In Suzuki learning, we talk a lot about having good tone. Dr. Suzuki said "Beautiful Tone, Beautiful Heart." He created an exercise called "Tonalization" which is used on many instruments. When I hear students working on "Tonalization" I often hear comments about technique and the physical aspects of producing good tone, such as "sink the arm into the key, use more bow, play closer to the bridge, etc." or comments like "listen to the pitch for a ringing tone."  Sometimes we miss the most important message about tonalization, which is setting the tone for the entire lesson, in exactly the way Dr. Suzuki said it, "Tone has the living soul. Any child can be developed, it depends on how you do it. Art is not in some far-off place. A work of art is the expression of a man's whole personality, sensibility, and ability." When we start our practicing with "Tonalization" we should breathe deeply, set our bodies in a balanced position, and listen to our tone so that we are focused and ready to be in the current moment to make musical sounds come alive.

At the beginning of a lesson or a practice session, we usually play a "warm-up." I remember reading that for the musician, it is not so much a question of warming up the body as it is warming up the ears.  I truly believe that Suzuki lessons should be an experience of elevating the level of hearing of a student. The best lessons I have had myself, have been when I feel like I am listening and hearing so much better and with more detail and awareness than before the lesson.  This ability to hear oneself is extremely difficult and one that even the professional musician works hard to achieve.  At the Suzuki School of Newton, we are teaching this to even our youngest three and four year old students!

We must "set the tone" of our Suzuki lessons by being in the right frame of mind to focus on the music we are making.  

The Cambridge (University) Academic Content Dictionary defines "to set the tone" as an idiom that means:  

"to establish a particular mood or character for something"

We must be reminded that working on beautiful tone is as valid and perhaps even a higher priority than just learning how to play a lot of fast notes. Good fingerings are necessary; good posture and technique are what make it possible to achieve beautiful tone.  But striving for beautiful tone is part of the learning process and requires practice and repetitions as well. Playing the first note of a Mozart sonata with beautiful tone takes years of study to reach the technical ability, but also it takes years of daily practice in order to achieve beautiful tone.  Sometimes we are too hasty to move onto a new piece before the quality of the tone is truly achieved.  We must not hurry through this important step.  Setting the right mood or character of the piece takes the ability to control the tone.  The difference between a student musician and the international concert artist on stage is not the ability to play the correct notes, so much as it is the quality of the tone that the artist can produce.

As parents and caregivers, it is very important for us to approach the practice session in a positive mood and with encouragement and love.  We take on the important role of being the listener and supporter in the home setting.  If we are too eager, sometimes we are not as positive as we can be. We may not realize that our own personal mood might be affecting how the practice session will go.  We must focus on "setting the right tone" for each and every practice session.  How do we do this? 

Asking a few questions can help.  Are you in the mood for a fast piece or a slow one?  Do you want to look at the practice spots first?  Shall we do just hands alone?  What piece are you feeling the most comfortable with right now?  Shall we listen to the recording before we start practicing? Sometimes a simple request can work wonders: "please play your recital piece again--I love how you play it!"

It is so important for us to realize that our environment has a huge influence on the learning that can take place.  And it is all up to us, to set the right tone.