Pedagogical
Methods,
or, How I Learned to Teach
Talent Education
(Suzuki Method)
Commonly known outside Japan as the Suzuki Method, the proper name for this pedagogical school of thought is Talent Education. Talent Education is an accurate description of what we’re actually working on.
Following the Second World War, Shinichi Suzuki began teaching the violin with the radical idea that children can learn music at a very young age using the same principles by which everyone learns to speak. Since everyone can learn to speak their native language as a child, no matter how difficult that language is, then it must mean that everyone possesses an equal talent from birth for that language and that, therefore, talent, as popularly conceived, does not exist. It is not the case that some people are simply born with a gift for music; it actually must be true that that ability for music was nurtured. Any and all further talent is acquired from one’s environment.
The environment is the all-important aspect of learning. Environment consists of home, studio, mind, and habit. Given a rich learning environment, students can learn music with beautiful facility in exactly the same way that they will learn to speak with perfect fluency.
Creative Ability
Development (CAD)
This is a very new school of thought invented by Alice Kanack of Rochester, New York, in the 1980s. Using similar principles as the Suzuki Method, CAD moves a step further, saying that not only are all children equally gifted with talent, but that everyone is equally gifted with creative ability. The fundamental unit, so to speak, of CAD in educational terms is play. Rule Number 1 of CAD says, “There is no such thing as a mistake.” What we teach in CAD is the curiosity and confidence to tinker with music and play around with it, sharing ideas with others, emphasizing the creative act, and eliminating judgement and criticism.
To describe it in Suzuki language, everyone has a talent for creativity, and that talent can be worked on and grown, just like a muscle. Through a rich creative environment, anyone can acquire a beautiful and compelling creative artistry.
Teaching Philosophy
When I teach someone, I’m looking at them with one question in my mind: “What’s the main thing this person needs right now?” Every lesson is different because I’m focused on the challenges you are currently experiencing.
Sometimes this means we’re working backwards