 In 1931, Shinichi Suzuki was struck by the realization that all Japanese children speak Japanese and that even the children of Osaka easily learn to speak the difficult Osaka dialect. He realized that “any child is able to display superior abilities if only the correct methods are used in training.”[1] From this realization he created his enormously successful Talent Education Method for violin, commonly known as The Suzuki Method. The Suzuki Method is now also used frequently with flute, piano, cello, and double bass. This philosophy is based on the belief that “talent” is a result of training and nurturing, not something that is inherited genetically by nature. Suzuki encourages children to start their musical study as early as possible (preferably while still in the womb!), play music by ear by listening to recordings repeatedly of their repertoire, and continue to review their repertoire even once they move on to another song or book.
These philosophies can be applied to the study of bassoon. While it may be impractical to begin bassoon study at an age early than 9 or 10 due to the size of the instrument, the other concepts can be applied to beginning bassoon instruction. First, beginning students can learn to play songs by ear. The teacher should model the song as an example. Then the student and teacher can sing the song using the words or pitches. The second philosophy that can be applied to beginning bassoon instruction is the use of review. Students are expected to continue practicing all the songs they know. This can be easily accomplished by starting each lesson with the student playing through her “repertoire list.” Starting a lesson with music the student already knows is an excellent way to warm-up the ears, fingers, air, and mental focus. It builds confidence for a student to be able to successfully play a song. Since the student doesn’t need to worry about the notes or the fingers in a simple folk song, her mind is free to focus sound and pitch. Once all the review songs have been played, new material can be learned.[2] Here is a book of folk songs to get started! Enjoy! [1] Suzuki, Nurtured by Love [2] Kreitman, Edward. Teaching from the Balance Point. Western Springs: Western Springs School of Talent Education, 1998.
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