Expanded Suzuki Method

The Suzuki Method was developed in Japan to teach music to children between 2 and 5 years old when their brains were hard wired to acquire languages

Children begin lessons as soon as their arms are strong enough to balance and embrace a small harp or articulate their fingers on a keyboard. This is usually at the age of three or four. The child and parent attend lessons together and are both involved at the daily practice time. Young children learn to play piano or harp by ear, through touching, seeing, singing, and hearing rather than by reading notes on a page, just as children talk long before they learn to read words in a book.

All little ones learn to improvise and compose as well as play the songs they sing at school and at home. The primary difference between the Japanese Suzuki Method in which Professor Holvick was trained and her own expanded Suzuki Method is that she encourages children to choose their favorite songs to learn rather than confining them to the standard international Suzuki repertoire. Additionally, traditional Japanese Suzuki method does not teach children to improvise and compose. These skills are more respected in the American jazz-influenced culture. Young children draw their own pictures. Why would we only let them copy other pictures? If children are not encouraged to create at an early age, they will be afraid to play a single note of music unless someone else wrote it. Professor Holvick nurtured her progeny with the Holvick/Suzuki Method at age 2 or 3. Both are professional musicians today.