Deep Learning at the Suzuki School (5/30/2025)

"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?

Dr. Haruko Kataoka, one of the Suzuki mentors with whom I studied, would encourage parents to give time and patience to learning and spoke against always seeking quick solutions.  Studying music was a key example in how we could seek to play a single piece better and better, with more finesse, skill and musicality to the point of artistic and musical expression.  This is the depth that we seek in learning and in performing at every level: from the youngest playing Twinkle variations to the oldest advanced students who still play and utilize the Twinkle variations for better playing their instrument.

Whether we are talking about mathematics, judicial law or music, there are the factors to consider when educating our children. In music, we want our students to understand the patterns of chords and harmony.  They should memorize the circle of fifths at an appropriate moment in their musical ability.  But understanding how the circle of fifths is constructed can result in a more enduring and reliable usage in applying that knowledge. In musicianship class, this may take years of study to understand. Do we move too quickly from piece to piece, from one level to another, rather than focusing on the slower process of understanding, formulating, experimenting and producing tone and music from within the students' understanding?

While we may have memorized the circle of the fifths, do we know what it means? The interval of a fifth is an important acoustic phenomenon. The sharing of harmonic vibrations (sympathetic vibrations) between the two tones that are a fifth apart give this interval a distinct sound. Furthermore, moving around the "clock' that is the circle of fifths, adding one more accidental is actually creating a new leading tone for the next key as you go around the circle. Adding a sharp (raising a note by a half step) to the 7th scale degree is actually creating a new dominant chord for the next key.  For example, Do (C) Major has no sharps or flats and sits at the top of the circle of fifths in the 12 o'clock position.  The next key to the right (clockwise) is Sol Major or G Major.  It contains one additional sharp (Fa#/F#) and that is the leading tone in the new scale:  Sol Major.  The important characteristic of the Fa# is that it creates the RE Major triad or the new dominant chord (V) in the key of Sol Major. With this new Fa# we have the melodic factor of creating the leading tone, but also the harmonic factor of the new dominant (V) chord.

What makes that understanding important, is that in any piece of music that uses accidentals, most often the implication of the accidental is to create a new tonal center. By looking at the accidental one can more easily identify a transposition or temporary new tonal center. For example, if the piece is in Sol Major and a Do# appears in the music, thinking of the note a half step higher, one arrives at RE. It is more than likely that the piece has modulated to Re Major, or that particular phrase has a temporary new tonal center of Re Major. Another typical example is when the piece is in Sol Major and a Re# appears in the score, then going up a half-step, one arrives at MI. In this case, the new tonal center often has become Mi Minor.  That is, the new accidental often creates a signal that a new leading tone (7th scale degree) is present in order to create a new tonal center.

When we think of learning, we need to learn material and steps at the proper moment.  What I described above was my freshman college level Music Theory at New England Conservatory.  It is hard to learn all this if one is only in elementary or middle school, but high school students are certainly capable of learning and understanding the importance of observing accidentals and playing them correctly.  For string players, the understanding of the leading tone is particularly important because its intonation is higher when it functions as the leading tone than when it is in the middle of the scale. 

Another example of understanding our educational values refers to the beginning lessons and whether our students are learning by rote or by ear. If we are in a hurry to reach the final product, we adults are apt to give the answer--tell the student the correct note to play next--rather than letting the student figure it out by ear. We say in the Suzuki pedagogy that our method is based upon learning by ear, but are we truly doing this? 

In the initial stages there is a lot of direction given to the student.  Maybe, as teachers, we talk too much!  The verbal explanation is for the parent, not for the child. If we want to focus on the child, we want them to hear us by demonstrating and allowing the student to imitate it back.  Are we developing the ear through guessing games?  Matching tones, matching little made up sequences of notes, or even figuring out the notes to the Suzuki repertoire by themselves, allows the student the opportunity for exploration.  I believe that our best educational environment is where we can allow our students to explore.  

For parents, too, we must learn to refrain from giving the answer to the student.  We should not focus so much on getting the result quickly, but seek out the exploring of how to find the notes.  A fun activity is trying to figure out how to play a song from the radio or your playlist. It involves a lot of guessing, but it is rewarding when the whole song is learned. This develops the ear in so many ways that go beyond just pointing out the correct notes in a Suzuki piece.  It is an important part of the Suzuki journey, and it takes longer. 

We live in a speedy world, but learning takes time.  If we skip to the results too fast, and if we only value arriving at results in a quick way, we may be missing out on the most important part of the educational experience.  How to problem solve, how to hear music intervals, how to figure out fingering, how to correct intonation, how to match the dynamics and phrasing, are all being learned through the experimentation process.  The most important of the five senses for a musician is hearing. Allowing this to develop means not teaching by rote but taking the time to allow the student to learn by ear.

In the long journey of Suzuki music we see many successes.  Please join us on Sunday June 8th at 4 pm and 5:45 pm at the Union Church for two special recitals of our most advanced students.  We will also have a Suzuki Piano Spirio Concert on Friday, June 13th at 6:30 pm at the Steinert Piano Store at 1069 Washington St, West Newton. Come hear our students as they develop their skills.

It takes patience to travel this long journey,  The results are that our students learn to tackle complicated technical, musical, or theoretical problems. As we build confidence in our students to struggle a little bit with new material, stick with it, and come to a result after their time and commitment has been utilized, we are truly in a deep learning environment.