning.

All three pedagogues also believe in the importance of master classes, where the teacher

and other students observe the performance of one student and critique that students

performance so that more than one student benefits from the experience.

Reinforcement through repetition is another important aspect of the pedagogues

basic training. Students in the Suzuki and Zweig programs constantly revisit old materials

before starting something new. Suzuki believes in reviewing old material, improving

current material, and looking into more advanced material concurrently. This three-step

training technique is evident in concerts, in which students, regardless of their level, end a

program with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, the first piece in the Suzuki method books.

Rolland also advocates reinforcement through repetition. He uses songs with the same

melodies and finger patterns, on different strings, before learning the next piece.

7
Perkins, A Comparison of Violin Playing Techniques, 181.
8
Zweig, String Pedagogy.
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The principal differences among these three pedagogues lie in their teaching of

music theory. Suzukis teaching philosophy was built on the mother-tongue method.

Students in the Suzuki program learn by listening to recordings or advanced students

performances and imitating them. Children train their ears and develop good memory

skills without learning how to read music until later in their training. Rolland also

believed in the importance of ear training but required that children learn music notation

as soon as their violin training began. Zweigs method falls in between the two: she does

not begin note reading immediately but waits to introduce it until students are ready to

play Perpetual Motion, which is a lot earlier than in Suzukis teaching. In Rolland and

Zweigs programs, children also learn to step to, clap, and sing different rhythmic patterns.

The result is a more balanced way of learning, in which children do not rely solely on their

ears but also focus on the visual aspect of training needed for more advanced playing.

Rolland differed also from Suzuki in the importance he placed on learning

contemporary music. Whereas Suzuki prefers music from the Baroque and Classical

periods, Rolland taught pieces such as Peters March by Richard Wernick and the Duet

for Violin and Piano by Bartk to develop familiarity with dissonances and difficult

rhythmic patterns. Suzuki, on the other hand, compiled and edited ten volumes of music

beginning with variations on Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star and ending with two of

Mozarts concertos. Throughout these volumes, Suzuki stays with arrangements and

music drawn from older composers such as Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi, Beethoven, and

Brahms but never goes beyond the Romantic period. Zweigs method combines repertoire

from these two pedagogues and also adds music of her own that are outside the scopes of

the Suzuki and Fletcher books. Table 1 sums up the features of the three pedagogues.
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Table 1. Suzuki, Rolland, and Zweig Compared

Suzuki Rolland Zweig

Listening Requiredcritical Encouraged Required

Motivation through Yes Yes Yes

Group Lessons
Rote Learning Yesfundamental Yesfundamental Yesfundamental

Note Reading Delay note From the beginning From Perpetual

reading Motion of
Suzuki Book One
Sequential Learning Yesfundamental Yesfundamental Yesfundamental

Parental Yescritical Encouraged but not Yescritical

Participation required
Rhythmic Training Through listening YesKodly-based YesKodly-based
to recordings
Remedial Teaching No Yes Yes

The teaching beliefs of Suzuki, Rolland, and Zweig have been compared above.

Non-technical features of these three pedagogues have also been compared, but the major

technical features are dealt with in subsequent weeks.