I uy J8cHlr18 LUeOK8
Understanding the Suzuki
Parent's Role
n the best case scenario the Suzuki parent begins h er Suzuki
I journey by being a studen t h erself as she takes an extensive
parent education course prior to her child 's first lessons. It
is in the role of student that the parent learns what she needs to
know in order to fulfill all of her other roles as Suzuki parent,
which include the role of assistant to the teacher, the role of
home teacher and the role of nurturer. All of these roles are
important and need to be fully understood so that the parent
and child can enjoy working together as the child learns to play
the instrument.
During the time that the parent's role is that of student, the
parent needs to have sufficient study in the philosophy that
supports the Suzuki Method. This can take from six to ten weeks
of reading and discussion of Suzuki 's books which include most
of what the parent needs to know. For clear understanding of
Suzuki's ideas it is important for parents to do some reading at
home and then return to talk about what they read and wh at it
means to them. My experience h as been that parents truly enjoy
and benefit greatly from a parent education course wh en they
come together with a few other parents to read and discuss Dr.
Suzuki's writings.
Parents also need to be trained in how to apply the philosophy
to teaching their child, and that includes their own study of the
beginning steps (bow, rest, and ready position) and playing of
Twinkles. In addition , for maximum success, every Suzuki parent
should receive some degree of music reading instruction. With
this kind of preparation all parents will be more effective in their
Suzuki parent role.
The Parent as an Assistant to the Teacher
The Suzuki parent's role as assistant begins at the first lesson.
The parent assists the child and the teacher by taking very clear
precise no tes so that sl he can be an effective teacher at tile home
practice. Whatever information tile teacher gives in the way of
assign m ents and recommendations should be carefully noted
by the parent on e ither a practice sheet or in a notebook. The
kind of note-taking and the format which the paren t u ses should
be determined by the teacher. A teacher must give attention in
tile early parent training to the parent's behavior at the lessons.
A parent should not come to the first lesson not knowing that
she will be asked to sit in a special place close to the studen t
and write down everything that is said in such a way that sh e
will be able to tutor her child at h ome during the week. Too
many parents who have not been properly trained for the job
of teacher's assistant make the grave error of reading a book,
doing their knitting, etc, during the lesson. It is much easier to
train people in their duties before they are pressed into their
role than it is to re-direct them. Parents want and need to know
exactly how they are to behave at the lessons. It is the teacher's
job to see that the parent has that information .
The parent as home teacher must keep the
practice time sacred.
What are the duties of the Suzuki parent as home teacher? The
most important task for the parent is to establish a daily practice
time and stick with it so that it becomes a habit for both parent
and child . My experience has been that the greatest success oc-
curs when practice is the same time every day. This is important
for a couple of reasons. Having the same time of day for practice
creates a habit for sure, but it also requires that we not let other
things intrude on that time or e lse we will not be practicing at the'
same time every day. If the parent does not schedule anything else
at that time of day including dental and medical appointments
and does not let the child participate in oth er activities or 'p lay
with friends until the practice is completed, talent will h ave a
real chance to develop. Moving the practice time around tells
the child that practice is not sacred but just something e lse we
do when we can find the time. That is not the attitude you want
your chi ld to h ave about his Suzuki study so you must not have
that attitude either.
The parent as home teacher must immerse the
child in music.
The second most important job of me teacher parent is to
immerse the child in the music slhe is learn ing. You cannot play
the recordings of the music that your child is learning too much.
H e cannot know the music too well. We are teaching the children
to memorize their music by being completely surrounded by
the sounds. The Suzuki child does not know how he knows it,
but it is inside of his head, and thus he is able to play it. When
19
a child has been sufficiently immersed in
his music he is confident about being able
to play. Everything including his be havior
is improved. Much of the resistance we see
in students is caused by the fact that they
do not have the music they are expected
to play inside of their h eads. Many try
to think their way through pieces and
become anxious and nervous. When the
child doesn't know his music sufficiently
to play without forgett ing, it not only
makes the child nervous, but the parents
become anxious and short-tempered as
well. Parents please give your child every
chance to su cceed. Play the recordings
for at least four to six hours a day when
they are in Book One. After that you can
decrease the amount of listening by 20%
for each book, if you wish.
Sometimes I wonder if we really believe
that all children have tale n t as Su zuki said.
Ifwe believed that our children could re-
ally play at the advanced level that Suzuki
promised , surely we would do those things
that he said we re required for the child to
reach the highest level. Daily practicing
and listening must be done for your child
to become a talented musician.
As the home teacher the parent
must understand proper technique
for playing the instrument.
Beyond making sure that the r e is
daily practice and immersion listening,
th e Suzuki pare nt must unde rstand the
technique of playing the instrument as
de monstrated by the teache r. The pare nt
attends the lessons not just to take notes,
but also to learn how to be the guiding
hands for the child away from the lesson.
I think that the only really difficult p art
of playing an instrument is the learning
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20 AMERICAN SUZUKI JOURNAL Spring, 2009
of the prope r technique. Developing a
good technique takes time, patience , and
rep eate d demonstra tion by someone who
understands the importance of learning
th e proper way to play. All parents who
are reall y interested in helping their
children learn must comprehend prope r
technique. Even if a parent cannot play
the advanced literature, p a re nts can be
taught the early techniques so that they
can supe rvise their child's prac tice on a
daily basis. By teaching parents Twinkles
in th e ir parent e ducation course and
continuing to explain concepts to the
pare nt in th e lesson, pare nts can be-
come experts in the are a of instrument
techniqu e and tone production. Parents
who care about their children 's progress
must ask questions and m a ke sure they
understand what it is the teacher wan ts
them to do . They can the n go h o m e and
practice wh at they see in the lessons. It is
important that pare nts realize that as the
Su zuki h ome teacher they must reinforce
good technique a nd good tone eve ry
day at home . Without the parents daily
attention to prope r ton e and technique
the child will not excel.
As the child's home teacher
the parent must be able to read
music.
In order to h elp th e child with music
he cannot decipher either from listening
or reading (which com es later on) the
parent must be able to read music herself.
Some of the skills of music reading can be
taught in the parent education course,
and I have fo und that parents pick up the
rest from attendance at weekly lessons and
the daily work they do with their child.
But basic understanding of music reading
@ Heart, Books 1 and 2
should be taught in the parent e ducation
course .
Finally, the Suzuki parent must
nurture the child on a daily
basis.
It is very important when trying to teach
your child that you nurture and support
yo ur child's efforts. From what I have see n
and h eard it is the child/ parent relation-
ship tha t requires the most thought a nd
patience. Suzuki parents often have to
change their p a r e nting style in orde r
for their relationship with their child
to work. Neither the authoritaria n nor
the p ermissive parenting style will work
over the long haul. Parents have to stay
in a calm, peaceful state of mind and not
push and bully the child during practice.
The parent must provide the best possible
environment and then le t the child learn
at his own pace. If children misbehave
pare nts should keep a calm demeanor
and simply stop the practice. There is
always anothe r day! The child will not fee l
nurtured if the environment is harsh and
unhappy. OJ
Reprinted with permission from Luedke
Parent Education Newsletter, Vol. 1, No.2,
February 2005.
Afte r earning a Master's d egree in music and a
career in piano performance, Jeanne Luedke stud-
ied the Suzuki Method of talent education both
here and at Dr. Suzuki's sch ool in Matsumoto,
Japan. She founded the Suzuki Talent Education
School of Newtown, Connecticut in 1977 and has
been a teacher and trainer for several decades.
After forty years of private piano teaching, Jeanne
retired from teaching in 1999 to focus entirely on
parent educa tion.
Jeanne is a past member of the Board of Direc-
tors of the Su zuki Association of America and
p ast editor of the piano column for the Suzuki
Journal. Jeanne continued to train teachers and
parents in her wi dely acclaimed Parent Education
Seminars from 1987-2007. In addition for the past
ten years Jeanne has w ritten a parent education
newsletter for Suzuki parents and teach ers. Her
newest materials for parents and teachers includes
a compilation of the best of the Luedke newsletters
in a 162 page manual called Parents as Teachers
which is a vailable now on her website: www .
parenh1ewsletter.com. In addition, she has written
a book entitled Teachers Guide to Parent Educa-
tion which contains the important information
that Jeanne ha s shared in her newsletters and
teacher seminars over the past twenty years.