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Thread: Suzuki method for mandolin?

  1. #1
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    Has anyone ever gone through the suzuki violin method with a mandolin?
    There is a serious shortage of mandolin teachers in my town- and I do know of one teacher that uses the suzuki method... he actually is an incredible/professional classical GUITAR player and is helping fill in the gap of mandolin teachers...

    thanks for your input-
    i love this site!

    zoe

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    Quote Originally Posted by
    Has anyone ever gone through the suzuki violin method with a mandolin?
    Would you still have to bring a parent along?

    Red

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    Registered User red7flag's Avatar
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    There are a number of very good teaching DVDs out there. If you are interested in Monroe Style, the Chris Henry Murphy Method DVD is very good. I will let others more knowledgeable to recommend beginner DVDs.
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    At the 14th Suzuki International Convention in Turin Italy last April 2006,
    there was one mandolin representative:
    Amelia Saracco.
    She might be able to supply information to your local teacher since guitar Suzuki is common and the mando is similar.

    You can try to reach her through
    artistic@14suzukiworldconvention.net
    or if that is an old email try writing to the artistic director:
    Liana Mosca
    via Guastalla, 10
    10124 Turin Italy

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    I've found the Suzuki method is a generic approach to teaching young children to play music. My daughter started with the Suzuki method but I was unimpressed. I ended having her go with the more traditionaly method of learning. I'm not sure how good the Suzuki method is for adult learners. It is very simplistic and may be boring for the adult learner.

    I too have been unable to find a teacher in my area. I used "Essential Elements" Violin Book One to teach myself to read music. And I used the "American Fiddle Method" to learn fiddle tunes. I have various books and DVDs but I think Greg Horne's "Beginning Mandolin" is good for the self-learner.



    Glenn Nelson
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    "Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes and play your mandolin."

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    I have Suzuki 1 through 4, because I am taking fiddle lessons. In order to start mandolin I had go on a mandolin diet, several months where I only played fiddle.

    I also promised my fiddle teacher I would not play from the Suzuki books on my mandolin. It is a temtation though, because a lot of it would be fun on the mandolin.



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    A friend and I were discussing the Suzuki method awhile back. He's had several of his kids Suzuki-trained on violin, and I've known quite a number of kids who took Suzuki lessons.
    I 've always had a very favorable opinion of the Suzuki method, but neither of us could think of a single Suzuki-trained kid who had continued playing into adulthood. Don't know if this is an inherent weakness, if the kids we knew weren't typical, or just that the percentage of kids who keep playing, no matter how they were taught, is pretty small.

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    Could it be that the Suzuki method is so regimented that the kids' motivation to play music crumples after they leave the home and go out into the world? Maybe they just need to be told to play again by someone with authority...
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    i played suzuki cello, was sitting first cello always when i played in school. i still learn songs the same way, on every insturment i play.
    its fabulous.
    why kids give up their insturments?
    1. modern music and culture doesnt celebrate musical genius, it samples it, and dumbs down kids with notions of sex drugs and money.
    2. kids learn how to play music that is NOT exciting to them
    3. kids dont learn how cool their insturment really is
    4. kids dont learn what they can gain in thier lives from music.
    5. its not "cool" because being smart is not what pop culture portrays as "cool" looking like a drug dealer or a prostitute is much cooler.
    6. parents don't put the smack down hard enough when they get older! "practice or no car!"
    i could go on............. but those are the first to come to mind...
    personaly i dropped the cello for the guitar for a little while before i realized i didnt have to drop the cello ever. it was a rebellious move on my behalf. playing like stevie ray was much cooler than pablo casals then.. but now i kick myself!




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    Quote Originally Posted by
    Don't know if this is an inherent weakness, if the kids we knew weren't typical, or just that the percentage of kids who keep playing, no matter how they were taught, is pretty small.
    Quote Originally Posted by
    why kids give up their insturments?
    1. modern music and culture doesnt celebrate musical genius, it samples it, and dumbs down kids with notions of sex drugs and money.
    2. kids learn how to play music that is NOT exciting to them
    3. kids dont learn how cool their insturment really is
    4. kids dont learn what they can gain in thier lives from music.
    5. its not "cool" because being smart is not what pop culture portrays as "cool" looking like a drug dealer or a prostitute is much cooler. #
    6. parents don't put the smack down hard enough when they get older! "practice or no car!"
    i could go on............. but those are the first to come to mind...
    personaly i dropped the cello for the guitar for a little while before i realized i didnt have to drop the cello ever. it was a rebellious move on my behalf. playing like stevie ray was much cooler than pablo casals then.. but now i kick myself!
    I quit playing the clarinet by high school although I was a good musician. I hated the practice and I got into photography where all my energies went. I did go on to become a professional photographer for 20 years before I changed careers.

    But the musical background I received during my early years of playing the clarinet #has been an asset to me now. Knowing and understanding the "language of music" has benefitted me in more ways than one when I #picked up the banjo and later the mandolin. It also gave me a better appreciation of music in general.

    I see this in many individuals within our fiddle jam group, Nevada Oldtime Fiddlers. There are those who quit the violin after school only decide to later come back to it and appreciate it even more.

    So those who may have quit early will gain later if they chose to go back into music. I think it stays with you all your life even if you no longer play an instrument.



    Glenn Nelson
    Las Vegas, NV

    "Every day brings a chance for you to draw in a breath, kick off your shoes and play your mandolin."

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    I took suzuki piano for about 6 years whan I was a kid and I think it made me the musician that I am today. I did give pretty much all music up for a few years after highschool but I picked it up a few years later.

    I believe Alison Kraus started out with suzuki violin.
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    Default Re: Suzuki method for mandolin?

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffD View Post
    I have Suzuki 1 through 4, because I am taking fiddle lessons. In order to start mandolin I had go on a mandolin diet, several months where I only played fiddle.

    I also promised my fiddle teacher I would not play from the Suzuki books on my mandolin. It is a temtation though, because a lot of it would be fun on the mandolin.
    Come on, anything written for Violin can be played on Mandolin, Right?

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    Default Re: Suzuki method for mandolin?

    You know what, you can actually use the Suzuki Violin book series w/ Mandolin. The Mandolin is tuned like a Violin but it's easier to play because it has Frets & you get to use a Pick to strike the Strings, so it's going to be alot easier to play in tune.

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    Default Re: Suzuki method for mandolin?

    The suzuki method is a violin method. Although they are tuned the same, the technique for both instruments is very different. In fact it is true, anyone who is learning the mandolin can use it to learn and study pieces, or any material that is for violin, but it must be taken into account that if you do not have a teacher you must use your intuition to know what technique to apply in certain music passages...imho.

    I'm studying Marilynn Mair's books, and I use the suzuky method to learn some pieces that I like and are not included in them...
    Music washes away from the soul the dust of every-day life. Auerbach.
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    Default Re: Suzuki method for mandolin?

    I’m a retired middle school band director and a professional trumpet player. I’ve used the Suzuki violin books to introduce myself to the mandolin. They are good for the first two or three volumes, but supplemental material is needed. Scale studies, tremolo, etc.

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