Listening to music is key to the rich musical environment that Dr. Suzuki believed to be the basis for nurturing musicians. Infants have well-developed hearing at birth.  So, it should not surprise us that,  in just a few months, they stare up at caregivers when they hear music. They often smile, wave, kick, and wiggle to music before they are a year old. Before long, they are dancing and vocalizing when they hear a favorite often-repeated piece. Sometimes,  I notice small audience members starting to giggle or shriek with laughter.  We may not know what they are thinking, but we realize  that they are already on the way to making their own music.  Eventually, because they have learned about music in a natural way, they will successfully mimic the recorded pieces in the Suzuki repertoire.  

Because of the sophisticated technology available now, ambient music is a part of our world. It’s important to enjoy background music but it must not replace active listening. Responding through movement is natural and should be developed. Moving, drawing, singing, dancing with scarves, and using simple rhythm instruments can provide variety. Through these activities, children develop a sense of rhythm, anticipate melody, appreciate tone, and identify musical form. Later, as students, they will recognize specific styles and the period or culture in which such a piece would have been developed. It’s much easier for an experienced listener to learn the technical differences between a march and a waltz, if they have had the opportunity to experience them in natural  settings. As they listen, they are developing the layers of knowledge that will enable them to imitate the music that they hear—an essential component to successful performance.  

Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, there are many opportunities for families to enjoy shared musical experiences while having fun together.  Parades with their marching bands, outdoor concerts of many types, folk festivals, and home town days present a wide variety of appealing music that people of any age can appreciate. Now that we are between Labor Day and Halloween there are still great opportunities outdoors such as the Harvest Fair in Newton Centre on October 15th or many of the Village Days in Newton.  We are even having our Spooky Suzuki event on October 28th.

For me, attending offers a bonus—audience watching.  After the first drum beats or the opening measures of a song, the audience starts to move.  Parents rock or bounce infants, toddlers start to jump or dance, and others—children and adults—pick up the beat or sway to a soft melody.  Heads nod, fingers conduct, hands clap, and feet march or dance in place.  It’s a beautiful, natural phenomena for a music lover to witness and, for me, it adds value to the performance itself.

So, I hope that you will join me in celebrating the rest of the "outdoor" season with your young musicians.  Wherever you go, please encourage them to listen and move to the music.

Elizabeth Hodges

Piano and Flute Instructor

Suzuki School of Newton