From the Practice Files, episode 7

  • by Jacqueline WhittemoreThe Suzuki Triangle

It is great to be back for another episode of the practice files! Last month we plumbed the many benefits of practice logs in focusing practice, limiting conflict, and tracking growth. Today, I would like to explore another highly undervalued tool in musical growth and fun – group classes and music intensives or camps.

Group classes are a fundamental aspect of Suzuki instruction. They allow students of mixed ages and experience levels to interface, often with differing faculty, in a low stakes environment to achieve surprising results. Though students might play for each other individually, classes are more focused on the group as a whole. Benefits that I have witnessed include:

  • Inspiring younger students to participate more attentively, whilst motivating older and/or more advanced students also to a higher level of play as they are looked to as leaders in class. As Simon Sinek noted, “Collaboration allows us to the see the best in others and bring out the best in ourselves.”
  • Shifting students’ focus outward to others and how they play, which can do wonders in breaking students of habits like staring at their hands
  • Honing intonation and musical responsiveness as students match pitch with one another to create a cohesive sound
  • Cultivating nuance in sound intensity, bowing style, and responsiveness to others through games. After all, “No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it.” (H.E. Luccock)
  • Increasing willingness to perform tedious yet essential technical exercises, such as calling positions or note names, by pulling the focus off the exercise and onto the community
  • Embracing the uncertain. Live music is wonderful because anything can happen – live music is terrifying because anything can happen! The key to joy is accepting all when they arise or, as Thomas Wolfe exhorted, “Make your mistakes, take your chances, look silly, but keep on going. Don’t freeze up.”
  • Highlighting lack of clarity in instruction. If several students are lost or struggling with the same issue, this should trigger the faculty to revisit their methodology whilst also allowing en masse course correction.

In short, group classes are invaluable for development of the musician and cultivation of community. And yet… for several years now, Marguerite has been steadfast in her opposition to participate!

As you might recall, my journey as a Suzuki parent is ever guided by two tenets:

  1. Practice is a dynamic, focused collaboration between the parent and child!
  2. Suzuki is a way of life, so it should occur daily and be FUN!!!

These beliefs hover ever in my consciousness, and occasionally they lead me in unexpected directions. I believe with all my heart that Marguerite would be musically better for attending group classes. However, Saturdays are the only day of the week on which she has no recurring commitments. To maintain her commitment to cello and my ability to keep it at least fun-adjacent during her least inspired phases (see tenet #2), I must allow her to forego group classes. This does not, however, mean her development is limited to individual lessons. Instead, in addition to her involvement in the youth symphony, we have embraced music intensives.

Thanks to her intrepid and wise grandmother, Marguerite has been attending summer Suzuki institutes annually since age 5. She also has participated in the Tennessee Cello Workshop many times, starting with the one-day Suzuki program and, this year, graduating to the full workshop. These workshops provide many of the same benefits as group classes, including development of community as returning students reconnect year after year and inspire each other with their growth. One added benefit of such intensives is exposure to a diverse faculty, full of contrasting viewpoints. As Oli Anderson rightly observed, “When people challenge your ideas, they help you (whether they know it or not).” Finally, intensives provide ample opportunities to deepen your bond with the student – whether it be playing in the pool at a hotel, racing to catch a connecting flight, or lugging a cello and stool up myriad flights of stairs on a college campus.

So, whether it be through regular group classes or occasional intensives, find a way to lure your learner into the greater musical community. You will both be the better for it!