Listening to the Suzuki pieces before and while you learn them is the most important part of the process (next to daily practice, as part of daily practice). It makes it so much easier to play and learn if you already know how the music goes. Not only do students learn the notes, but they will hear and emulate beautiful sound (tone), phrasing, dynamics, and so much more. All of these things will become more automatic and natural through listening, meaning less time and effort trying to work on and figure out those things. It is a more efficient, effective, and fun way to learn. 

Going old school

Having a CD player with the CD in it right next to where a student practices makes it so much easier to listen and have it be a helpful and fun part of practice. The more a student listens, the easier it will be to learn. Waiting for a device (phone, iPad, etc.) to be available, scrolling through to find the appropriate piece, has proven over the years to not be a motivating or easy way for daily listening to happen. So I highly recommend and encourage families to “go old school” and invest in a simple CD player to keep in the practice area. If it’s easy and accessible, it is far more likely to happen. 

Students (and parents!) can listen to the CD while doing other things, as background music. We call this passive listening: in the car, making dinner, lounging around — it’s just easy, beautiful background music. 

Equally important, listen to the current piece and the next piece during practice – active listening –  pointing to the notes in the book as they go by, singing along, or clapping along.