As a Suzuki teacher, I’ve committed myself to the philosophy that every child is capable of developing incredible talent. If I believe that every child can, should I be taking on every family inquiring about lessons?

Does being selective about which families I take on make me a bad Suzuki teacher?

Carrie Reuning-Hummel, director of Ithaca Talent Education (ITE) and Suzuki teacher for over 40 years, doesn’t think so. In our classes, Carrie has emphasized the importances of selectively taking on families who are primed to learn — who are ready for the commitment. In order to find out if a family is ready, Carrie will invite a family to what most from the outside would call a ‘trial lesson’ or an ‘interview.’

In this ‘trial’ lesson she is assessing the age and maturity of the child and the parent. She wants to know what their ability is to respond, to fundamentally change, to grow.

Inexperience with music, delayed dexterity, shyness, or the label of a learning disability might deter other teachers, but we know from Suzuki’s example that these are all challenges unique to students that can be overcome with skillful teaching, a robust environment, and careful practice. However if a family is not ready to listen, ready to change, or ready to learn together, then they are not yet ready for violin lessons.

This does not mean a family or student will never take lessons, just that they aren’t ready to start at this time.

But how do you assess a readiness to learn in a three year old? While observing at ITE on a recent Friday I saw Carrie teach a ‘trial lesson’ in real time. In person I saw her lead assessment activities — invaluable activities I will borrow when meeting a child for the first time — which were framed within a careful getting-to-know-each-other process.

Here is how it unfolded…

BACKGROUND

A family new to the area reached out to ITE about enrolling their three year old daughter in violin or cello lessons. The family doesn’t have any primary musical experience (ECE, Music Together, etc.), and communicate in Russian with each other. Neither of the parents play a musical instrument.

FIRST STEPS

Carrie set up a phone conversation with the family to explain general points of the Suzuki philosophy and answer immediate questions. She was careful to emphasize the extent to which parent involvement is necessary and the requirements to attend group class, concerts, and observations in addition to lessons. During this time Carrie was careful not to promise a spot in the program to the new student, but mention the possible openings of a few teachers. They set up a time to meet briefly in person at ITE, so Carrie could say meet the young girl, give a tour of the building, and answer more questions. Though she didn’t say this on the phone, the in person meeting is an essential step in Carrie gauging the three-year-old’s readiness.

IN PERSON

After meeting the family in the lobby (shaking the mother’s hand and crouching down to say hello to the girl), Carrie invited them into her teaching room. The girl noticed many things in the room (a stuffed animal monkey, purple violin case, rug, lights) and then Carrie directed her attention to the small violin unpacked on the bench next to her chair.

Carrie held out the violin and allowed the girl to touch different parts of it. She listened and watched carefully as the girl interacted with her mother and then, shyly, with the violin.

Carrie then showed her how to pluck the strings. They plucked the E and G, comparing the sounds of high and low. Then Carrie taught her quickly how to pluck the E WHILE she played Pop Goes the Weasel on her violin. This went so well that Carrie showed the young girl how to place the violin up on her shoulder, tucking her chin onto the chin rest, and hooking the right hand first finger on the string to do Pop Goes the Weasel in play position.

The young girl was also just interested in hearing Carrie play long tones on her resonant full size violin and remaining in contact with the small one. One of the most endearing moments was when she called the 1/16th size violin a baby violin and cuddled it to her chest.

Though the girl regularly retreated back to her mother’s lap and slipped into Russian to communicate, Carrie’s read (which she communicated to the parent in the moment) was that the girl was attentive, responded well to directions, and obviously had a connection to the violin. Carrie thought she was ready to start lessons IF the happened to be a lesson opening.

NEXT STEPS

Carrie encouraged the parent and child to attend Saturday group class for the next few weekends while she reached out to a few teachers about taking on this new student. Though it sounded to the parent like this was just padded administrative time, I think Carrie was also leaving room to gauge the families enduring interest in lessons and to see if they would set aside time to come observe.

She also warned the mother to have a careful talk with the daughter about how long the process would be before she had a real violin back up on her shoulder. Preparing the child’s brain for lessons is just as important as their physical dexterity or

Having seen this family, mother, father, and daughter, sitting in focused observation of the Suzuki pre-twinkle class for the past three Saturdays, I have no doubt they will start lessons soon.

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Imagine the shape your studio would take if you invited each parent and student into your learning environment with this amount of care. Far from excluding students with special needs, you are taking the time to get to know each child who approaches your and ensuring their readiness to be successful on the violin.

Having a handful of activities in your back pocket to assess a three-year-old’s readiness without overwhelming is necessary to craft a healthy studio environment in the long term. I hope the Carrie’s process above gives you a few ideas!