The following are excerpts from a letter written by a Suzuki parent in California who read Dr. Barrett's book The Magic of Matsumoto: The Suzuki Method of Education.

" ... It is with delight that I am able to share with you just how much I appreciated reading the Magic of Matsumoto" You are correct in that Matsumoto and Dr. Suzuki are indeed, magical.

... While I will never have the opportunity of meeting him in person, thanks to you and your book, I was able to sit and observe Dr. Suzuki teaching lessons.

 

"... I also want to thank you for some of the perhaps ancillary topics but ones that I felt were very helpful in demonstrating how much Dr. Suzuki was interested in continuously improving the method. The technology chapter was fantastic. I thought your description of how you used the mother tongue method in your college writing class as well as in teaching yourself Spanish was invaluable in demonstrating that when you truly understand the Dr. Suzuki method your understand that while it has everything to do with the violin, it actually isn't really about the violin at all. I think you captured that sentiment beautifully in discussing how most westerners would have difficulty understanding how one could train to develop high abilities on the violin - without having the goal of playing the violin as a major goal. I find this to be a common misunderstanding of individuals who practice yoga in the west. ... through my practice of the art of yoga, I learn to better understand the art of life. It is my greatest hope that my son will also learn the art of life through his Suzuki violin experience.

Thank you so very much for sharing your experiences and your perspectives of Dr. Suzuki with me. I feel I was drawn to your book for a reason and it certainly showed me that there are amazing teachers in the United States who truly do understand Dr. Suzuki and are carrying forward his wonderful dream of helping humans to develop to their highest potential. ..."

C. Stangl

 

And here is yet another letter from a Suzuki parent and The Magic of Matsumoto reader:

"Your book has been an extremely valuable tool to our family. We initially bought your book to understand the Suzuki method and to assist in the instruction of our children with the violin. However, there was more information on what works for behavior and teaching than we had imagined.

Our son was having problems in school and we applied Suzuki’s positive rewards system. In less than a week my son’s teacher phoned me to tell me she saw a difference in his attention and willingness to learn.

We broke down the time interval for tracking his good behavior and learning objectives to one week. Our son gets a reward every Friday for a week of good behavior. (This can be picking out a movie for “fun Friday”, or choosing a place to eat.)

Here is a quote from his last grading period… “He has shown progress in all subject areas this grading period. I feel that much of this is due to the improvement in his behavior. It has been evident to other teachers who come into my room as well as to the instructional assistants who work with us… He appears to be more willing to begin assignments and work harder at completing them. He is more enthusiastic during circle discussions and activities.” We are thrilled at the complete turn around and immediate success.

We had tried what we thought was everything. We were frustrated that he was misbehaving in school and getting low grades as early as kindergarten. Your book helped us to turn around the situation before it was too late. The information and methods are so simple and easy that I am now embarrassed that I didn’t think of it myself.

Thank you for providing the tools to open up a new world to our child. He is flourishing and enjoying the rewards of his own success. He also loves taking his violin lessons, which we feel very lucky to have you as our instructor."

Liz Devany

 

"To Prospective Music Students:

I strongly encourage you to entrust your musical instruction or that of your child to the Suzuki method, and if at all possible to one of its leading U.S. practitioners, Dr. Carolyn Barrett. Following is a brief account of my personal experience of the effectiveness of the method and the teacher:

I am a fifty-year old engineering professional with no appreciable musical training prior to Dr. Barrett’s instruction (as a third-grader in public school I learned the basics of playing the “recorder” or wooden flute). Five years ago at age forty-five I began studying violin under Dr. Barrett. I studied for two years, and then stopped for three years to pursue professional studies. Approximately six months ago I resumed studying with Dr. Barrett, this time on the viola.

My initial two-year period of instruction was very brief relative to my age and near total lack of musical background. Also, my first instrument, the violin, was very challenging. However, despite a break in training longer than my initial instruction, I was amazed to discover that in less than six months I had completely regained skills and the repertoire of songs I had acquired before the break!

Although the larger viola is physically easier for me to play than the violin, this difference cannot account for the astounding “musical recall” I have experienced since resuming with Dr. Barrett. I fully credit this amazing retention to the effectiveness of her expert instruction using the Suzuki method. Through Suzuki instruction musical proficiency is acquired “organically” through imitation and immersion. Despite my lack of prior musical training, two years of Suzuki instruction deeply “imprinted” music in me, so that I can’t forget what I’ve learned just as I can’t forget how to ride a bike.

I am deeply grateful for the Suzuki method and the tutelage of Dr. Carolyn Barrett, both of which I enthusiastically recommend to you."

Freddie Stewart, Jr.
Reston, VA

 

"To Prospective Music Students:

After hearing some older children demonstrate the violin at his elementary school, my second- grade son first requested violin lessons some ten years ago. Initially I was hesitant—I knew nothing of the violin! Also, Brian had just been diagnosed with an auditory perception deficit and had only just completed several initial months of therapy. But I was encouraged in my research about the Suzuki method of learning by observation and repeition. Looking into our local teaching resources, I was lucky enough to find Carolyn Barrett, founder of the Suzuki Studio of Reston. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

Because Shinichi Suzuki had a strong sense of the vast possibility inside each child and a great respect for each individual, teachers who are trained in his methods must model the proper musical techniques for each child, provide a positive environment to foster learning, and progress at the individual pace set by the child. Trained directly by Dr. Suzuki, Dr. Barrett clearly had internalized this instruction at the very deepest levels. This was critical because our initial progress –and sometimes later as well--was exceedingly slow. Dr. Barrett's patience with Brian and with me, as I became acquainted with the violin myself, was exceptional.

Over the ensuing years, Brian developed a very personal relationship with his violin. He continued to take private lessons with Dr. Barrett and attend group lessons on alternate Saturdays. He was always anxious to hear what her more advanced students were playing. Sometimes he was attentive and learning new pieces and new techniques went smoothly. Sometimes, especially as he grew into the moody pre-teen and teenage years, he became frustrated and refused to practice. Sometimes he was able to accept that he was at a “plateau” that would persist for a time, other times he would be very unhappy. However, he was always able to come to the supportive community that was fostered by Dr. Barrett, be encouraged by her and by the other parents and students, see the progress that other students were making, and, over time, develop his own leadership skills within the group. (I insisted that if he wanted to quit he wait three months and see if he still felt that dropping violin was what he wanted to do. He never did.) The lessons that he learned in persistence and the importance of a positive attitude and supportive environment have paid many dividends over the years.

This year Brian will graduate from high school after more than ten years with Dr. Barrett and the Suzuki Studio of Reston. He will head off to a small liberal arts college in the south. Life lessons begun with his initial struggles with the violin have trained him to set high standards and to be persistent—critical skills for some of his difficult academic subjects. He has played in school orchestras since middle school, and played a semester with the Loudoun Symphony Youth Orchestra, as well as various Suzuki Institutes, learning teamwork, making friends and acquring self-esteem and self-assurance from the many performance opportunities.

Brian does not expect to make a career in music. He will likely not even major in music in college. However, I still think his musical training was a wise investment. We repeatedly find the lessons learned from the development of his musicianship under the tutelage of Dr. Barrett have translated into many benefits over the past ten years. And, as he says, “long after my friends have become old and rickety and unable to play their sports, I'll still be able to play the violin and make beautiful music.”"

Joanne Hardison .
Vienna, VA