Behrens Guitar Studio
Suzuki Guitar Program
Founded in 2003 by guitarist Sean Behrens, the Behrens Guitar Studio has been dedicated to teaching children of all ages the classical guitar through the nurturing approach of the Suzuki Method.
The Suzuki Method or “Mother-Tongue” approach to music learning as Dr. Suzuki referred to it was developed by Dr. Shin’ichi Suzuki, a classically trained violinist in post-war Japan. When trying to figure out how he would teach a 4 year old how to play the violin, he realized that children could learn music in the same way that they learn how to speak their native language.
Suzuki realized that all children from all over the world are fluent in their native language by the age of 4 without reading a word. All children are born with the innate sensitivity to hear and imitate their own language. Based on this, Suzuki figured then that if music were in the home and cultural environment, then the child would absorb that as well. Music is in and of itself a type of language and every culture has it. This is not just classical music but all music. Ray Charles learned the blues by sneaking in the back of the night club and watching the men from his community play blues and jazz.
In the Behrens Guitar Studio Suzuki Guitar program, the children come to private and group lessons. Children of all ages learn music together in a nurturing and supportive environment. The children are bound together by a common repertoire that they all learn through recordings and private lessons as well as watching their peers who are ahead of them play the music that they will play.
The central element that drives the success of the Suzuki Method however, is the Parent Education. The parents learn the rudiments of the guitar and some of the basic songs that their child will play so that they will be effective home coaches during the week. (See Home Coach Training).
