With all those ideas out of the way, let me lay out clearly what I am going to do with YouTube.

I’m going to build two archives. One for myself, and one for the Suzuki Community.

I’ve already launched my personal YouTube account and at the time of publishing it has 48 Subscribers. This is the home for all of my teaching. I post…
-lesson recordings
-student practice
-student performances
-parent talks
-sequence videos

I’m also going to publish teaching methodology videos as well. I will use an “explanatory” style, videography, and story-telling devices to document teaching and learning principles.

I’m thinking of this ARCHIVE as my legacy.

How much do you wish you could click on Shin’ichi Suzuki’s YouTube channel and watch his experiments, his wisdom, his blunders and recoveries from day 1? Imagine how much we could learn if we just had the evidence, the footage.

I don’t think I am an especially special Suzuki teacher. However, I want hunreds of teachers to press publish and document their work in public so I can learn from them. I’m putting my archive out, diving into the deep end, so others know it is safe and worthwhile to do so too.

That being said, operating in public like this adds a whole other layer of work beyond just ‘teaching.’ I need to turn the camera on, then off, then upload large files to my computer, then storyboard, then edit, then post. It isn’t easy. But I have two very clear reasons for doing the work.

1) The work will make ME better. The work is practice. Reps. Studying myself. Reinvesting my time into improving. Every day.

2) The community needs this.

I have another goal, too. One that is bigger than myself.

I’m launching the Suzuki Archives.

I already picked up the channel. This is a channel for one-off uploads of anyone in the community. I will upload historic videos of Suzuki teaching. I will upload contemporary videos of up and coming teachers. I will upload videos of teacher trainers. I will upload videos of creative, innovative Suzuki teaching pushing the envelope of ‘western-classical’ music education.

I can see a future of traveling all over the US in the summer to record high-quality, multiple angle, mic’d footage of Suzuki violin teaching. Those videos will be featured on the Suzuki Archive. Teachers get the opportunity to have their work documented in a beautiful way. Our community gets the benefit of seeing that teaching from anywhere, anytime.

And the best part? The channel isn’t mine. It’s ours.

When another young teacher comes along who is passionate about archival work, videography, and YouTube they can pick up the torch. And that torch might just give them access to work closely with some of the most important teachers of their generation. We stand on the shoulder of giants. And I’m excited to support the next teachers who come after me.

This is my vision for my contribution to YouTube.