Month: February 2017

048 TSP Small Steps

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Parents and students are often in a hurry to complete the Suzuki music repertoire and sometimes miss the lesson of what mastery is and how to achieve it. This episode of the Teach Suzuki podcast discusses ways that teachers and parents can better understand the importance of small steps and provides a list of seven steps that occur along the road to mastery.

In the episode, I mentioned additional resources on this topic. Here are some affiliate links to those resources for further information and discussion. You are never under an obligation to buy anything, but if you do use the links below, the podcast and blog may receive a small benefit at no additional cost to you, which helps to support the work of the podcast and blog.

Book Resources

Principles of Violin Playing and Teaching by Ivan Galamian

Ability Development from Age Zero by Shinichi Suzuki

Other Podcast episodes and blog articles:

The Suzuki Triangle: 5 Ways to Help Your Child Enjoy the Process of Learning Music (Christine Goodner’s blog article)

Episode 39: The Road to Excellence (another perspective about mastery)

Road to Excellence, part 1 (blog article about mastery)

Road to Excellence, part 2 (blog article about mastery)

Episode 13: Personality Styles (an overview of the four basic personality styles)

Episode 21: The Powerful Child (the choleric personality style)

Episode 18: Matching Moods (the melancholy personality style)

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2017 by Paula E. Bird

If you would like to make a donation to support the Teach Suzuki Podcast and the blog, click here to donate.

Reflections – Educating Your Child

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Dr. Suzuki believed that it was the parent’s responsibility to educate and nurture their children’s sprouts of talent. This episode discusses why it is important that parents also believe this.

This episode is part of the “Reflections” series of podcast episodes, which are short, minutes long reflections about a quote or other thought from Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy or writing. The purpose of these reflections is to give parents and teachers a chance to spend a few minutes thinking about how great the impact might be on the world and our children with merely a slight moment of reflection about a behavior, thought, or attitude.

If you have a comment or suggestion, you can leave me a voice message on my voicemail line at 512-537-6356 or send me an email at paula@teachsuzuki.com.

If you need some suggestions about setting up a review program for your students or children, check out my new YouTube channel and a video about the importance of a regular and consistent review program. Click here to watch that video. And be sure to hit the “like” button, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel!

For more information and articles, visit my blog at:

http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2017 by Paula E. Bird

047 TSP What is a Good Teacher?

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This episode of the Teach Suzuki podcast asks the question: What is a Good Teacher and discusses some basic ways in which a parent can discern whether a teacher truly is a “Suzuki Teacher.”

You may find this blog article interesting. It discusses the need to enliven our basic technique by adding goodness. Click here to read this article.

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2017 by Paula E. Bird

Reflections – Cultivating Talent

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This episode is part of the “Reflections” series of podcast episodes, which are short, minutes long reflections about a quote or other thought from Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy or writing. The purpose of these reflections is to give parents and teachers a chance to spend a few minutes thinking about how great the impact might be on the world and our children with merely a slight moment of reflection about a behavior, thought, or attitude.

This episode discusses how parents can sprout and cultivate their children’s seeds of talent into a beautiful plant.

If you have a comment or suggestion, you can leave me a voice message on my voicemail line at 512-537-6356 or send me an email at paula@teachsuzuki.com.

If you need some suggestions about setting up a review program for your students or children, check out my new YouTube channel and a video about the importance of a regular and consistent review program. Click here to watch that video. And be sure to hit the “like” button, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel!

For more information and articles, visit

http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

046 TSP Good Parenting

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This episode of the Teach Suzuki podcast discusses the role of the parent in the teaching situation and includes stories and advice for teachers and parents about some of the tricky situations that a parent might present in a studio. In addition, the podcast suggests some areas of “parenting” moments for teachers.

In the episode, I mentioned a few resources for further information and help:

Helpful Books:

Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change Your Child’s Attitude, Behavior & Character in 5 Days by Kevin Leman

The Essential 55: An Award-Winning Educator’s Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child by Ron Clark

Other Helpful Podcast Episodes and Blog Articles:

Episode 21: The Powerful Child (in depth discussion of the choleric personality style)

Episode 33: How Big is Your Why (building a strong sense of purpose and mission to build self confidence to address troublesome behaviors in the studio)

Episode 12: The Million Dollar Lesson (controversial discussion of how to address problem behaviors during lessons)

How am I Doing? (Parent Report Card)

Teacher “Parenting”

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2017 by Paula E. Bird

Reflections – Ability Breeds Ability

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This episode is part of the “Reflections” series of podcast episodes, which are short, minutes long reflections about a quote or other thought from Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy or writing. The purpose of these reflections is to give parents and teachers a chance to spend a few minutes thinking about how great the impact might be on the world and our children with merely a slight moment of reflection about a behavior, thought, or attitude.

This episode discusses Dr. Suzuki’s explanation for how ability breeds ability.

If you have a comment or suggestion, you can leave me a voice message on my voicemail line at 512-537-6356 or send me an email at paula@teachsuzuki.com.

If you need some suggestions about setting up a review program for your students or children, check out my new YouTube channel and a video about the importance of a regular and consistent review program. Click here to watch that video. And be sure to hit the “like” button, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel!

For more information and articles, visit

http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

045 TSP How to Plan a Group Class

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This episode of the Teach Suzuki podcast discusses the components and focused activities that might comprise a group class.

I discussed many helpful materials in this episode. Here are links to those items:

Shel Silverstein Books

Where the Sidewalk Ends

A Light in the Attic Special Edition

Falling Up

My Favorite Dr. Seuss Books

Go, Dog Go! (Do you like my hat?)

Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (and be sure to read the book while listening to John Lithgow read it! (click here for the video)

Dr. Seuss’s Beginner Book Collection

Dr. Seuss’s Second Beginner Book Collection

Other Books and Recordings

Richard Scarry’s The Gingerbread Man

Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine

Carnival of the Animals (Camille Saint-Saens music/Ogden Nash verses)

Pictures at an Exhibition (Mussorgsky)

Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev/Gielgud narration)

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra (Britten)

My Favorite Group Class Teaching Books and items

Group Lessons for Suzuki Violin and Viola by Carolyn McCall

I Know a Fox with Dirty Socks by William Starr

Plastic Halloween Eyeballs (balance these on the hair and the bow stick)

Rhythm Activity Sticks

Links to other videos, podcast episodes, and blog articles

Episode 15: Asking the Right Questions (the power of the “what” and “how” questions)

Music Listening Resource List Article (building your child’s home listening library)

How to Teach a Suzuki Group Class (blog article)

Recipe for Suzuki Review (YouTube) (how to build a consistent and regular Suzuki review program)

The above links are affiliate links, which means that if you click on them, the podcast and blog may receive a small benefit. You are never under any obligation to purchase anything, but if do choose to purchase something and use these links, I greatly appreciate it and your support.

I you would like to visit my previous article about group classes on my blog, click here.

If you are interested in my simple group class planning form, click here for my Group Class Planning Template.

If you have questions or answers or you would like to comment or leave me a voice mail, you can do so at (512) 537-6356. If you would like to send me an email, you may do so at paula@teachsuzuki.com. I welcome comments and questions about this episode and am interested in hearing about the perspective of other parents and teachers.

You may find more information and useful articles on my blog at: http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–

© 2017 by Paula E. Bird

Reflections – Repeatedly Aim for Better Things

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This episode is part of the “Reflections” series of podcast episodes, which are short, minutes long reflections about a quote or other thought from Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy or writing. The purpose of these reflections is to give parents and teachers a chance to spend a few minutes thinking about how great the impact might be on the world and our children with merely a slight moment of reflection about a behavior, thought, or attitude.

This episode discusses the importance of perfect repetition in order to build good habits and avoid the unwelcome process of unlearning incorrect habits.

If you have a comment or suggestion, you can leave me a voice message on my voicemail line at 512-537-6356 or send me an email at paula@teachsuzuki.com.

If you need some suggestions about setting up a review program for your students or children, check out my new YouTube channel and a video about the importance of a regular and consistent review program. Click here to watch that video. And be sure to hit the “like” button, leave a comment, and subscribe to the channel!

For more information and articles, visit

http://teachsuzuki.blogspot.com.

Until next time,

Happy Practicing!

—– Paula —–