A very kind commenter asked where I’ve been and said nice things about the blog, so I at least wanted to post a short explanation.
Readers know that my daughter and I really struggled with practice. As it turns out, those struggles defeated me (at least for the moment), and we stopped doing Suzuki guitar at the end of the spring semester.
I am sad about this; sometimes, unspeakably so. I feel like I did so many things wrong. I also still find it hard to fathom; M was in Book 3 and her playing sounded great. It’s hard for me to get my head around the fact that I couldn’t keep her going. Also, I worry about discouraging my handful of readers. I do believe, despite my experience so far, that the Suzuki experience is incredibly powerful and valuable, even with the struggle it entails. But even saying that, I feel like a bit of a fraud—after all, I couldn’t make it work, so who am I to talk?
I appreciate my readers, and I wish you the best. I will try to post some more as I get my thoughts together and have something helpful to say.
As a Suzuki mum to children now and a former Suzuki child I totally understand your struggles with practice – Have you thought about a change of instrument? I know children who just didn’t cope with a violin but did well with piano, and another that didn’t cope with piano but excelled at cello. I know a Suzuki teacher who insists that you should let the child choose the instrument. I remember hating my parents for making me practice as a child but now as a adult appreciate on a whole new level the ability to play music and the experiences that it gave me and that remain with me for life! Wishing you all the best!
Well… I just found your blog looking for information on guitar sizes and then found your last post 🙁
I just wanted to let you know that I will be reading through all of your posts and gleaning what I can. I don’t want your “end result” to be mine, but I could easily be on this path. The fighting, son’s unwillingness to try, and regretting some of my strategies/words/actions are weighing heavily on me at the moment. Off to read more.
Thanks. I hope you find something helpful. I certainly wish I had done some things differently.