The success of the method is due to the parents, the environment they create in the home and their dedication to continuing the role of teacher at home by practicing with the child, playing the recordings and patiently encouraging the child each day. Note reading is postponed until rudimentary technical mastery of the instrument is achieved, just as the very same child learns to speak his native language before he reads. Suzuki families find their lives enriched in many ways, musically and otherwise, due to the establishment of a positive environment full of encouragement and praise. While lovingly correcting inaccuracies, Suzuki teachers and parents always urge children to strive for beautiful sound but are more concerned with their total self-development than with turning out expert musical performers. Every step, no matter how small, is recognized as an achievement.
Success builds success.
Because parents acquire a working knowledge of the instrument and its beginning technique before the child starts lessons, they understand from first hand experience that what may appear on the surface to be one activity is actually a series of smaller, complex steps. It is an educational philosophy which can be applied to the teaching of any subject matter to students of any age. Older students may occasionally learn less quickly because the opportunity to form neural pathways relative to music appear to be the greatest between ages four and eight. The Suzuki books are albums of pieces which are a series of graded reprtoire. Each piece presents a new technical or musical challenge which builds on previously learned material.