Why Edmonton Suzuki Piano School?
The Edmonton Suzuki Piano School provides musical development to students, parents, and teachers following the Suzuki Method. We are the only music school in Edmonton and surrounding areas dedicated to this singular purpose. When families choose ESPS, they choose a school focused on creating a music community centred around the student, parent and teacher. Our mission is to create a learning community which embraces excellence and nurtures the human spirit.
Edmonton Suzuki Piano School specializes exclusively in piano instruction. But, at ESPS, our program more than just a weekly lesson. The heart of our program is each student's musical and personal development, giving space and time for learning and progression at one’s own pace. Following the Suzuki Method, the piano is taught like a language, first listening to our Suzuki repertoire, finding the notes by ear, and then learning to read music. As students progress, performances celebrate progress versus examinations to test skills. The method draws out each student's unique style and strengths, recognizing that every child's best can look different. ESPS teachers focus on personal development and progress as they develop individualized lesson plans. The Suzuki method provides transferrable life skills for students that will serve them throughout their lives: goal setting, problem-solving, performance skills, tenacity, perseverance, confidence and poise.
Our Suzuki "triangle" supports everyone in our community; the teacher, parent, and student work together to create a supportive and effective learning environment. Parents are essential to the process and receive coaching to support their children at practice. The parent's involvement creates a support structure for the learner at home. In turn, the parent enjoys a front-row seat to their child’s progression at the piano.
Edmonton Suzuki Piano school's teachers are professional musicians and music educators. While they all provide the same high-quality instruction and program, they will each vary in their personality and teaching style. One of our many strengths as a piano school is the diversity of selection of our teachers. This means that each family can choose a teacher that is a great fit for them. Before a family registers, we encourage observation of several teachers in a lesson setting to ensure the best fit.
Our mandate at Edmonton Suzuki Piano is to support our students, parents and teachers. ESPS provides management and support so teachers can focus on excellence in teaching. ESPS also organizes special events, offering parent education opportunities and coordinating the details for performances like recitals, outreach concerts, and graduations.
The Suzuki Method Explained
Shinichi Suzuki, a Japanese violinist, spent his life developing the Mother Tongue Approach to music, proving that musical ability is not inborn. Instead, talent can be created and that all young children can develop exceptional talent. The concept formed when Dr. Suzuki was struck by the simple thought that “all Japanese children speak Japanese.” He realized that children all around the world learned their native language with ease. He developed an approach to music education that created an environment that was similar to the basic principles of language acquisition in young children.
Much like the steps young children take to learn a language, he theorized that they can learn to play music. First, they hear the music, identify the sounds created, recreate the sounds, and eventually read the notes. He focussed on the importance of early learning, parental support, daily practice, repetition and small incremental steps, immersion, and praise.
Shinichi Suzuki was a world-renowned visionary and educator. He has had a notable impact on the way students learn piano, violin, viola, cello, bass, flute, recorder, harp, guitar, trumpet and voice. Over 500,000 Suzuki students worldwide now study music through this approach.
Read more about the life of Dr. Shinichi Suzuki and the Evolution of the Suzuki Approach.
“Music is the language of the heart without words.”