AN ANALYSIS OF THE SUZUKI METHOD AS IT PERTAINS TO THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING MUSIC USING THE NATIVE LANGUAGE APPROACH; THE COMPARISON OF THE SUZUKI METHOD TO TRADITIONAL METHODS; AND HOW THE NATIVE LANGUAGE APPROACH AIDS IN TEACHING MUSIC TO STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA

Abstract

The Suzuki Method, also known as the Mother Tongue Method or Talent Education, is a method of teaching music to children using a similar process to that of native language acquisition. The method uses musical immersion, heavy parental involvement, learning by ear, and abundant repetition of repertoire to learn the language of music. The purpose of this manuscript is to show the benefits of the Suzuki Method from a historical, developmental, pedagogical perspective as well as how the method can benefit students with disabilities. This thesis organizes the exploration of the Suzuki Method into five chapters. The first chapter discusses a brief history of music education as well as how Dr. Suzuki’s educational philosophy compared to other influential educators such as Pestalozzi, Montessori, and Mason. Chapter two examines current research that supports Suzuki’s philosophy as well as the Suzuki Method. Chapter three compares and contrasts the Suzuki Method and the traditional instrumental music classroom. Chapter four discusses how the implementation of the Suzuki Method can benefit students with learning disabilities such as dyslexia. The final chapter provides discussion on the previous chapter with implications for the instrumental music classroom and music education.