Teacher Training

How to Become a Suzuki Teacher

  1. Take the Every Child Can! (ECC) course.
  2. Submit your teacher training video audition.
  3. Join the SAA as a teacher member.
  4. Take Book training courses: (Books 1 and 2 must be taken in order.)
  5. Your training will be registered your training with the SAA by the Institute, workshop, or trainer you take training with.

Why?

  • Are you a skilled, well-trained professional musician who would like to teach your instrument and work with young children?
  • Do you have a genuine affection for children and an interest in helping them develop as human beings through the study of music?
  • Are you interested in working in a cooperative atmosphere with children, parents and colleagues?

If so, you may be interested in investigating the Suzuki approach to music education. Many musicians who use the Suzuki Method have found that it provides a unique avenue for helping children and families as well as providing opportunities for their own growth as musicians, teachers, and human beings.

Increasing Need for Teachers

Since its introduction in North America more than thirty years ago, the Suzuki Method has become a major force in music education. It has been successfully implemented in many different situations and is recognized by national music organizations. Interest in the method has grown as teachers, parents and students experience its results. This has led to an increasing need for qualified Suzuki teachers in the Americas and abroad.

Features of the Suzuki Method

More than forty years ago, Shinichi Suzuki—educator, violinist, philosopher and humanitarian—realized the implications of the fact that children all over the world learn to speak their native language with ease. He began to apply the basic principles of language acquisition to the learning of music and called his method the mother-tongue approach. The following special features distinguish the Suzuki method:

  • Parental Involvement
  • Early Beginning
  • Listening
  • Repetition
  • Encouragement
  • Learning with Other Children
  • Graded Repertoire
  • Delayed Reading

Training Opportunities

To meet the need for trained teachers, the SAA has established a Teacher Development Program, with systematic, comprehensive professional training available from registered Teacher Trainers in violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, flute, harp, guitar, recorder and early childhood education. Both prospective and experienced teachers can benefit from the training offered through SAA’s Teacher Development Program. Recognition of training is provided by the SAA registration program for completed training credits.

If you are interested in learning more about Suzuki’s philosophy and approach and/or becoming a Suzuki teacher, you may take training courses specifically designed for your instrument. Training is offered year-round in a number of different formats: short-term intensive courses available at workshops and summer institutes, long-term courses at music schools and colleges, and apprenticeships arranged with Teacher Trainers.

The core courses or units of study correspond in name to the numbered Suzuki repertoire books for each instrument, with the first two courses (Every Child Can! and Book 1) providing an introduction to the Suzuki philosophy and beginning approach to the instrument. Courses are designed to stimulate participation and interaction. They include opportunities for work with a master teacher as well as extensive observation of experienced teachers working with children. An audition is required for short-term or apprenticeship training.

All teacher training participants are asked to prepare the repertoire to be studied to the point of fluent performance. Memorization is not required but is recommended. Additionally, participants should be conversant with the ideas presented in Dr. Suzuki’s Nurtured by Love.

All participants will be performing in class. Strings and woodwinds are expected to provide their own instruments. It is recommended that participants bring a tape recorder and a notebook to all sessions. 100% attendance is required for registering the course.

Short-Term Training

One of the most popular, accessible formats in which Suzuki training can be obtained is through intensive week-long courses offered at teacher workshops during the school year and summer institutes. Summer institutes offer student activities and teacher training at more than 75 locations throughout the US and Canada during the summer months.

In order to qualify for short-term training, an audition is required. To get information on where short-term teacher training is taking place, see the summer institute listings, teacher workshops, and the Every Child Can! course listings.

Long-Term Training

SAA-approved programs are directed by registered SAA Teacher Trainers at colleges and conservatories. While programs vary in length and structure, they are usually two-year programs providing opportunities for in-depth study of Suzuki and standard literature, observation of master teachers, and apprentice teaching. Some programs lead to degrees with an emphasis in Suzuki pedagogy, while others offer Suzuki courses as electives.

In many schools, affiliated Suzuki programs serve as labs and generate income for graduate students. Since these programs have proven effective in assuring quality training for Suzuki teachers, the SAA encourages other colleges to add Suzuki Pedagogy to their curriculum offerings. Please contact the school for details on admissions, prerequisites and course work, etc.

“Long-term training gave me a true understanding of the long-range sequence of the literature and its interconnections. I gained teaching experience with observations provided by supervising teachers.”

“Training provided me a forum for hands-on teaching of the concepts presented in pedagogy classes and an opportunity for the Teacher Trainer to observe and evaluate our individual and group teaching. The knowledge gained in long-term training has been extremely valuable to me in my subsequent teaching.”

“Invaluable! An unlimited resource. Especially important was the long-term interaction with other teacher trainees—sharing ideas, discussing pedagogical principles, discussing the music, sharing the good and bad which comes with teaching families.”

Apprenticeships

The SAA maintains a list of teacher trainers who provide training on an individual, apprenticeship basis. Study can be tailored to your needs and schedule, and is arranged directly by you with the teacher trainer.

Last updated December 10 2009