Mixed Ages Group Class - Heavy on Book 1 & 2

A new family coming to group class may not notice the division of repertoire present, but those who have been through many of the Suzuki books will.

(Approx.) 50% of class represents pieces in Book 1 or 2, 

25% represents pieces in Books 3 and up, 

another 25% represents other activities like listening, theory, composers, ensembles, etc. 

Why run a class so Book 1 & 2 heavy when there are those of all level present?

#1 Reason
Group Class is about coming together as a community to share in a common interest or a common goal. We play because we love to play and we work together to prepare for recitals and performances. This act in itself, regardless of the repertoire being played is an immeasurable experience and opportunity: To learn and observe from those of all ages and to see what they are capable of and what they struggle with. It is never enough to just learn from those the same age and level as us.

#2 Reason
So imagine we are playing Jenga. You know, the game where you have a tower of blocks all stacked on top of one another and you have to pull a block from the bottom and place it on top. For every block you pull out and place on top, this represents every new piece we learn and every review piece we LOOSE! What is the result? Eventually the whole tower will crumble and we'll have to restart from scratch.

However, what if instead of taking blocks out from the bottom, we maintain that strong foundation and we create new blocks for the top to build our tower of skills. We'd eventually get a lot higher with no risk of the tower crumbling. Along the way, maybe we'll add in some supports at the bottom. We could use Book 1 pieces to practice advanced techniques like vibrato, sautille, shifting or maybe that pesky bow hold that we can never get just right. Maybe we learn the harmony parts that accompany the Book 1 & 2 pieces. Our foundation gets stronger and stronger and our tower of skills gets taller and taller.

Growing up with the Suzuki lifestyle I understood the importance of review and I see it's impact everyday with my students from the ones who do review everyday and the one's who struggle with it. My recent realization of the true power that the early Suzuki Books can hold came from my venture into self teaching the Suzuki piano repertoire. I breezed through the early pieces I had heard on a daily basis from growing up in a house with a Suzuki piano teacher. Then around Book 5, I got stuck. All progress stopped. It didn't seem to matter how much I worked on a practice spot, it was always choppy and slow and stuck. All motivation to keep playing these new pieces stopped along with it. So I went back to what I knew I could do. I spent hours playing through the early repertoire, enjoying the ease of these pieces, adding in pedal and dynamics and playing as much of it by memory as I could. It felt great.

One day I reluctantly went back to those Book 5 pieces, expecting to be frustrated and disappointed all over again. But it was like MAGIC! Spots that felt impossible before, now I could actually do! Yes, it was still a challenge and it still is, these pieces are hard! But all of a sudden, there was comfort and a deeper understanding of the instrument that I didn't have before. Progress was back.

This is the Suzuki way. This is the Suzuki lifestyle. We cannot expect progress until we analyze the quality of the product. But when we take a step back from our natural instincts and look at things in a Suzuki light, incredible things can happen. Suzuki Books 1 & 2 are the root of this magic. So whether you are a beginner, have been playing the violin for 20 plus years or a Suzuki parent who has been listening to the repertoire for that same amount of time; feel security and comfort in the repetition of these pieces. We are never too old or young to review but we can definitely forget their power if we get caught up in what's new.