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Is anyone out there familiar with the Suzuki method of instruction? My daughter started out four years ago with a Suzuki teacher. She is now playing complicated pieces beautifully (she is at the end of Book 4). I do have concerns however in her weakness for sight reading. She can read music, and figures out most of her pieces by looking at the music (rather than the method used in Book 1 and 2 of listening and imitation). But when unfamiliar music is put in front of her, she struggles. Is that to be expected? Should I be transitioning her to a traditional approach at this point (she is now 12 years old)? Or should I let her continue, since her playing has been successful so far??? Thanks for any input.

Hi Cece,

I started piano as an adult by taking lessons with a Suzuki teacher. I was pleased with my progress, and stuck with it for about 1 year. At that time, I happened to find another teacher and switched to a more traditional teaching style. (I wasn't looking for a new teacher, just happened to hear this guy play, got to talking with him, and one thing led to another.)

Anyway, once I switched to a traditional style of teaching I discovered a whole new world of information. My Suzuki lessons never taught me how to count out music, never taught me how to read music, never allowed me to "interpret" music, never showed me how to hold my hands, rarely discussed fingering, rarely discussed any pieces other than the Suzuki pieces, and so forth. Everything was learned by listening to the piece I was learning, and then trying to play what I heard.

In short, I am VERY glad that I switched to more traditional lessons. While I probably play *fewer* pieces now than I would be playing if I had stayed in the Suzuki system, in my opinion I'm playing the pieces better, and have a much broader appreciation of piano music.

Perhaps my Suzuki experience is not typical, but IMO you should be looking to change teaching methods. Otherwise, your daughter may end up being able to *only* play the Suzuki pieces.

Regards,
Dan

I am a student of traditional methods, in fact, by the time I started taking lessons with an actual teacher, my mom had already watched me breeze through the methods in an hour for each book. My first teacher used a lot of those easy sheet music pieces for me and I did theory methods.
Anyway, I took a keyboard pedagogy class last year in college and learned about different methods and I actually did one of my lesson observations with a suzuki teacher. Two of the students in our class were suzuki students for several years before moving to traditional method teachers. Please note that everything I say is personal observation and these two classmates are really great pianists! But I didn't like the suzuki teaching. yes, the technique of the students is very good because they focus on this, but I am strongly against the lack of reading! As a strong sight reader, I don't know how I could do what I do without this ability, especially as an accompanist. I know that this is sometimes a weakness, but I find that suzuki almost gears the student towards this weakness. One of my classmates who started with suzuki is a very poor sightreader who often, if listening to a piece, will learn it according to a recording rather than as the music is written, to the point that our teacher has forbidden her to listen to recordings. I know this may be a little extreme and by no means is she a worse player, but while suzuki claims that their students can sight read just as well as anyone else, I find this to be impossible to be true.
In other words, I suggest a new teacher. Your daughter may be playing beautifully, but half the fun for me is to be able to read through music when selecting a program. Sight reading can be very important, and while I applaud suzuki for the strong technical teaching, there are other areas that I am strongly opposed to.
Just my opinion.

Both my daughters are students of tradidional methods which also include theory. My older one just turned 13 and is a marvelous player and sight reader. She thinks her aural is bad. But from the results of annual Theory Festival, her only weakness is melodic dictation. She is very strong in other areas of aural. I can't figure it out. Because for me with only minimum music training melodic dictation is the only thing I can do with aural. I always wondered if her melodic dictation would be better if she had studied Suzuki method. But then her teacher thinks that very few 12-year-olds have as strong aural as my daughter (she is in the third highest grade, see below). My younger who is 6 and started lessons in September had shown strong sight reading ability. With Siziki method, your daughter probably has good aural. Switching her to traditional method will certainly strengthen her other areas that she is lacking. I would recommend that you find a teacher who also incoporates music theory (theory, history, keyboard, aural, sight reading...) in lessons. We are lucky that we live in a small state and the state's music teacher's association organizes annual Piano Festival and Theory Festival. My daughters' teachers participate and required their students go through the graded exams every year. I kept all my daughter's theory papers and exams. If you would like to know more about it, I will be glad to share it with you. There may be similar events in your state.

I don't know how long a stududent usually stays with Suzuki method, but 4 years seem long to me. It is time to make a switch. Your duaghter is about the same age as mine. You will be amazed how mcuh they can learn.