Suzuki Violin - Discussion

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

Now something related to the thread, I am wondering how to get myself certified in Suzuki methods. I do not think it will be fair if I just buy the materials, go through them, and then call myself a Suzuki certified teacher. Must I go to Japan or somewhere else for the certification?

I think you have to check with Suzuki Association? There's none in Singapore at the moment sadly.
http://www.asiasuzuki.org/

[Dreamaurora]

peanut_butter:

I keep having the impression that teachers teaching from their homes are SAHM trying to earn some extra pocket money. I think established teachers teach from their own school and it's a common practice for them to hire their own students to teach.

There are good reason though why some teachers run music school. One of the main problem with running lessons from home is the lack of visibility and slow to build up student population. A teacher who run a music school is perceived to be more 'established' and 'professional', no matter how competent he/she is. In the real world, image matters as much as actual capability to teach. And with an actual commercial space, students can just freely walk in and enquire. Obviously as a home teacher, we can't hang a giant banner outside our house that says we run music lessons inside.

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

Dreamaurora:

Now something related to the thread, I am wondering how to get myself certified in Suzuki methods. I do not think it will be fair if I just buy the materials, go through them, and then call myself a Suzuki certified teacher. Must I go to Japan or somewhere else for the certification?

I think you have to check with Suzuki Association? There's none in Singapore at the moment sadly.
http://www.asiasuzuki.org/

Thanks, Phankao. I checked through the website and although there is a link to Suzuki Method Singapore, the local website seems to be defunct now. I guess at certain point the certification was actually offered in Singapore but the interest level was low. I guess I will email the Suzuki Association to see what my options are. I am also considering to pick up violin by Suzuki method to experience the method myself and see if it can improve my teaching further, haha.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

phankao:

[quote=\"Dreamaurora\"]
Now something related to the thread, I am wondering how to get myself certified in Suzuki methods. I do not think it will be fair if I just buy the materials, go through them, and then call myself a Suzuki certified teacher. Must I go to Japan or somewhere else for the certification?

I think you have to check with Suzuki Association? There's none in Singapore at the moment sadly.
http://www.asiasuzuki.org/

Thanks, Phankao. I checked through the website and although there is a link to Suzuki Method Singapore, the local website seems to be defunct now. I guess at certain point the certification was actually offered in Singapore but the interest level was low. I guess I will email the Suzuki Association to see what my options are. I am also considering to pick up violin by Suzuki method to experience the method myself and see if it can improve my teaching further, haha.[/quote]I doubt that as an adult, however you pick up violin, even with Suzuki books, the method will be considered \"suzuki\". haha. Bc Suzuki's method is \"Every child has Talent\". ;D

If you want to read more about Suzuki method, I suggest you read this book, which you can probably borrow from the library. There is a reason to why Suzuki chose the Twinkle variations as they are for beginners - starting with short bow strokes, how he ordered the songs in the books, and even the way children hold the bow, etc. I recognise all these to be very wise as I observe how my 3yo learns.

Book:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1086043.The_Suzuki_Violinist

There's a similar book for Piano. But I find the violin one much better in explaining his philosophy.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

Thanks, Phankao. I checked through the website and although there is a link to Suzuki Method Singapore, the local website seems to be defunct now. I guess at certain point the certification was actually offered in Singapore but the interest level was low. I guess I will email the Suzuki Association to see what my options are. I am also considering to pick up violin by Suzuki method to experience the method myself and see if it can improve my teaching further, haha.

I suspect it was bc no one wanted to continue leadership of the singapore association. ;(

[metz]

phankao:

Dreamaurora:

Now something related to the thread, I am wondering how to get myself certified in Suzuki methods. I do not think it will be fair if I just buy the materials, go through them, and then call myself a Suzuki certified teacher. Must I go to Japan or somewhere else for the certification?

I think you have to check with Suzuki Association? There's none in Singapore at the moment sadly.
http://www.asiasuzuki.org/

Crestar used to run a Suzuki group under Suzuki Talent Education Centre - http://www.crestargroup.com/services_ep7.htm. Maybe you can try them and see if they can help. One of their teachers, Mr Kang, was VP of the then Suzuki Organisation in Sg.

[py85]

hi all, my gal is currently going 5. will it be too late for her to learn violin? how do i know whether she prefer violin or piano more?

Which one is preferred to learn first?

[Dreamaurora]

py85:

hi all, my gal is currently going 5. will it be too late for her to learn violin? how do i know whether she prefer violin or piano more?

Which one is preferred to learn first?

Whenever a parent ask me if their son/daughter will be too late for an instrument, I will ask him/her: too late for what?

Perhaps you can send your daughter to music appreciation classes first where she would have the oppurtunity to try out various instruments and see which one she like.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

py85:

hi all, my gal is currently going 5. will it be too late for her to learn violin? how do i know whether she prefer violin or piano more?

Which one is preferred to learn first?

Whenever a parent ask me if their son/daughter will be too late for an instrument, I will ask him/her: too late for what?

Perhaps you can send your daughter to music appreciation classes first where she would have the oppurtunity to try out various instruments and see which one she like.

I was just reading a parents' sharing on her blog about listening to music being essential. Remember, this line of thought is very \"Suzuki\" in origins (mother tongue method of learning). Just as how language is learnt by listening and being immersed in it daily, music is learnt by such listening/immersion too. The cutest part she brought out was how no parent would say \"Hmm... I think he/she has an aptitude for English, so should continue learning English, or ... no, i think he/she might be better with Chinese instead of English\" (Imagine comparing whether to learn piano/violin).

As for \"py85\", ask your daughter if she's interested in piano or violin. Eg. if you see on youtube - point out to her, etc. I will never say 5yo is too OLD. My elder children all started with their musical instruments at 7-8yrs old. But all with their own instruments of choice. My eldest boy was the most adventurous. He started having formal lessons on violin at 8. But was also playing saxophone and cornet in school band, and also violin in strings, and then dizi at the Comm.Club. He eventually dropped everything and stayed with violin lah bc he figured he did best with that. We never asked him to learn all those!

[metz]

py85:

hi all, my gal is currently going 5. will it be too late for her to learn violin? how do i know whether she prefer violin or piano more?

Which one is preferred to learn first?

Depending on your objectives.

If for cultivating an interest in music, it's definitely never too late to pick up an instrument.

If for the purpose of taking exams, then it depends on what you expect. Might be a little too late if you want her to take grade 5 exam at 6 years old. Otherwise, the progress will depend on the child. I know of boy who started sometime in P3, managed to pass abrsm grade 5 for violin and abrsm grade 3 for piano within two years. He was also taking erhu lessons at the same time.

Btw, the age requirement for admission to NAFA is 6 years old. So, 5 years old is definitely not too late.

Both my children started on violin first and then followed by piano. Ease of learning is the same for both instruments for them. But one prefers piano while the other one leans towards violin. If finance isn't a problem, you could consider letting your gal try both.