Celebrating the Technological Side of the Suzuki Method

I believe that the Suzuki method should to be recognized

and celebrated as one of the most technologically at-
tuned pedagogies of the 20th century. In this column

I discuss how embracing this view could help the method
to continue to providing excellent musical growth. First, I
present an overview of a study I recently completed, then
detail some of the innovations of Suzuki and others in
the method, and finally present three things that I think
members of the Suzuki community could do to continue
advancing the technological achievements of the method.
Seeing Suzuki as a technological innovator came about
during in-depth study I undertook, “Learning with Sound
Recordings: A History of Suzuki’s Mediated Pedagogy,” that
was recently published. I document substantial use of media
and technologies of sound recording that extend all the way
back to when Suzuki learned violin from a gramophone

in his parent’s home. And I found many pedagogical ap-
proaches to learning with sound recordings, innovations

that are at the core of Suzuki’s profound impact on string
teaching around the world. Yet I also found that very few
Suzuki teachers discuss their work as related to technology: I

located only a few mentions of recording technology, or dis-
cussions of the connections between pedagogy and media,

and no celebration of Suzuki as a technological innovator in
the literature. When interviewing Ryugo Hayano, current
president of the Talent Education Research Institute (TERI),
he agreed that Suzuki was a technological innovator but that
this view of him is not prevalent.
There are certainly many reasons that the technological
aspects of the method are downplayed. The idea of a mother
tongue approach, nurturing by love, and educating for
talent and character are rightly at the forefront of teachers’
efforts. And students frequently play their instruments in
many circumstances absent technologies, just as any other
violinist would. I also documented a desire to downplay the
presence of recordings in the Suzuki method, in part out of
a feeling that the method will be seen as based too much on
imitation, or that a model recording will not provide enough
room for the development of individual creativity. In fact,
a substantial portion of my study deals with the productive
cultural differences between the use of technologies in the
US and Japanese contexts, which are significant but beyond
the scope of this short piece to discuss.

The case for the technological achievements
of the Suzuki method
Let me briefly review some of the most profound ways
that the method is pedagogically enmeshed with media and
technology of sound recordings—drawn from the research
article I previously cited, and to which those with greater
curiosity might turn. Within two years of the founding of

his school in Matsumoto, Suzuki was recording model ver-
sions from which students could learn, and these were key

in presenting the first mass graduation concert in 1955. How
else could hundreds play a solo together unless they were
working from a shared model interpretation? The spread of
his method was also aided by media, particularly a movie
of that 1955 concert that made it to the US in 1958. The film
stunned viewers, including John Kendall, who traveled to
Japan and began the work to bring Suzuki’s efforts to a wider
world. Those who worked with Suzuki, including teachers,
students, and particularly mothers, also helped to work out
important details for rich and fruitful connections between
recordings and learning. All of these participants in the
method, I believe, were pioneers in using recordings to
develop a new mediated pathway through music learning.
Media scholars note that media and technology change
over time, and I documented pedagogical changes in the

Method that were linked to technological changes, par-
ticularly after the compact cassette recorder was taken up

by Suzuki teachers in the 1970s. Teachers recommended
recording piano accompaniment at lessons for practice at
home and also recording home practicing to be reviewed
during the lesson—allowing students to use the same
listening skills they used on model recordings, but now on

recordings of themselves. And Suzuki built on the innova-
tion of a mother, who placed a cassette player with a tape on

an endless loop into a backpack, allowing her child to play
freely while still having music as a background to his play.
These innovative uses and experiments also led to official
accompaniment recordings and to a grant in Japan to make
more portable backpack tape players that predated not only
the iPod, but the Walkman.

Finally, technology is a core aspect of the method’s ap-
proach to listening, which took on a new and radically

important role. Music has always been about listening, but
those in the Suzuki method often approach listening with

specialized approaches made more
powerful by technologies of sound

recording. Suzuki teachers and par-
ents often distinguish between several

modes of listening: study listening to
learn a piece in contrast to the casual
background listening that reinforces
a sense of a piece already learned or
previews a piece soon to be studied.
Particular policies, such as the request
not to provide children with sheet

music until they reach a certain play-
ing level, or to have students not play

along with violin recordings of the
method, were also present. In these
ways, teachers became more attuned
to learning alongside recordings.
Suzuki wrote that recordings were his
teachers, in particular the recordings
of Kreisler, Casals, and Thibaud, all of
whom he regularly studied for their
approach to tone and phrasing. And,
for most of his life, Suzuki listened
to every Japanese graduation recital,
sitting in his study in the morning to

listen to the tapes that constantly ar-
rived and making a few comments to

each student, a practice from which he

developed the ability to critique play-
ing technique solely by listening. The

importance of these specialized modes
of listening as central to Suzuki’s
achievements cannot be overstated.

My research provided me an op-
portunity to notice and discuss many

aspects of Suzuki’s work that grew
from innovative pedagogical uses
of technology. Violin learning, and
indeed all instrumental learning,

today bears the mark of the innova-
tions Suzuki pioneered, and the high

performance standards, gentle intro-
duction to reading, earlier starting

stage and use of recorded models have
made their way much more broadly
into the field of music education.
Continuing the celebration
of the technological in the
Suzuki method
The overall rise of technology in all
aspects of education, to say nothing of
human life in general, is an indication

of its broad acceptability. While uses of
technology can be poorly carried out,
Suzuki’s long history of approaches
represent thoughtful uses that ought
to be celebrated. My hope is that those
working as Suzuki teachers might
more directly celebrate and share the
wisdom they have about appropriate
uses of technology in music learning.
Here, I present three avenues teachers
might consider.

One: Document and share the technological
aspects of the Suzuki method
My sense that the Suzuki approach

had profound connections with tech-
nology was borne out in the research

I undertook, but much more could be
done to research and share the uses of

technology in Suzuki teaching. Teach-
ers and mothers previously wrote of

their ideas for working with cassette

recorders, or how to encourage lis-
tening, in publications like Kendall’s

Listen and Play News Exchange back in
the 1970s. Teachers today could talk
about how they use new technologies,
such as digital versions of repertoire,

or which aspects they teach via stan-
dard Western notation as opposed to

teaching via recordings. The historic
uses of technology in the method can
also continue to be examined by
researchers, with Atsuku’s recent
analysis of changes in the Japanese

recordings for the method a stellar
example.2 One Suzuki teacher I know
in Hong Kong believes that teaching
slurs is much better accomplished
with recordings—and it makes me
wonder whether this idea is widely
held, and what other wisdom and
knowledge regarding teaching via
technology might reside within the
Suzuki community. Teachers might
consider thinking about contributing
their knowledge and ideas through
ASJ, for instance.
Tw o : C o n t i n u e t o i n n o v a t e a l o n g
technological lines

In my interview with TERI presi-
dent Hayano, he made a point of

noting that Suzuki deliberately chose
the name Talent Education Research
Institute—research is in the name! It
is both exciting and daunting that
we will never finalize the interplay
of pedagog y, biolog y, psycholog y,
and technology that come together
in teaching and learning. Suzuki
himself constantly took advantage of
new technologies and new formats,
weav ing them into the evolv ing
method. Our own moment is one

in which digital media and the in-
ternet are presenting a whole new

frontier of opportunities. I imagine
that Suzuki would have delighted in
thinking about how learning could
be refashioned w ith things like
augmented and virtual reality, the
ability to inexpensively share video
of students and professionals, and the

ability to harness algorithms in rec-
ommending music to enjoy and learn.

While honoring the method by con-
tinuing traditions, teachers should

also honor the spirit of research,
experimentation, and innovation
Suzuki exemplified by considering
pathways of mediated learning in the
digital realm.
Three: Continue to discuss the proper limits
of technology in learning
More than other teachers, I believe
that those in the Suzuki method
tend to be thoughtful about when

technologies should be resisted.
Several of the studios I have visited
ask parents not to allow screens of any
kind (especially for parents) while at
the studio. And the Suzuki Method

has at times pushed back against sim-
ply adopting new technologies—for

instance, while SmartMusic software
has Suzuki repertoire, the Association
required that automated assessment
be disabled for those materials. This
kind of thoughtful engagement
and resistance can continue to be
one of the things that practitioners
discuss with community members
and other teachers. Suzuki teachers
can help other teachers to navigate
the downsides and appropriate limits
for technology in teaching by sharing
their values and experiences. Suzuki
teachers can help other teachers to

navigate the downsides and ap-
propriate limits for technology in

teaching by sharing their values and
experiences.
My research into the Suzuki Method
has helped me to better understand

and deeply appreciate the role technol-
ogy plays in learning, and I believe that

many Suzuki teachers, parents, and
students deserve to be understood
as highly successful technological
innovators. I hope that, along with

the Method as it is traditionally un-
derstood, more attention can be paid

to these technological dimensions,
and that teaching and learning on
mediated pathways can continue to be

innovated through thoughtful engage-
ment with our ever-evolving world. 

Notes

1. Matthew D. Thibeault, “Learning
   with Sound Recordings: A History of

Suzuki’s Mediated Pedagogy” in Jour-
nal of Research in Music Education

66, no. 1, (2018): 6–30. https://doi.
org/10.1177/0022429418756879

2. Taichi Akutsu, “Changes after Suzuki:
   A Retrospective Analysis and Review of
   Contemporary Issues Regarding the Suzuki
   Method in Japan” in International Journal
   of Music Education, (September 2019).
   doi:10.1177/0255761419859628.

Matthew D. Thibeault
is associate professor
of cultural and creative
arts at the Education
University of Hong
Kong. His research
focuses on media and

technology in music learning as well as participa-
tory music education. Thibeault plays double

bass and banjo and is pictured here at the Suzuki
Museum in Matsumoto, Japan, holding Suzuki’s
own copy of his Twinkle Variations (on 78 rpm
disc). www.matthewthibeault.com