Listening, imitating and repeating

“The first principle concerns musical education for developing an ear for music. An ear for music is something which has to be acquired by listening, and the sooner this begun, the more effective it will be. Work together with encourage and enjoyment, there will be much success for the good of the children.” Dr. Suzuki believed that talent is not inborn but is developed by creating the right environment and nurturing ability. He believed that all children can learn. His philosophy is simple. Create the right environment and a child will learn. Listening begins in the womb at 18 weeks gestation. This is when the ear begins to hear external sound although the actual ear is not yet fully formed.

Listening –A recording of the student’s current pieces are listened to daily. These are recorded by the chosen expert and will be the student’s main teacher of the pieces themselves. They teach notes, words, style, phrasing, memory.

Imitation – At a lesson the teacher picks out a section or phrase to work on and the child is taught by imitation how to sing it.

Repetition – this phrase is mastered and then repeated in the lesson and with the parent’s help is repeated further at home before the next lesson. The small step approach is very important in order to reward the student with confidence to go on. If a well-chosen single step is mastered in a lesson very often the child returns the following week with the whole piece ready to perform “Ability, breeds ability!”. Many games are used to imitate a section and encourage repetition. These are passed on to parents so that they too are empowered to encourage repetition at home. Children are taught from early age “How to practise and what to practise!”