Date: Fri 20-Feb-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Suzuki-Lafreniere-Malyszka

Full Text:

A Sad Goodbye: Newtown Remembers Japan's Pied Piper

(with cuts)

BY SHANNON HICKS

Helen Malyszka can remember the exact moment she learned of the death of Dr

Shinichi Suzuki.

"It was a Monday morning, and I was at the school," said the co-owner of

Newtown's Suzuki Talent School. "One of the mothers had come in with her son,

and she mentioned she had heard he died during the weekend.

"I was stunned. I hadn't heard the news. I just stood there, with tears coming

out of my eyes," said Mrs Malyszka, who also teaches at the school/studio

space on lower Church Hill Road. "The students were looking at me, wondering

why I was so upset, and I had to explain to them how much this man meant to

me." Helen's son, Paul, has been studying piano under the Suzuki Method for 14

years. Next year he will be starting college, with plans to study music

education.

Dr Suzuki died in January at the age of 99. His friends and followers, even

critics, had long ago dubbed him "Japan's Pied Piper." On February 6, the

Suzuki Talent School presented a recital at the Alexandria Room of Edmond Town

Hall. The performance was dedicated to the memory of Dr Suzuki, and there have

been candles and flowers at the school honoring the late teacher.

A Huge Misconception

During the 1950s, Shinichi Suzuki began putting a technique of teaching very

young children how to play musical instruments into practice. Dr Suzuki, a

classically trained musician, began realizing that young children were able to

pick up foreign languages simply by being exposed to them. Exposure creates

comfort, Dr Suzuki found. He discovered this idea worked just as well with a

language of another kind: the language of music.

Since that time, millions of children have learned how to play music following

the Suzuki Method. Dr Suzuki developed the phrase, "learning by mother tongue"

-- learning something by being around it, becoming familiar with it.

This year marks the 21st anniversary of the Suzuki Talent School. The local

school was started in 1977 by Jeanne Luedka. Andy Lafreniere, a classical

guitarist who graduated from UHartford's Hartt School of Music, began teacher

training with Ms Luedka in 1982. He began teaching at Suzuki that fall.

Helen Malyszka became involved with the school initially on the parental

basis. In 1983, she was looking for something for her son to begin, and she

discovered Suzuki Talent.

A singer and 12-string guitar player, she eventually studied and also began

teaching at the school. In 1987, Jeanne Luedka sold the school to Mrs Malyszka

and Mr Lafreniere.

Parents play a huge role in the teachings of the Suzuki Method: they sit down

with the instructors before their children even begin lessons to discuss Dr

Suzuki's philosophies, and they commit to working closely with their children

away from the studio. This means children are encouraged to practice at home,

and parents must provide not only the incentive to get their children to

practice, but also the encouragement.

"You can take your child to a piano lesson, or you can stand over their

shoulder to make sure they are practicing at home," Mr Lafreniere said, "but

if you treat lessons as just something else to do in the middle of a day, or

you don't smile while they are practicing, kids pick up on that. Kids pick up

on every emotion an adult has."

"Children process things at their own rates," says Mr Lafreniere. "They also

absorb what's in their own environment. Every action and emotion is reacted

to. All the things we do, kids react to them."

In approaching music, the Suzuki Method has its teachers encourage children to

listen to music. Children are not forced to go to instruments, but become

curious about them. Curiosity then leads to wanting to learn how to use them,

Dr Suzuki taught. And he was right. For decades, children have been learning

by following such a simple, clear-headed way of thinking.

"All children really do love music," said Mr Lafreniere, "but we kind of turn

them off by forcing instruction onto them."

Not only do children love to learn, but it is also important to remember that

every child moves at his or her own pace. Children of a young age usually have

shorter attention spans than older children or even some adults, and teachers

must recognize this. Suzuki teachers give instruction only while a student is

focused on music. Once attention shifts, a lesson is over.

One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding The Suzuki Method is how

children approach music in the first place. There has always been a rumor that

Suzuki children can perform , but they can't read sheet music.

"That's one of the biggest misconceptions -- I've been through that," Mrs

Malyszka said this week. "Suzuki students do read, definitely. That's the big

thing that gets to me about Suzuki."

Suzuki students start with skills, Mr Lafreniere explained. The youngest

students -- children begin classes called "Pre-Suzuki" at the age of 2« --

focus on techniques, which include producing good sounds, good posture, and

good finger positions. After accomplishing these basics, Mr Lafreniere says,

then students learn to focus on reading. This way, their basic skills are set

up and their reading skills emerge.

"Suzuki students end up reading, sometimes even better than non-Suzuki

students," he said.

Andy and Helen went to a Suzuki convention in Chicago in 1988, along with

Jeanne Luedka. It was there they first met Dr Suzuki. "He really was this cute

little man, and he had this charisma ," Andy recalled. "Kids just clamored to

be around him."

A few years later, Helen traveled to Scotland with her son, and they again met

Dr Suzuki.

"We would just like to thank Dr Suzuki for these methods," Helen said.

"[Dr Suzuki] changed the perception of what people felt children are capable

of," said Andy. "He really raised the bar. He felt we short-changed what we

think children can do.

"I can't imagine teaching any other way now, especially after being

classically trained," he added.