Suzuki violin book 1

[ReallyTired]

How long does it take to get through book 1? I know there are tales on the Internet of children flying through it in weeks, but families I met in real life all seem to take at least two year, many of them much longer. There is much technique to learn in the first book. I am surprised that a young child can build the strength and stamina needed to play the harder pieces after a few months.

There are videos of children playing on the pieces on YouTube, but the quality of their playing is variable. Dd teacher spends a lot of time perfecting technique. Her students playing is really beautiful and not in the least bit mechanical.

Dd is learning Minuette 2 at the moment. She has been learning for 15 months. She can't read music yet, but I am not too worried as she us only six years old. Dd loves her violin teacher and works hard in her lesson. She does 10 to 15 minutes of practice a day and she does do her listening.

How long is a piece of string? It is a very different approach from tune a week resources like "fiddle time". I imagine it may depend a bit on the group learning approach of the teacher. I love the idea of even the most junior pupils being included and it is very much in line with how traditional fiddle was taught when I was young.

My DD2 struggled with reading music and learning to play at the same time so we went with the Suzuki method, supplemented by me teaching her a variety of traditional tunes and songs she liked by ear. She was 9 rather than 6 and progressed very quickly. When she had mastered playing she found music reading much easier. As a guide, she can confidently play the grade 5 syllabus but we are still dipping into pieces from Suzuki book 4. I would be surprised if many people used the Suzuki books as their only resource though as the selection of pieces is very limited.

At age 6 my own view is that 10 minutes per day is plenty as it takes a lot of concentration and fatigue can lead to embedding bad habits. I would actually encourage learning to read music as a separate exercise as I am still inclined to translate notes into fingerings in my head, as I am primarily a violinist. It is much better to actually "know" the notes.

I can get kids through in a year but it's not fun so now I don't try to. Technique and joy in the long journey matter more!

My DD started at age 4. She completed book 1 in just over a year which her teacher said was fairly quick. I think the average is about 18 months to 2 years.

Book two is a lot more fun BTW!

I think that teachers vary how fussy they are with mastering new pieces. I have seen some graduation videos on YouTube where the children completely lack any musicality.

Dd only has a 20 minute lesson, possibly she would progress faster if she had longer.

For younger kids (4-5-6) it seems to take 12-18 months. I have a 5 year old who started six months ago and is about half-way through the book. It takes longer as it is not just the pieces to learn, but also how to practice effectively and establish a good routine at home.

I also have a 8 year old, who stated in March (3-4 months ago) and is now almost at the end of book 2. I am sure that he'll be at the end of book 2 by September. But for him is a different experience as he can read music, knows how to practice and this is his third instrument with piano and horn at about grade 3 level.

My dd is 6 and is a bit behind yours I think we are on number 10 having been learning 11 months but her teacher does is it up with other techniques too which I am not sure if is helpful or not. She is just learning to read music now. She seems to enjoy it - I am getting a bit bored now !!!

Anyone done this with a 4 year old?