Skip to Main Content
  • Apply
  • Events
  • Support CFA
  • Directory
  • Contact & Directions
Boston University College of Fine Arts

  • About
  • Academics
  • Admissions
  • News & More
  • About
    • A Message from the Dean
    • Strategic Priorities
    • Rankings & Achievements
    • Alumni & Friends
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
    • Accreditation
    • Venues & Facilities
    • Contact & Directions
  • Academics
    • Degrees & Programs
    • Explore Your Interests
    • School of Music
    • School of Theatre
    • School of Visual Arts
    • Study Abroad
    • Courses for the BU Community
    • Our Faculty
  • Admissions
    • Undergraduate
    • Graduate
    • Online Programs
    • Non-Degree
    • Events & Campus Visits
    • Admitted Students
    • BU Tanglewood Institute
    • Youth Programs
  • News & More
    • CFA Magazine
    • Calendar
    • BU Arts Central
    • Boston University Art Galleries
    • BU Arts Initiative
    • Research & Community Engagement
    • Featured Work
Search

Resources for:

  • Current Students
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Alumni
  • Apply
  • Events
  • Support CFA
  • Directory
  • Contact & Directions

BU Today feature: Suzuki Method: Respect and Repetition the Best Teachers

December 3, 2018
Twitter Facebook
Madeline Bucci (CFA’19,’20) and Karin Hendricks
Madeline Bucci (CFA’19,’20) (left) researched a teaching method that stresses respect rather than aptitude, mentored by Karin Hendricks, a CFA assistant professor of music. Photo by Cydney Scott

This article was originally published in BU Today on December 3, 2018. By Rich Barlow

To the average person, Suzuki is a motorcycle. To Madeline Bucci, the word conveys an educational philosophy that could revolutionize how we educate the world’s youngest children.

The Suzuki method, named for its developer, violinist Shinichi Suzuki, is an approach to learning musical instruments that emphasizes mutual respect between teacher and pupil. Teachers encourage students with praise, looking for anything about their effort and output to laud. Suzuki, who died in 1998, believed that innate aptitude is overrated—instead, as Bucci (CFA’19,’20) sums up his thinking, “everyone is always learning.”

That’s the title of a study she wrote for BU’s Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP), which matches students with faculty mentors across the University and provides funding for projects. Bucci examined the Suzuki Preschool of Newton (Mass.), which integrates the Suzuki method into its music instruction—while also integrating music and the Suzuki approach into its broader curriculum, from reading and writing to Mandarin.

The Suzuki method also stresses parental involvement in children’s learning, group learning, and listening to music from early childhood. The Suzuki Preschool is one of only two preschools in the country that apply the approach to general education (the other is in Atlanta), says Bucci’s project advisor, Karin Hendricks, a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of music and music education.

Bucci’s research made her a believer in Suzuki’s power to improve education—music and nonmusic—by encouraging students and reinforcing their belief in the power to learn.

Read the full article

  • Share this story

Share

BU Today feature: Suzuki Method: Respect and Repetition the Best Teachers

Share this:

  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
Contact
855 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA 02215

617-353-3350
Contact us
Footer image.
  • About
  • Academics
  • Admissions
  • News & More
© Boston University. All rights reserved. www.bu.edu
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Youtube
  • X
Boston University

© 2025 Trustees of Boston University | Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Boston University Masterplate
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
Back to Top