My Experience with Dr. Suzuki

by Betsy Kobayashi

When I studied with Dr. Suzuki, he was in his late eighties, yet he seemed to give more energy to students less than 1/10 his age!!!! He could not play violin with his left hand, yet all he needed to show us he did with his right hand and the bow. It is said that the Suzuki Method is very positive, loving and gentle, yet he was also very strict! Students sometimes cried in frustration at lessons. He said, "Why do you cry? This is my love for you." He really wanted to show us that we could do more than we thought we could do. He said, "You have so much time to practice! 24 hours a day!" As a violist, I went to Japan to study the violin. As a violist, I never imagined playing any major violin repertoire beyond Mozart Concertos (Books 9 & 10). After I played for him a Mozart Concerto, he said, "Now you must learn Tchaikovsky!" This was a very exciting time. He was over 80 years old and he had a new idea - everyone must learn the Tchaikovsky Concerto, one of the most difficult concertos of all violin literature!* He astounded the music world many years before by having children play a Vivaldi Concerto together, then the Bach double, then Mozart and Mendelssohn. Now, Tchaikovsky! At first, in our teacher training group classes which were held 7 days a week, only 2 or 3 students would be playing Tchaikovsky and only part of the 1st movement (which is 20 minutes long). There was great excitement. Dr. Suzuki walked up and down the rows of 40 Japanese and foreign students ranging in age from 14 to 40, patting everyone on the back and saying, "Next time, you too! Next time you will play!" We were absolutely convinced that we could play this piece that was pronounced too difficult to perform when it was composed! Gradually more and more students joined. Students who had started working on it laughed in astonishment and awe at the parts they were struggling with, but others were playing with ease. Finally in March, we played it at the National Concert with about 40 other younger students from all over Japan.

Dr. Suzuki empowered teachers all over the world to empower their students to do more than they ever thought possible. This was his gift to the world: children learn joy and music through study and discipline and intimate contact with great composers.

* For a little history of this piece:".....the concerto encountered the obstacle that has faced so many virtuoso showpieces throughout history: it exceeded the abilities of the intended soloist, Leopold Auer. A second soloist, Yosif Kotek, attempted to learn it but dropped the project....today it is, with good reason, one of the most loved violin concertos ever written." Geoff Kuenning