{"id":33869,"date":"2022-12-06T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T21:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/?post_type=journalarticle&#038;p=33869"},"modified":"2024-09-12T09:56:59","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T15:56:59","slug":"the-suzuki-practice-as-a-ritual-of-growth","status":"publish","type":"journalarticle","link":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/journalarticle\/the-suzuki-practice-as-a-ritual-of-growth\/","title":{"rendered":"A pr\u00e1tica Suzuki como um ritual de crescimento"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"991\" height=\"661\" src=\"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/21503-20150429071017.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33871\" style=\"width:208px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/21503-20150429071017.jpg 991w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/21503-20150429071017-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/21503-20150429071017-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/21503-20150429071017-18x12.jpg 18w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/21503-20150429071017-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 991px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The idea of the Suzuki Practice immediately conjures the idea of cycles. First, there\u2019s the daily grind, the ritual of coming back to our instrument and our practice helper, to that space where we do the diligent work of breaking things down into tiny pieces, repeating them, incorporating, polishing, reviewing old friends, and listening to new friends. Then there is the weekly rhythm of private lessons, which are our special time with our teacher; group lessons, our special time with our musical peers; and perhaps as we get older, ensembles and other enrichment classes. Zooming out a little further, we have the seasons of recitals and concerts, marathon play-downs, workshops, summer institutes, and tour group trips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over years, the Suzuki practice embeds within us countless layers of experience. It relates not only to our music learning or performing, but also, and perhaps more importantly, to our relationships with ourselves and our own growth spiral, our relationships with our family, our teachers and mentors, our peers, and the world at large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For those of us who have grown up with Suzuki or been with it for a while, our collective experiences as people choosing to exist within this paradigm of love, growth, and community through music have imprinted in us a shared set of values. These are the \u201cbig ideas\u201d that Suzuki cared deeply about when he talked about the noble heart. He truly believed\u2014and proved\u2014that in our quest for beauty of tone, we can and will achieve beauty of the heart. To develop the qualities necessary to become a great musician, one in turn develops the qualities that make one a great human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suzuki&#8217;s &#8220;big ideas&#8221; are well known. But it&#8217;s not enough to just know them. They should be argued with, jumbled up, and applied anew in our current environments. This reimagining allows us to continually refine our Suzuki practice. Here are a few of the principles that I have held close as my practice continues to grow and evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Music is a universal language, shared by people all over the world. Regardless of whether we share a common repertoire, we communicate through the sounds we make using our voices, bodies, and instruments. We listen to each other, we connect, we co-create, we collaborate, and we tell stories through making music together. We put beauty into the world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Learning to be proficient in music is a life-long process. In fact, it is a journey with no clear end, during which we better ourselves as people, and build life skills like diligence, grit, critical thinking, trust, persistence, courage, listening, risk-taking, and many more. On this journey, we encounter people and build relationships that impact our lives profoundly. We learn about ourselves and others in so many ways, and we learn that we must always keep on learning, that we are never done. There is no end.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We must listen in order to learn. Both literally and figuratively. Listening is a form of respect for ourselves and others. When we listen and are humble, open, and curious, we learn and grow. We listen to our music to learn it well; we listen to our teachers and parents and mentors and peers. We listen to ourselves, as we are our own best teachers at times. We listen to the world around us, to nature, and to those that are vastly different from us. They all have something to teach us. When we play in an ensemble, listening makes the parts come together as one.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Where there is love, much can be accomplished. To nurture is to care is to love. We must be patient and diligent to accomplish something, to enable growth, to rise to a challenge. With love, support, and encouragement, both for ourselves and each other, this is possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"684\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5-684x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33870\" style=\"width:514px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5-684x1024.jpg 684w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5-768x1151.jpg 768w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5-1025x1536.jpg 1025w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5-8x12.jpg 8w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5-600x899.jpg 600w, https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Untitled-5.jpg 1068w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 684px) 100vw, 684px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>[img=https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/oAfHLQXWlSeHFKRyTxJJ6IY5WNaMbfMjlPj4CeN0qShoI57gg8iR81-I9vteFvZHG28xl5ZFK2JMBeZXpJ1EQZcm1_rZMiKjWpjUUTzq6em38_v0ImDLOEXtnQ41xSQNAbVJeJIu6T0f9T72R6FuGrrWNtZbhgUH5iNTvef8dNLR_QhxrOIuwvvxZSZ6hwGS]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my life, I have been given the opportunity to travel, live, work, play and learn all over the world with my violin. Cross-cultural exchange is part of my practice. What\u2019s been interesting over the course of my journey is to keep returning to these big ideas that, for me, have been shaped by my own experiences and deeply influenced by the Suzuki culture in which I was raised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When I lived in Tanzania and began offering Suzuki violin to the local community, so many questions arose. Is this a form of musical colonialism? Is there a value judgement in what we are doing that this is in some way a more \u201csound\u201d way of instrumental learning than what already exists here? Have we already researched what exists here? Who teaches music and how are they doing it? Is there a demand for what we are doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As my colleagues and I made our way down these pathways of exploration, we understood that there were no easy answers, but that if we could tread lightly, maintain flexibility, and keep listening to people and adapting, we could find a way forward that felt good to everyone. Eventually, our program grew into an organization called Umoja Arts Project (umoja means \u201cunity\u201d in Swahili) with a center that housed activities to do with education, empowerment, and exposure to the arts. Our offerings included not just music and Suzuki, but also classes in dance, visual art, traditional music workshops, artistic residency programs for local and international artists, a performance and exhibition series, and partnerships with several local schools. Having these diverse offerings and sliding scale tuition meant that there was something for everyone, and many different communities from our town felt represented and welcome at Umoja.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In our Suzuki program, we often struggled with different families\u2019 sense of time, and found it incredibly challenging to get people to fit into a 30-minute private lesson slot. We ended up having the stricter 30\/45\/60-minute private lesson schedule on weekdays and open sessions on Saturdays, where anyone and everyone from the program could show up between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Families could bring whomever they wanted and stay as long as they wanted. The result was an incredible Suzuki-style masterclass where students of different ages and levels would hang out and watch each other\u2019s lessons, families would learn from each other, parents and caregivers would discuss related topics together, and it all felt very inclusive and welcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Experiences like this have allowed me to perpetually notice the myriad iterations of the Suzuki concepts that exist all over the world in different communities. I am dedicated to informing my practice as a music educator through lines of inquiry that arise every time I revisit these concepts from a new vantage point. It\u2019s kind of like the way a review piece takes on new dimensions as we come back to it time and time again through the ages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The result has been an ever-evolving practice of teaching, leading, and creating that is committed to being responsive to the context, wherever, whenever, and whoever that may be. Let me just say, it is messy folks! To truly remain open to learning, to accept the very humbling notion that I have been raised to think, learn, and do in a particular way that is one of infinite ways that exist and are valid in the world can be very overwhelming\u2014at times, even paralyzing. However, it is paramount that in this globalized world, we continue to make space for a multitude of voices and pathways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To that end, we must continue to stretch ourselves beyond what we think we know, and to allow diverse influences to wash over us and leave their little pearls behind. These pearls, when allowed some influence, open new pathways in our practice as teachers, musicians, creatives, and leaders, perhaps taking on the form of some new pieces we bring into our repertoire, new approaches we use to incorporate improvisation, or collaborative processes we introduce to create original compositions with a group, empowering the unique voices of the individuals who are in the room with us. We can take Suzuki himself as a model: he famously revisited and revised his ideas, continually experimenting and adapting his methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am reminded of something Suzuki wrote in Nurtured by Love:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Father taught me that one should delight in the contacts one makes on journeys.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. Therefore, greet them. It may lead to a conversation. Learn to be a good listener. The other person lives a quite different kind of life from you, and knows something you don\u2019t know, and you are bound to learn something. Rather than talking yourself, learn to draw the other person out, and above all listen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In my teaching and creative workshop leading, this type of listening has become one of my \u201cbest practices.\u201d I\u2019ve developed these to allow for an ever-evolving approach to my work which remains open to the influence of whichever context I may be in at any given moment. As teachers, parents, students, and citizens of the world, perhaps these practices can apply to much more of our life than we think. Whether we are new to this or have been doing it for a very long time, these practices are always a good way to check in with ourselves and our work, to refresh and renew what we are doing, and let ourselves evolve with the world around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Listen first. Take time to observe, make time to reflect and plan based on the observations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be clear, comfortable, and confident in who you are and what you bring.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be intentional in how you represent yourself.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be flexible and adaptive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use inquiry to approach challenge, adversity, or the unknown. If you don\u2019t know what questions to ask, let someone more familiar with the context create the questions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Be inclusive in reflective conversations, feedback, and evaluations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Create an environment where all feel safe and welcome, which sometimes means challenging the norm! Question structures, frameworks, and deeply embedded assumptions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through opening ourselves to sit with who we truly are while also embracing all kinds of worlds that coexist with our own, we stretch ourselves, we grow, and we improve ourselves and our craft. We create new possibilities for our future and that of those with whom we work. If we bring to this journey the same kind of diligence that we bring to anything that we practice on a daily basis, over the course of a lifetime, just think of what we can create!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A ideia da Pr\u00e1tica Suzuki evoca imediatamente a ideia de ciclos. Primeiro, h\u00e1 a rotina di\u00e1ria, o ritual de voltar ao nosso instrumento e ao nosso ajudante de pr\u00e1tica, \u00e0quele espa\u00e7o em que fazemos o trabalho diligente de dividir as coisas em pequenos peda\u00e7os, repeti-los, incorporar, polir, rever velhos amigos e ouvir...<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":34776,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"pmpro_default_level":"0","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":""},"article-tag":[814,772,812,769,765],"journalsection":[],"class_list":["post-33869","journalarticle","type-journalarticle","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article-tag-pedagogy","article-tag-practice","article-tag-studio-growth","article-tag-teacher-training","article-tag-teaching-and-learning","pmpro-has-access"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"article-tag":[{"value":814,"label":"Pedagogy"},{"value":772,"label":"Practice"},{"value":812,"label":"Studio Growth"},{"value":769,"label":"Teacher Training"},{"value":765,"label":"Teaching &amp; Learning"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/21503-20150429071017-1.jpg",991,661,false],"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/journalarticle\/33869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/journalarticle"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/journalarticle"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-tag?post=33869"},{"taxonomy":"journalsection","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suzukiassociation.org\/pt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/journalsection?post=33869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}