21 How to Foster Ability Dr Shinichi Suzuki ed remain as part of the assignment. Thus, I instruct the student so that their performance will be more secure and more beauƟfully expressive lesson by lesson and train and correct them unƟl their performance approaches my goal, the great master’s performance which I have in mind. I do this from the beginner stage, the approach to “teach beginners like beginners” does not exist in my instrucƟon. Even at the beginner stage, when a child can play a piece, I train and correct them so that they can play it more beauƟfully and with greater ease. Only here does the demonstraƟon of human ability start; this is the method of fostering ability. Even a beginner learns to feel, in their own beginner way, that which seemed difficult to play at first is now an easy piece which they can play effortlessly. This is proof of real ability created. If we let the student always go through this stage, foster real ability, and skilfully guide them to the next stage while leƫng them feel it is easy, they will be able to gradually demonstrate human ability and reach a difficult stage which startles people, while finding the process always easy. Therefore, I think that instrucƟon which makes “what is easy feel easy, what is difficult, difficult” does not follow through; instrucƟon which can make “what is easy feel easy, what is difficult also feel easy” is truly skilful. Advancing to a higher stage is, in general the idea of progress; however, from the viewpoint of fostering ability, it cannot always be assumed to be so. Therefore, I will always tell my students and their parents the following: What is most important is not the quesƟons of a high or low level. It is how accurately and how beauƟfully each student can play the piece they are learning at present. A less advanced student who plays well the less advanced piece they are assigned has a higher status than an advanced student who pays a difficult, high-level piece clumsily. We should respect quality rather than quanƟty from the viewpoint of human ability. Those who make efforts unƟl they can play a piece well, even a low-level piece will someday be able to play high level pieces beauƟfully. When we look at the reality of current educaƟon in our country from this viewpoint, we realize that instrucƟon that is shocking is given at many schools. No maƩer how many class hours are missed, some teachers try to rush the class to where they are supposed to be at the end of the school year or try to advance to the next grade those children who do not even understand what is going on, when it is obvious that the next grade will be more difficult. It is as if they believe that the Japanese can advance to a culturally higher level only if students are given graduaƟon cerƟficates. So much educaƟon is done in today’s Japan which makes it difficult to judge the ability that educators aim to foster. At this rate a superior naƟon can in no way be created. When the quesƟon of instrucƟon which helps demonstrate human ability is thoroughly understood by many educators and people understand that teaching and advancing is a mere procedure of instrucƟon, educaƟon in our country will be transformed, instrucƟonal methods will improve, and many outstanding children will be fostered. Next, I would like to state how important beginner stage instrucƟon is in every area and how much care should go into it. When first learning something, the child is in the pure white paper state, no ability having been developed. This applies to teaching adults also: there is no ability yet in that new area. InstrucƟon at this stage requires extra paƟence and effort to foster the buds of talent. If instrucƟon which teaches and advances is given, that instrucƟon ends in total failure. Let me describe my class with young children. On my teaching violin to three-or four-year-olds, many comment: “how do you teach such small children? It must be quite painstaking.” However, to me instrucƟng children is far easier than instrucƟng adults, they develop exactly as I wish so it is not at all painstaking. Moreover, in the case of young children, rather than instrucƟng the children I teach their mothers the crux of instrucƟng and correcƟng them. Of course, many mothers neither know music nor play the violin. However, since they listen to me intently and help their children pracƟce at home as I tell them, every child learns to play well in their own way. Children raised in different environments have different characters and although they all become diligent students who play confidently in two or three years, iniƟally they are all really different. One child comes to my house, enters the lesson room and aŌer only a liƩle while insists on going home. Another listens quietly to the other children’s lessons for as long as twenty or thirty minutes. Three-year-olds concentrate on one thing for only a very brief period of Ɵme and hardly have any desire to play the violin. I start with them in this state. Therefore, if I teach a child to hold the bow in their right hand, then try to let them hold the violin in their leŌ hand, their mind shiŌs to the violin, and they will drop the bow. If I first teach them to hold the violin in their leŌ hand and then help them hold the bow in their right hand, the violin slips from their leŌ hand. The first lesson ends here as it is impossible to teach more because their mind does not accept it. Finally succeeding in leƫng them hold both the bow and the violin at the second lesson, I try to start leƫng them play one note. “Mother, a bird’s flying,” the child says, running toward the window, poinƟng at a bird outside; this concludes the second lesson. The child progresses more at the third lesson, holding the bow and violin and finally producing a sound once by rubbing a string. The moment this is done they will say “that’s enough”, spoiling the lesson. This would probably make a third person feel impaƟent, but it is just fine like this. It is natural that the bud of a child’s
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