This blog post is the second in a four part series discussing the benefits of Suzuki piano. Part one examined the importance of music training and the role it plays in brain development. Today I will give a brief biography of Shinichi Suzuki.

The traditional Suzuki method was conceived in the mid-20th century by Shinichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist who desired to bring beauty to the lives of children in his country after the devastation of World War II.   Before his time, it was rare for children to be formally taught classical instruments from an early age and even more rare for children to be accepted by a music teacher without an audition. Shinichi had a different philosophy and did not screen children based upon their ability for entrance to his music school in Matsumoto, Japan. His major aim was to open a world of beauty to young children everywhere that they might have greater enjoyment in their lives through the God-given sounds of music (Hermann, 1971).

Born in Nagoya, Japan in 1898, as one of twelve children, Shinichi spent his childhood working at his father’s violin factory putting up violin soundposts. He began to teach himself how to play the violin in 1916 after being inspired by a recording of Mischa Elman. Without access to professional instruction, he listened to recordings and tried to imitate what he heard.

At the age of 26, Marquis Tokugawa, a friend of Shinichi, persuaded his father to allow him to study in Germany, where he studied under Karl Klingler. While in Germany, he spent time under the guardianship of Albert Einstein and  married his wife, Waltraud Prange (1905–2000). Upon his return to Japan, Shinichi formed a string quartet with his brothers and began teaching at the Imperial School of Music and at the Kunitachi Music School in Tokyo.

Shinichi started to take interest in developing the music education of young students in violin during and after World War II. Once the war was over, he was invited to teach at a new music school being formed, and agreed to the position with the condition he would be allowed to develop teaching music to children from infancy and early childhood.

“My dream is for the happiness of all children. I feel respect and friendly feelings for everyone. In particular, I cannot help but feel respect and warm feelings for young children. And my heart brims over with a desire to help make all the children born upon the earth fine human beings, happy people, people of superior ability. My whole life energies are devoted to this end.”

Shinichi Suzuki

Shinichi Suzuki died at his home in Matsumoto, Japan on 26 January 1998, aged 99.  Among his accolades, Shinichi was responsible for the early training of some of the earliest Japanese violinists to be successfully appointed to prominent western classical music organizations.  He received several honorary doctorates in music from the New England Conservatory of Music (1966), University of Louisville (1967), University of Rochester Eastman School of Music (1972), Oberlin College Conservatory of Music (1984) and the Cleveland Institute of Music (1990).  Shinichi Suzuki was proclaimed a Living National Treasure of Japan and was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize in 1993.