Yesterday I attended an uplifting concert by the Howard University Gospel Choir at The Allen Center in West Newton.  

The voices, in harmony or in solo, were meant as an expression of freedom. In commemoration of hundreds of thousands of Black Americans who were finally released from slavery in Galveston, Texas two years after President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, Juneteenth is celebrated on June 19th. Its purpose is to recognize that we must all still work towards the respect of all people and fight the racism that still exists today.  While Juneteenth is a joyous holiday, we are also reminded that freedom comes with the responsibility to continue the activism that enables our freedom of speech and freedom as individuals to continue. 

Just this morning, our Suzuki Preschool celebrated its graduation. It was a fine and proud moment to hear our students sing, play piano and violin in a very celebratory moment.  It is an achievement to see and hear our Preschool students as young musicians. Our Whole Notes students received their diplomas wearing their graduation caps and processing to "Pomp and Circumstance" performed by Ms. Lisa and Ms. Yuting. All the teachers worked well together in bringing a year's work to fruition in this moment. Following the graduation, the students and families shared a pizza picnic on our lawn---another example of a "community table!"

"Character first, ability second."  --Dr. Shinichi Suzuki

Year end evaluation is often thought of reflecting upon the individual and their performance and results. As I was reading Originals: How Non-conformists Move the World by Adam Grant, I was seeking some insight on those individuals who have excelled and the conditions that actually nurture people.(1)  What can we do as parents to encourage others, grow our abilities, and develop as good human beings as Dr. Suzuki set out to do with his students?

"Education is a deep thing, not a broad thing" -Dr. Haruko Kataoka, co-founder Suzuki Piano School

In our educational system, it seems that people value getting the correct answer quickly.  There also seems to be an emphasis on quantifiable progress, such as getting through algebra, geometry, trigonometry and calculus as quickly as possible. Memorizing patterns and formulas for quick recall can be an important skill to learn.  However, do we emphasize arriving at the correct result quickly without developing an understanding of the process?

As a way to remember my father, who has been the source of my siblings and myself listening and studying classical music, my family has created the Akira Isihara Memorial Violin Scholarships.  We are fortunate to be able to give to the school annually, so that the SSN Board's Scholarship committee is able to have predictable and stable funding towards need-based violin scholarships.  Violin was the instrument my father loved most, and that he played as an amateur from time to time. We also have the James Thornblade Memorial Fund to commemorate the founder of our music school, Gwendoline Thornblade's late husband.  There is also the Marlene Lerer Preschool Fund to honor our Preschool founder, Marlene, who founded the Preschool in 2009 and retired in 2016.

While studying with Dr. Ozan Marsh, I learned a systemic technique of memorizing that I will share here.  I was usually very comfortable memorizing just by playing a piece over and over again with no real or organized system.  But as I got older, I would get a bit more nervous at playing from memory so discovering this technique was not only a way to become less nervous, but also a means to learn quicker and learn more repertoire. As a music major, it became standard practice to bring pieces to one's lessons already memorized even when playing the piece for my teacher the first time.

Here at Suzuki School of Newton, we teach students the many steps in how to memorize a piece. That is, the step-by-step working through small previews of difficult or new technique with many repetitions already is setting the ground work towards memorization. I often suggest to my students that by the end of the week, all the previews should be memorized. If there are practice spots that require 10 repetitions daily, then add an 11th and 12th repetition to try to do that spot by heart.  Usually these spots are played slower, so that the student can think through the technique that is being learned.  Gradually we speed the preview or practice spot. When doing so, make sure that it can be played by heart while also securing the newly trained technique.  In this way, the passage becomes natureal and fully assimilated by heart.  

Breaking down a long piece by analyzing it by key centers and sections allows for us to understand the structure of the piece as a series of smaller pieces. In order to play a long piece, one must understand and memorize each small section and be able to restart at each of these places.  This is the technique we learn in book 1 as we learn a folk song phrase by phrase by ear.  The difference for the advanced student is that the initial step requires the student (with the help of the teacher) to find the smaller sections and work on each one of them until it is thoroughly learned by heart and from memory.

Nonetheless, we are interested in more diversity in classical music. Our Suzuki approach is based upon the "mother tongue" approach. As all children can learn the language spoken by their parents and caregivers, Suzuki teachers bring the language of Western European classical music to children around the globe.  Music is powerful and can be a language that communicates human emotions without words.  Likewise, we can learn the music of other cultures and also learn to express ourselves through these other styles. For this reason, we are presenting our Multicultural Arts Festival on Saturday, May 17th from 2 pm to 6 pm.  From the music of Folk Baroque to Latino Salsa music, we present each year music of different cultures.  Our collaboration in early April with Community Music Center of Boston and Project STEP yielded a workshop on improvisation by Michael Block and a performance at the concert of Black Violin in Lexington.  These were powerful experiences that brought students from 3 different programs together to experience music of various origins. 

Suzuki summer institutes are designed in the same way.  The common repertoire is the Suzuki repertoire, but students from many different programs and from different countries or regions can attend and learn together.  This summer, our school is reviving our Summer Piano Institute, Suzuki By The Green, as a workshop for Suzuki piano students.  All of our Suzuki Piano students may sign up, but also we invite Suzuki piano students from anywhere to join us for masterclasses, group classes, and ensembles. Music with this common repertoire can bring people from other places together with our community.

It is very important to take time for oneself.  It is part of our Suzuki philosophy to believe that everyone can learn at any age. Dr. Suzuki would say, "knowledge plus 10,000 times develops ability."  He also would say to the adult teachers, "knowledge plus 100,000 times would surely get you there!"  This is because as adults, we have more habits that need to be changed.  Nonetheless, expanding our horizons by learning something new can bring joy and happiness as each small step forward is accomplished.  This is good for our mental health.

As educators and parents, we want to cultivate curiosity in our children.  We expose our children to science projects and classes, explore new places, or visit museums and zoos. These are external stimuli to encourage open-mindedness to learn new things. I learned from this article about curiosity by Emily Boudreau that curiosity is an innate instinct similar to hunger and thirst.  Children and human beings have curiosity.

In this article, Boudreau quotes researcher Dr. Elizabeth Bonawitz who indicates three truths about curiosity that can be contradictory to common belief: 1) "There is no scientific evidence that you can "foster" curiosity", 2)"Most of the ways we measure and assess curiosity don't actually measure curiosity itself," 3) "We may not always want students to exercise their curiosity."

Normally, teachers are focused on developing a sense of the intrinsic reward.  To be internally motivated is what helps the individual grow as a person.  Nonetheless, we are humans. Having the compensation or promised reward helps us to make a bigger effort to achieve the task or complete the project.  The use of external rewards is not all bad.  The important issue is how much reward is offered and when. 

When we celebrate receiving a raise in one's salary by going out to a restaurant, that is an external reward.  However, it is also taking the moment to enjoy the accomplishment and allowing oneself to feel the positive emotion that came with the success. Taking that time is important in order to feel the intrinsic reward. On a busy lesson day when we juggle work, picking up children from school, attending a lesson and music class or math class, we can promise our student "if you have a good lesson today, we can go out to dinner." I would try to frame this in a different way, "Lesson day is so busy, let's go out to dinner after your lesson so we can eat and not have to rush home."  Then at the restaurant you might share what might have been the successes of the day:  at school, at sports, at math class or at the music lesson.  If you remember a particularly successful moment in the lesson "that was great how you were getting your pinky to be really curved today!" it shows that you are noticing positive changes in the student's life. Taking advantage of a seemingly external reward (Lesson Day is Pizza Day!) can also allow for connection to the intrinsic rewards.

When I was in Japan attending Dr Suzuki's Talent Education Institute, he would go around smiling to the teachers who were studying there giving out chocolates. He knew they were working hard and he was sharing his warm smile and a chocolate, an external reward.  However, he was not asking different teachers if they did good work that day, nor singling out only those who did well. He also did not reward a single activity with an immediate reward.  He was celebrating the whole person for the efforts that they were making.

How does this relate to "Diversity"?  Learning to play diverse music is a great start. Learning that improvising is the source of all composing is fundamental to any music "Classical", "Jazz", "Hip Hop" or "Greek." The famous composers of Western European Classical composers (Bach, Mozart, Beethoven,etc.) were often known for their brilliance at improvising in performances.  Changing our openness to listening and learning about other music traditions can lead to connecting us with the people that represent these traditions.

Perhaps the most important definition of diversity is to consider we are all people on the same planet. If we can learn to connect to each other through music, we learn to understand one another better.  We may become more empathetic as we learn that we human beings must share this planet. Most of all, we want our students to learn that what we teach here at the Suzuki School of Newton are the fundamentals of playing an instrument well with proficiency or excellence.  We want to reach the ability to express oneself through the music. Most of all, we want our students to know that their instrument does not depend upon just Mozart and Beethoven.  Each student can use their instrument to express whatever music they may choose and find their own personal expression. The musical instrument can be an expression of their own voice.

How we spend our time is a matter of choice. While we may feel that the demands on our time are consumed by work, family obligations, outside pursuits, and other responsibilities, we are all faced with choices.  While we may feel that preparing our income tax return is a burden, time consuming, and a headache, we can change our mindset.  We can be happy that we can make the time to meet this obligation.  We can also appreciate that we have income and so we must report it. People who do not earn enough, and people who work two jobs do not have as much time to do these tasks. Each individual can look at how they spend their time, and work on their mindset.  It is possible for us to find an element of gratitude that will improve our mental health. If we can realize that our choice in how we spend our time is ours to make, we might better realize that our control of our time is really discretionary. When we spend time driving our children from activity to activity, we can realize the good fortune that we have time to do this for our children.  We can also realize that our children have the good fortune to be involved in meaningful activities that make them happy. 

The listening environment is crucial to the development of musicians.

Therefore, choose thoughtfully how you can structure your own home-listening plan. You may decide to set it and forget it, as my mother advised! Or you might be driven by a different sense of organization, and have a very specific plan about when you can remember to turn on the recording each day. At a minimum, spend two hours per day dedicated to repeating the Suzuki book level your child is currently working on. If you have several instruments or levels represented among the students of your family, two hours will accommodate two-to-four different albums, depending. If you have only one album to focus on, repeat that one, and throw in the next level or previous level for one play-through.

Remember to provide this listening background even for your older children. Even though they may have their own device, it is your emphasis on the material that shows your support for their advancing musical studies. Be creative in your approach if you need to keep things interesting for them or yourself!

This, of course, all has its rewards.  When we see joy on the faces of those we love and care for, it makes it all worth it.  Sometimes, though, we do not always get those smiles and signs of appreciation. I would like to say that I know it is there. It may be hard sometimes for children or older people to remember to say "thank you."  Children may not say, "Gee, thank you for reminding me to do my homework," or "thank you for making me practice that practice spot another 10 times."  However, in the long term, as they reflect back, they will remember how much effort you put into their getting better in school, in sports, or playing a musical instrument. You are making a difference in their lives today, even if they do not get around to thanking you until much later.

This is all to say that when we teach music, tone is very important! The scientific research around tone and its measurement and perception also explains the ability to have "perfect pitch" or the ability to name the pitch upon hearing an isolated single note.  This ability is very convenient, but not essential to being a very good musician.  Furthermore, "perfect pitch" can be taught through repetition and practice, exactly as Dr. Suzuki said about developing ability.

As I sit here and can hear various instruments being played, I no longer feel the absence of color.  Thinking about why we teach awareness of tone has filled my senses with the presence of the various colors of tones around me.  I do not have receptors like persons with Synesthesia, but I do feel the fullness and richness of my surroundings even while I wait for the visual signs of nature's colors and the beginning of Spring. 

Are you waiting for Spring?  If you are feeling like you can't wait for warmer weather and more sunshine -- you are not alone!  With all the cold weather, icy streets and sidewalks, snow shoveling, I think many of us are ready for it to be Spring!

This led me to thinking about projects and goals and how little time there is before deadlines are coming up!  It has been a particularly busy week…

At the beginning of a lesson or a practice session, we usually play a "warm-up." I remember reading that for the musician, it is not so much a question of warming up the body as it is warming up the ears.  I truly believe that Suzuki lessons should be an experience of elevating the level of hearing of a student. The best lessons I have had myself, have been when I feel like I am listening and hearing so much better and with more detail and awareness than before the lesson.  This ability to hear oneself is extremely difficult and one that even the professional musician works hard to achieve.  At the Suzuki School of Newton, we are teaching this to even our youngest three and four year old students!

We must "set the tone" of our Suzuki lessons by being in the right frame of mind to focus on the music we are making.  

The Cambridge (University) Academic Content Dictionary defines "to set the tone" as an idiom that means:  

"to establish a particular mood or character for something"

For busy teenagers, I ask my students to evaluate their energy and concentration level at the time they are about to practice.  Depending upon these and perhaps their general mood, they should choose where to start with their practice.  On a particularly difficult day emotionally or filled with activities and projects, perhaps that is the day to focus on making beautiful sounds and beautiful music with their review pieces. On a day that they have particular energy and focus, practicing the new technique carefully, slowly and repeatedly will help solidify their understanding and lead to more automatism. On a normal day, a warm-up, their working piece, a review piece and some sight reading could easily follow the pattern of the lesson.  The importance of understanding that each element of the lesson has a slightly different purpose allows for understanding that the practice session could have a slightly different emotional goal. Understanding this can lead to allowing the student to participate in the choices of the order of practicing, or the division of time spent on each portion.  On a day that a student is ill, please listen to the recording!  There is value to all elements of a practice session and allowing choices is the principal means that a child feels more autonomous and not forced.

In order to develop creative individuals, we need to develop the ability to see everyday occurrences in a new way.  Often problems that seem unsolvable just need an entirely different approach.  The ability to see things differently is typical among our creative individuals. The non-conforming child is sometimes our most creative and innovative individuals as adults. These are also sometimes the most troublesome students in school. 

A person who sees things differently from others sometimes questions the rules.  This individual who wants to do things their own way can be disruptive in a group situation.  In his book, Originals(1), Adam Grant points out that a survey was conducted of elementary school teachers of their favorite and least favorite students. The least favorites were the non-conformists who wanted to follow their own paths.  The favorites were the ones who quickly learned to follow directions and do what was expected. In this way, originality is no longer nurtured but hidden.(p. 10)