I started to play the violin a year and a half ago. I have been using Suzuki books from the very beginning (I am now using book 3). My teacher doesn´t really use the Suzuki method, just basically the books, and they work wonders.

My 5 yr old son started 4 mths ago and is onto his Book 2. Here, teachers dont use pure Suzuki but a hybrid. For Book 1, it is mainly playing by ear and some basic notes reading. But from Book 2 onwards, the ABRSM books (Scales, Fundamental Studies)are introduced. Suzuki books are good for their songs, to inspire kids to want to play and appreciate the beauty of music. I think not many kids will sustain their interest if everything is as dry as thsoe ABRSM books - scales and fundamental studies.

The Suzuki method doesn't exempt students from learning scales, etudes, and when to sight read. I think why so many people 'believe' that suzuki students don't know how to sight-read is because, tradionally, with the method, students start at a really young age, 3 or 4. My old suzuki teacher taught us to read music when we started learning how to read in school. I did the suzuki method until I was finished, all ten books, and I turned out alright

Put simply, I recommend choosing the method to the teacher. Your teacher has to LIKE and KNOW Suzuki to be able to teach it correctly. It's not all by ear. I've gone through four Suzuki books now and I've never learned by ear and only minimally worked with tapes. The best way for me, personally, to progress, has been repetition until I find out the limits and sounds of a piece. After I get used to hearing how the song is supposed to sound, my ears are getting more and more trained. Not only do I get enough experience with the song to be able to tell when its notes are out of tune, I get better and better and judging when new songs are out of tune. My teacher inforced that using Suzuki - we didn't move on until I had mastered the intonation and the bowing. Each suzuki song enforces a slightly new concept, so it seems daunting and like a lot of work, but looking back, I wish I had spent more time in Suzuki 2 and Suzuki 3. It really helped me in all aspects of the violin. But, again, that's just how my teacher taught, and all could be different. Talk to your teacher about it and see what their opinion is on it.

Personally, I would never reccomend the Suzuki method. I've been playing for eight years, and I started the Suzuki method when I was seven. After the first book of Suzuki, I absolutely detested it, and was tought privately by Russian teachers ever since.

The thing about Suzuki is it doesn't teach you how to play music; it teaches you how to play notes. I've noticed that several of my friends in Orchestra who've learned soley on the Suzuki method aren't as musically developed even though they've been playing longer.

I'd reccomend finding a good teacher and letting them teach you the way they want you to; stay away from Suzuki!!

Conform, I feel really badly for those colleagues that couldn't play musically after learning with the Suzuki Method. I think it really depends both on the musician and the teacher....the teacher can only go so far as to say "crescendo here, accent there", but nobody can truly instill true musicality into somebody...then again, even if somebody isn't naturally musical, that doesn't automatically mean they are awful players, it just doesn't come naturally to them, and they have to work a lot harder for it. No matter what method you use, even with no method at all, you will find "good" and "bad" players, and pros and cons about the method. It's just a matter of opinion (in my opinion, anyway)