Technique and Musique – Teaching Violin Technique within the Suzuki Repertoire
If I asked students and parents to vote for the least interesting piece in Suzuki Volume 1, I’m fairly confident that Etude would win – or should that be lose? When first I began teaching, I was surprised to see it occasionally omitted from teaching programmes. Personally I rather like Etude, but I’m sure teacher votes wouldn’t count in this poll. The name gives it away – at least to French students. Etude ⇒ study ⇒ monotony ⇒ boring.
Itzhak Perlman – Photo by Edyta Blaszczyk
To quote the Wikipedia oracle:
étude – (a French word meaning study) an instrumental musical composition, usually short, of considerable difficulty, and designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill.
Etudes have an illustrious musical history. Where would we be without Chopin’s empyrean Op.10 and Op.25 Etudes and the Transcendental Études by Liszt, for example?
Is Suzuki’s Etude just an exercise masquerading as a piece? It certainly serves as an ideal agent for teaching students to play in the key of G major, preparing the way for the Bach Minuets and beyond.
In the best études, musical and technical considerations are inseparable, which, if we apply this idea to pieces themselves, brings me to my point. Almost every piece in the Suzuki violin repertoire takes on a dual role as a vehicle for both technique and musique. As it pertains to teaching young children, this is one of Suzuki’s master strokes.
It is clearly wiser and easier to teach violin technique for students in the early years with ‘real’ music that is attractive and singable, leaving the great books of studies such as Kreutzer and Sevcik for later.
The good thing is you don’t need years of teaching experience to understand what each piece is good for. We all know, for example, how perfect the Twinkle variations are for teaching basic rhythms and other fundamentals. Below are some of the pieces I’ve found suited to teaching particular techniques. Although the lists aren’t comprehensive, I hope they are a useful guide. I have included links to some of the posts.
Bowing Techniques
- détaché – separate bow strokes: Twinkle Theme and Variations; Lightly Row; Go Tell Aunt Rhody
- legato – smoothly connected strokes, slurred or unslurred: O Come Little Children; Long Long Ago; Largo by J.S. Bach
- staccato – in its simplest form, stopped bows: Twinkle variations 1 and 2; Song of the Wind; Perpetual Motion; Etude; Gavotte by Gossec; Gavotte from Mignon
- upbow staccato – Long Long Ago Variation (Vol 2); Minuet in G; Gavotte by Becker; Country Dance; Gavotte by Rameau
- martelé – hammered strokes: Allegro by Suzuki (Vol 1); Concerto in A Minor, 1st mvt by Vivaldi
- sautillé – rapid bow strokes bouncing a little off the string: Perpetual Motion & Etude doubles; Concerto No 2, 3rd mvt by Seitz; Allegro by Fiocco
- spiccato – similar to sautillé, with higher, more deliberate bounces: Gavotte by Gossec; Gavotte from Mignon; Veracini Giga
- jeté – ricochet bowing: Open strings; Twinkle Theme; Veracini Gavotte
Right Arm Focus
- Rapid bowing – Perpetual Motion; Allegro by Fiocco, Gigue by Veracini; Sonata in E Minor, Vivace by Eccles
- String crossing – O Come Little Children; Etude
- Retakes (circles) – Song of the Wind
- Bow division – Long Long Ago; Waltz
- Whole bows – Chorus
- Arpeggios (separate strokes) – Minuet 2
- Arpeggios (slurred, bouncing) – Tamborin by Gretry; Concerto in A Minor, 3rd mvt by Bach
Left Hand Focus
- Slurs – Chorus; Minuet in G
- G Major – Etude; Volume 2
- G Minor – most of Volume 3
- Double stops and chords – Concerto No 5, 3rd mvt by Seitz; La Folia
- Trills – Boccherini Minuet; Gavotte by Lully
- 4th finger – Lightly Row; Perpetual Motion; Gavotte by Lully; Fourth Finger
- Harmonics – Concerto in A minor, 3rd mvt by Vivaldi
Rhythm
- Basic rhythms – Twinkle Theme and Variations
- Dotted rhythms – The 2 Grenadiers; Witches Dance; Minuet by Mozart
- Hook strokes – Happy Farmer, Witches Dance
- Triplets – Witches Dance; Concerto No 5, 1st mvt by Seitz; Concerto in A Minor, 3rd mvt by Bach
- Syncopation – Boccherini Minuet; La Folia
Positions
Most pieces above Volume 4 use higher positions, therefore ongoing practice of shifting exercises is (unavoidably) essential. Individual pieces may be used to help solve particular problems.
- 3rd position – Long Long Ago Variation (Vol 2); Concerto in A Minor, 1st mvt by Vivaldi
- Positions 1 to 5 – Concerto in A Minor, 2nd mvt by Vivaldi
Other
- pizzicato – Gavotte from Mignon
I should add an important disclaimer for parents and students: the music will inspire and enthuse, but of itself won’t instruct you in violin technique. Please ask your teacher to show you the techniques and study points associated with the pieces. (And of course, studying technique via the pieces isn’t intended to preclude the use of exercises.)
Thanks for coming to Teach Suzuki Violin! We appreciate your emails.
Cheers,
John
