Shinichi Suzuki and Musical Talent: an Analysis of His Claims
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Shinichi Suzuki and Musical Talent: An Analysis of His Claims Zachary Ebin A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO March, 2015 © Zachary Ebin, 2015 Abstract The Suzuki Method is a popular and influential method of music education for strings. Central to this study is the Method’s premise that musical talent is not inborn, but rather cultivated through one’s environment. A critical reading of treatises by other influential violin pedagogues revealed that Suzuki’s premise was revolutionary. An analysis of Suzuki’s claims regarding musical talent showed that some of his claims are valid and some are unsubstantiated by current research. Suzuki’s argument that musical talent is not genetically inherited through a comparison to bird-song is flawed. In particular, important differences between bird song and human music suggest they are non-commensurate. From a story about children raised by wolves, Suzuki argued that human ability is a direct result of the environment and not an inborn predisposition. This story proved to be a fabrication, and while one’s environment clearly has an effect on development it is likely not as strong as Suzuki maintains. Suzuki argued that just as being right- handed or left-handed is a result of repetitive use of one hand, so too any skill can be trained through repetition. Though current research has failed to identify the cause of handedness, it has shown that, as Suzuki maintained, dexterity in the non-dominant hand is best trained through repetitive use of that hand, and in an environment with strong motivation to do so. Suzuki claimed that all children learn to speak as a result of their environment. Therefore, if we teach music in the same manner, all children should achieve equal mastery. This is only partially correct. Some children do not learn to speak even when the proper environment is in place. However, speech acquisition and music learning show a number of similarities, supporting Suzuki’s idea of using speech acquisition as a model for music education. Suzuki’s claim that tone-deafness is not an inborn condition, but rather is caused by a deficient musical environment ii has not been disproven. Indeed, research has provided support for Suzuki’s claim that intensive remedial training can rectify deficient musical perception. Through an examination of Suzuki’s foundational claims, this dissertation serves as a foundation for future Suzuki research. iii Acknowledgements In completing this dissertation, I received guidance and support from numerous people. My research has benefited immeasurably from the expertise and insight of my supervisor, Professor Jay Rahn. His countless suggestions, comments and critiques have been essential to the construction of my dissertation. The additional members of my committee, Professors Dorothy de Val, Walter Whiteley, Marshall Walker, Michael Coghlan, and Lori-Anne Dolloff also provided valuable direction and insight into my work. Also helpful were the countless discussions on Suzuki’s philosophy, methodology and history with prominent Suzuki pedagogues, including: Gilda Barston, Kimberly Meier-Sims, Carrie Reuning-Hummel, Dorothy Jones, and Christie Felsing. In particular, I have been privileged to benefit from the ongoing encouragement of my colleague and mentor, Margot Jewell. I would also like to acknowledge the staff of the Suzuki Association of the Americas, the Suzuki Association of Ontario, and the Talent Education Research Institute in Matsumoto, for answering my many questions and providing clarification on various topics. I am also grateful to Dr. Barbara Burkhard and Dr. Hannah Hamermesh who provided assistance in understanding the psychological literature, and supplied guidance towards particular articles. On a personal note, my family has been essential to bringing this dissertation to its completion. I would like to thank my parents, David and Barbara Ebin, and my parents-in-law, Joel and Molly Morris, for their ongoing support and encouragement. Elisheva Ebin has been a key part of this project from the beginning, as an editor, critic, as my wife, and as the mother of our two sons, Zev and Ezra. Without her support this dissertation would still be in its proposal form. iv Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents v Introduction 1 Chapter 1: A Brief History of the Suzuki Method 8 Chapter 2: The Suzuki Method 20 Chapter 3: The Goals of the Suzuki Method 35 Chapter 4: Suzuki’s Claims Regarding Musical Talent and Their Novelty 47 Chapter 5: Musical Ability is not Inherited: Bird Song 67 Chapter 6: The Influence of Environment: The Wolf Children 80 Chapter 7: Any Skill Can be Mastered with Repetition: Handedness 89 Chapter 8: The Mother Tongue Argument 101 Chapter 9: Speech Acquisition and Music Learning 117 Chapter 10: Musical Talent is not Inborn: The Problem of Tone-Deafness 150 Chapter 11: An Evaluation of Recent Research on Tone-Deafness: The 178 Montreal Battery for the Evaluation of Amusia Chapter 12: An Evaluation of Recent Research on Tone-Deafness: Empirical 193 Case Studies Chapter 13: Conclusion 225 Appendices Appendix 1: Melodies Incorrectly Played On Kalmus and Fry’s DTT 233 Appendix 2: Distribution of MBEA Scores for 421 Unselected Adults 239 References 243 v Introduction In the early 1930s, Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998), one of the most influential music pedagogues of the twentieth century, began to develop a unique method to teach music. Originally called “Talent Education,” this system is now globally referred to as the “Suzuki Method.” Suzuki’s method is founded on the idea that musical talent is not inborn, but rather cultivated through one’s environment and effort. This dissertation analyzes Suzuki’s claims regarding musical talent and assesses their validity. That is, whether recent research has affirmed or contradicted Suzuki’s claims. As recognition of the method’s efficacy and influence has grown, so too has the need for research on Suzuki’s ideas on music education. Suzuki (2012) suggests that the success of his pupils is proof of his method’s efficaciousness. In his book Nurtured by Love, Suzuki discusses the substantial musical careers of his original pupils, most notably Toshiya Eto, who became a world-renowned violinist and professor at the Curtis Institute, and Koji Toyoda, who became concertmaster of the Berlin Radio Symphony and a professor of violin at the Berlin Hochschule. In addition to training world-class virtuosi, Suzuki (2012) further asserts the success of his method by discussing the application of his theories to teach a blind boy, Teiichi Tanaka, to play the violin. After only a short time studying with Suzuki, Tanaka was able to play a Seitz concerto. Additionally, Suzuki cited the case of Hiroko Chan as evidence of the depth of his method. Chan, a child considered slow at everything, trained with Suzuki and eventually became the first woman member of the Berlin Radio Symphony. Perhaps the most extreme reported example of the method’s capacity is found in an interview of Suzuki by Susan Grilli (1991). In the interview, Suzuki claimed he was able to teach a mentally disabled boy to play 1 one of the most difficult pieces in the violin repertoire, the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, by the time he was 18 years old. Suzuki’s global influence can be traced back to 1964 when Suzuki took a group of ten students, ranging from age five to thirteen, on a tour of the United States. These students performed for a standing-room-only audience at the national convention of the Music Educators National Conference in Philadelphia. Evelyn Hermann (1981) noted that over 5,000 North American teachers watched in awe as Suzuki made them question long-held beliefs in string education. Suzuki attracted a large amount of attention during this tour and a revolution in North American music education began to take root. The Suzuki Method’s influence was furthered by the recognition of some of the most prominent music pedagogues of the 20th century. Alfred Garson (2001) noted that Pablo Casals, Dorothy Delay, Ivan Galamian, Joseph Gingold, Arthur Grumiaux, William Primrose, and Janos Starker all praised the Suzuki Method. Today, there is a Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) that consists of “a coalition of teachers, parents, educators, and others who are interested in making music education available to all children” (See http://www.suzukiassociation.org/about/). In 2014, the Suzuki Association of the Americas (SAA) reported a membership totaling 8,364, an increase of 13% over the previous 5 years. Over 100 “Every Child Can” courses, the prerequisite for any SAA- approved teacher training, were offered. In 2012, 2,312 teachers enrolled in 541 teacher training courses, an 8% increase in enrolment from 2011. In 2013, there were 64 Suzuki Summer Institutes modelled after Suzuki’s summer program in Matsumoto. Institutes took place in 34 states of the United States and six Canadian provinces. The demand for Suzuki teachers 2 continues to grow as well. The on-line teacher locator service provided by the SAA, averages 3,700 searches per month (“Organizational News,” 2014). While these statistics show that the Suzuki Method has become popular, it should be noted that they only refer to the SAA. Suzuki’s influence is actually far greater. There are many more Suzuki teachers who are either not members of the SAA, or teachers who do not call themselves “Suzuki teachers,” but incorporate aspects of the Suzuki method into their teaching. For example, the now highly popular El Sistema program that has emerged from Venezuela was highly influenced by the Suzuki Method. This influence was facilitated through visits to Venezuela by Hiroko Driver Lipman and William Starr, two prominent Suzuki teachers (Brasch, 2014).