About
Teach Suzuki Violin was created to provide a practical, hands-on resource about teaching and learning the violin – useful to teachers, parents and students. There are posts and resources about how to teach and study the pieces in the Suzuki violin repertoire, violin technique, videos and scores.
Our deepest interest is in great learning. In our school we taught violin to hundreds of students and worked hard to improve our teaching – to help them learn more quickly and easily, and enjoy their journey towards becoming musicians.
Here’s a little about us. John began teaching violin in Western Australia in 1981. He taught in Japan, the UK and until 2013 in Western Australia, at Musicians Institute Australia, the violin school they founded in 1990. We now live in the Central Highlands in Victoria, Australia.
John studied violin teaching in Japan from 1986-90 with Shinichi Suzuki the kindly, remarkable man who revolutionised music education.
Co-founder Allie Berger brings the professional education perspective to Teach Suzuki Violin. Her teaching experience and deep interest in group dynamics and great parent-child relationships was responsible for much of the violin school’s success.
Playing and teaching music – the violin – is the heart of our interest in the learning life. Our experiences of teaching have confirmed Suzuki’s statement that every child, every person can become well educated. The benefits are life long and immeasurable, and help make the world a better place for everyone. Learning music in the right way teaches us the highest expertise: how to become a great learner. This is the core ability that opens the door to life’s limitless possibilities.
On a more personal note, one of John’s interests beyond music is swimming. It’s an enjoyable way to keep fit and healthy. One of the coaches in the training programme – called Total Immersion – described his journey towards mastery as “the relentless pursuit of perfection.” We think about studying music in the same way. Not winning competitions or races, it is just about learning to swim (or play) better, with more grace and enjoyment. Have a look at the results.
From the best of our experience we derive knowledge and skill. By itself, knowledge is insufficient education. The skill we build by putting knowledge into practice creates real ability and makes it useful to others. Our sincere hope is that you find something valuable here. Welcome!
Cheers,
John, Allie and Phianne