--Shinichi Suzuki
Shinichi Suzuki, founder of the Suzuki method of violin teaching recommended that violin students listen often to good recordings of the music they are learning to play. He pointed out that great artists such as Mozart were surrounded with excellent performances from birth, and developing an ear for music is facilitated by hearing good quality performances.
Suzuki himself learned by intensive listening. As a child, he had spent a lot of time at his father's violin factory. He thought of a violin as a toy, not an instrument that could make beautiful music. Then when he was seventeen years old, he heard a recording of Schubert’s Ave Maria by a famous violinist named Mischa Elman. He was stunned. He didn't know the violin could make beautiful music!
Excited, Suzuki listened to the recording over and over, trying to mimic the sounds on a violin from the factory. Through carefully listening and a lot of practice, Suzuki succeed in learning to play the violin.
So, what does that mean for kids today who are learning to play the violin? Listen, listen, listen. Purchase a copy of the CD for the Suzuki book that you are working from. Make it part of your daily practice routine to listen to the song that you are learning. Listen to the songs you will learn in the upcoming weeks. Listen to the songs you have already "mastered." There is no better way to improve your tone quality than to know what the notes are supposed to sound like!
Listen every day that you practice. And remember, Suzuki said, "Practice only on the days that you eat!"
