recalcitrant

I was just contemplating the Suzuki method of musical instruction and the far-reaching ramifications that's had on my life and brain.

There are a lot of criticisms out there for the method and I'd say some of them are bang on. Teaching perfection can be like playing with fire for some kids, I think; perfectionism can be a devil or an angel, sometimes even in the same person. Perfectionism breeds procrastination, for example -- like in me. If you never do anything you won't ever fail at anything, essentially (except at getting off your ass and making some sort of contribution to society). Perfectionism and creativity often don't jive because creativity requires a certain amount of flirting with failure...maybe even a lot of flirting with failure. Perfectionists hate flirting with failure...they much prefer to do things at which they're confident they will excel at -- and consequently, I think, squander a lot of opportunities that way. Perfectionism and songwriting are like two dogs pulling at the same toy with me.

I've had great success from Suzuki with some aspects of music, like training the ear, memorization, and intonation. And learning to imitate is never a bad thing as, at least to some extent, anybody playing music is imitating.

But I'm starting to see that such a structured, precise system, which was developed mainly for another culture, might not be the best thing to force a 4 year old child into. Many people say that Suzuki students will lay down their instrument at the first opportunity and never return; if that's true I'm thankful I only had a couple of years of it. Impressionable years, true. But I imagine if I had kept on with it I'd have some severe socio-psychological defects given the amount it's impacted me anyway. A fear of failure isn't always a bad thing but being terrified by it is not healthy. Having to create perfection all the time not only isn't possible, such a mindset is not conducive to continued creativity. Being too harsh a judge on oneself is a bad scene. (As is never judging onesself, heh.)

It's odd that this revelation only hit me tonight. Another strange educational program I was in from grade 4-7 has also really kind of shaped me but I'd considered it's ramifications long ago...as I'm still in touch with a couple of guys from that program we bitch about it all the time. But I'd never really considered that the Suzuki method ever impacted me at all....I'm going to find other Suzuki students and see what their experiences with music are like.

Digging...