Music teachers from Estelí take part in Suzuki workshop
Hannah Curteis with some of her music students
On Friday November 12th Alfredo Quintero and I (Hannah Curteis), teachers of the Estelí Musical Education Program funded by Foundation Superemos, took part in a workshop at the North Batahola Cultural Center in Managua during which we learnt how to implement the Suzuki method of music teaching for young children.
The workshop was led by music teacher and choir master Juan Guido who has been using the method himself for over ten years with outstanding results (Batahola's children's choir and orchestra are without a doubt the most accomplished children's ensembles in Nicaragua).
The specific teaching method that we were trained to implement is a one year course for children from the age of six upwards as part of which pupils learn to play the recorder, sing, read and write music via a collection of 32 short songs of increasing difficulty.
The method allows children to internalize the musical scale by linking each note to a part of the body (the knees represent “C”, the thighs represent “D”, the hips represent “E”, the waist represents “F”, etc.). Pupils also internalize the musical beat by measuring out the beat of the songs on their bodies (e.g. in 4/4 time beat number 1 is measured by touching the stomach, beat number 2 by touching the left shoulder, beat number 3 the right shoulder and beat number 4 the forehead).
To complement this simple practical teaching method Juan Guido very kindly facilitated us copies of other teaching material to use in the classroom in order to enhance pupil's understanding of different musical aspects (like rhythm, harmony, the instruments of the orchestra, etc.) as well as providing us with a methodological guide with specific instructions regarding the implementation of this complementary material.
Additionally, we were very pleased to be able to invite Guillermo Mercado, one of the music teachers working on a project at Estelí's Cultural Centre (Casa de Cultura) to create a Municipal Music Ensemble. This project works on a tiny budget and it was of great benefit to Mercado and his colleagues to be able to take part in this workshop free of charge.
In Batahola the one year suzuki course is used as an introductory course after which pupils are given the opportunity to learn an instrument and join the orchestra or study singing and join the choir. We hope, with time, to be able to implement a similar process, something which is likely to be possible via our increasing collaboration with the Estelí Cultural Center municipal music ensemble project as well as the ongoing development of our own existing children's choir.