Over the years, Shin’ichi’s educational efforts would grow and develop. From then on, Shin’ichi would begin a process of applying the principles of language acquisition to musical training, leading to the framework of a training system that would produce impressively “high” levels of performance. With this in mind, Shin’ichi postulated that music, like language, could be taught in the same way. They learned through a process of listening, mimicry, and repetition. Just as Japanese children absorbed the language of their parents, he realized that children across the globe likely acquired their first language or “mother tongue” through this same practice. During his frustrations, he began to take special notice of how efficiently and effectively German children learned to speak the language fluently at their mother’s knee. Unfortunately, Shin’ichi did not speak the language and found its use quite a struggle. However, what he pondered wasn’t some piece of special instruction he received there–rather, it was the memories of his efforts to try and communicate with the people of Germany. While considering the question of how best to teach young students to play the violin, Shin’ichi realized that the answer was among his memories of the years he had spent in Germany. In any case, whichever event or events set things in motion, what follows is always more or less the same. Some say it began when he was asked to teach a 4-year-old child, while others say the idea grew from a conversation at a quartet rehearsal in 1933. It is at this point in the story that there seems to be some divergence among sources as to the event that set Shin’ichi on a path to teaching young children. Shin’ichi’s return to Japan in 1929, occurring amid the country’s long run-up to World War II, would lead to teaching positions at the Imperial School of Music and the Kunitachi Music School in Tokyo. Shin’ichi Suzuki interacts with a young Suzuki learner. While it is not clear that Shin’ichi formally studied with Klinger (or what the nature of his relationship with Einstein was), his time in Germany would provide the inspiration for a significant contribution that he would eventually make to the arena of education.ĭr. It is also claimed that Shin’ichi would meet several famous and influential individuals there, including Albert Einstein. It is said that during these travels, Shin’ichi would settle for several years in Germany to study under celebrated German violinist Karl Klinger. When Shin’ichi turned 26, his friend Marquis Tokugawa convinced Masakichi to allow Shin’ichi to leave Japan and travel internationally. Without access to formal instruction, his learning attempts were limited to listening to instrument recordings and attempting to imitate what he heard. Undeterred by his father’s objections, in 1916, at the age of 17, Shin’ichi pursued the instrument on his own. While some might think this would please his family, it is said that his father, Masakichi, felt it would be “beneath” Shin’ichi to be a performer. Shin’ichi spent a good deal of his childhood working at his father’s factory (now known as the Suzuki Violin Co., Ltd.) As one might expect, Shin’ichi eventually found the inspiration to take up the bow for himself and learn to play. This change in focus led Masakichi to develop the first Japanese violin factory-a factory that, at the time, would be the largest such factory in the world. Shin’ichi’s father, Masakichi Suzuki, while not a musician himself, was a maker of traditional Japanese string instruments who eventually focused his attention on the manufacture of violins. Born in Nagoya, Japan, in the Fall of 1898, Shin’ichi spent his early years immersed in a world of music despite his family’s lack of traditional musicality. The story of famed violinist and educator Shin’ichi Suzuki is an interesting one. I do hope that you enjoy this walkthrough of some of the nuts and bolts of the Waichulis Curriculum. It is also my intention to organically augment this paper from time to time with additional insights that I believe will be useful and informative for those interested. In addition, I have attempted to clearly explain why I have adopted some aspects of existing “classical” or traditional training systems and not others. The content I have provided here is not a comprehensive walkthrough of the entire system, but rather it is a cultivated collection of information intended to address many of the most commonly asked questions about certain aspects of the program. The following paper is intended to offer insight into some of the inspirations, development, dynamics, and evolution of The Waichulis Curriculum that serves as the main training program with the ÀNI Art Academies. Insights into the nuts and bolts of a modern-day skill-based visual art training system.
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