Reading

Photo by Jay Brasch

Is your child frustrated when playing in orchestra at a Suzuki Institute? The note reading skills of some Suzuki students do not match their wonderful playing skills. Since students have different ways of learning, some will learn to read music with very little effort, while for others it is a tremendous struggle.

A constructive parent suggested that I list reading goals for my students. It has been helpful, and I encourage you to sit down and make some for your child or your students. Below are some I have heard or used myself.

Read more of Note Reading Ideas »

Last summer, focus groups at summer Institutes were asked to submit questions for a panel of “Suzuki Experts” to answer. Here are the first two:

How do we help our students learn to read music without deterioration of their technique?

First of all, teachers need to be sure that a student’s posture and technique are well set and secure before introducing a music reading method book. There are a lot of pre-reading exercises and activities that can prepare a student for reading, in much the same way that language reading is prepared before language reading is formally taught.…

Read more of Ask the Experts #1: Note Reading and Spanish Books »

The music examples from “Establishing Minor Scale Patterns for Long Term Success” by Winifred Crock in American Suzuki Journal 36.2 were inadvertently omitted. Please download this PDF of the article which includes the figures.