A Sunday Surprise! (By Amy Tai)

(A piece by our violin teacher Amy Tai)

Every so often, I get a lovely surprise video from my student Jack and his mom Jenn, with a message saying something like “Jack wanted me to share this video with you.” The videos have been of him playing songs that he learned on his own, or of him playing the song that we had been working on in the lesson after he had practiced all week. One of the huge perks of being a violin teacher is getting videos sporadically from students’ parents or grandparents after their young musician has proudly played through a piece that they have been working hard on. With Jack, I feel a particular pride and joy in receiving and watching these videos because of Jack’s history with violin lessons. His story illustrates so beautifully Suzuki’s description of the learning that takes place “underground” as the seed prepares to sprout.

Jack started lessons with me when he was three. He had already spent a year doing lessons with one of the other teachers at Suzuki school, a teacher who I see as exceptionally skillful at teaching young children, extraordinarily resourceful with playful ways to teach the important skills of pre-twinkle, and possessing an incredible breadth and depth of experience. She thought that a switch in teachers might be what would be useful and supportive for Jack, who had spent the year “marching to his own drummer”, one might say. I think her exact words were: “I couldn’t get him to do anything and I think a switch might be good for him.”

Let me be honest, he spent the first two years with me also marching to his own drummer, occasionally doing something I asked him to do, occasionally just wanting to sit and watch the other early beginners, or also just doing his own thing.

Jenn was incredibly patient and persistent, but of course also had her moments of frustration, I am sure! She had the distinct advantage of being a violinist herself, so knew how much hard work it is to become a musician.

Last year, when Jack started playing the Twinkles after a three year long “underground learning” period, he suddenly just took off like a rocket at Cape Canaveral heading for the moon. He went from being a student who would or could not sometimes do one task during a 15 minute lesson to an eager, engaged and amazing musician who can focus during his 45 minute lesson on a myriad of details. He went from being very quiet and challenging to engage at lessons, to talking animatedly, participating eagerly in a group class with mostly much older students, and self-motivated.

Every time I get a video from Jack and Jenn, I remember the power and wisdom of Dr. Suzuki’s philosophy to honor each student’s own pace of learning, treat them with full respect and the belief that they will learn to play their instrument, just like parents believe that their children will learn to speak their mother tongue in due time.

We as Suzuki teachers are always striving for the Suzuki triangle, the strong teamwork among the parent, teacher and student. With Jenn, who has emailed and texted me with updates, struggles, questions, and requests throughout these past three years, and working with Jack closely, giving him a lot of choice in what he would like to focus on during the lesson or how long he would like to spend doing a particular task, we have truly formed an effective Suzuki triangle that has become the solid base for Jack’s learning.

Every one of my students is unique, precious and brilliant in their own way. They all learn at their own pace and I, like all of us Suzuki teachers, try my best to teach them in the way that is most effective for them personally. Jack’s story is just one of the many beautiful stories from our Suzuki School community. I feel so grateful that if given the opportunity, I could write about each and every one of my students with this same pride, joy, and love. What a privilege and blessing it is to get to do work that I simply love.

-Amy Tai

(Here is a video Jenn shared of Jack playing a piece on the violin!)