History of the Suzuki Method
Shinichi Suzuki was a violinist, educator, philosopher, and humanitarian. Over the past fifty years he had a profound influence on music education in his own country and throughout the world. Suzuki based his approach on the belief that, “Musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. Any child who is properly trained can develop musical ability, just as all children develop the ability to speak their mother tongue. The potential of every child is unlimited.”
Suzuki’s philosophy and the method he developed have now reached thousands of teachers, children and families in many nations. When he died in January 1998, Dr. Shinichi Suzuki was mourned around the world. His belief in the marvelous apabilities of all human beings and the importance of nurturing these capabilities with love has left a lasting legacy.
Born in 1898, Shinichi Suzuki studied violin in Japan for some years before going to Germany in the 1920’s. After further study there, he returned to Japan to play and teach. He taught university students, but became more and more interested in the education of young children.
Suzuki realized the implications of the obvious fact that children of all nationalities easily learn their native language. He began to develop a method for teaching violin modeled after the way in which children learn language and called it the Mother-Tongue Approach or Talent Education.
