Suzuki, or not to Suzuki...

I am a pianist. I'm not sure I ever had a choice. My grandmother is a pianist. My mother is a pianist. There, I am a pianist. :) I don't think I really had lessons until my late high school years. I have vivid memories of sitting upstairs in our home listening to my mother teach lessons in our living room. The students would leave, one by one, and I would rush to the closet desperately looking for the book that they just used. I would then spend the rest of my afternoon teaching myself how to play that particular song, all the while listening to my mother yell out instructions from the kitchen sink. It really was that simple. "No no no!!! That's a B flat!" Play... play... play... play... play. "No no no!!! You missed the B flat again!" I have never had a desire to play anything other than the piano, except for a very short period of junior high when I went nuts about the flute. :) This was only temporary because I quickly realized that: #1, you have to clean it after every use (where's the fun in that!?), and #2, the flute could never sound as loud and impressive as the piano. I am a guilty "pounder". The louder, the better. :) I love full, strong chords and lots and lots of volume. I will never be able to repay my mother for allowing me to love the piano, and my grandmother for forcing my mom to practice. :) When I am ecstatic, or lonely, or angry, or tired, I still head to that worn keyboard for solace. And words cannot express how overjoyed I am that my children love music as well. I rarely get to practice alone anymore. That's okay, because we are nurturing their interests. We are so okay with it that we are getting ready to break the bank to give them private, professional instruction. I was raised, taught, and am now teaching with this philosophy: become familiar with the keyboard, learn to read music, and you will in turn learn to play. This is my CONVICTION! :) But I am preparing to go completely against the flow and I'm not so sure how I feel about it. We are registering our oldest, who will turn 4 in two weeks, for Suzuki violin lessons. This is a huge commitment. It will mean one private lesson a week, one group lesson a week, paying the music school a whole lot of $$$, renting a teeny tiny violin, AND enduring the sound of a beginner violinist for a very long time. :) I have to be present for every single lesson, and help him practice every single day. Lest I remind you that I am also responsible for this household, making my husband happy, nursing my 16 month old daughter, laundry, cleaning, cooking, potty training my 2 1/2 year old, homeschooling preschool, and maintaining my sanity! Ha! :) But in all honesty, this is the path we have chosen. This is what's best for our family, for right now. So no complaining from me! :) It may all change next year. Actually I am hoping it will. By next year I should only have one child in diapers, and that child should not be breastfeeding anymore! :) But for now, for this moment in our lives, this is the path we are choosing. Suzuki is very hard for me to swallow. This method teaches playing before reading. It produces beautiful musicians. But it goes against what I've been taught: reading/understanding before playing. I think a lot of good things come out of Suzuki, and this is why we are choosing to enroll him in it. So, it's a little scary and intimidating, but also very exciting. Will I be uploading videos of my little virtuoso on Youtube? Probably not. Do I expect him to play violin for the rest of his life? Not at all. But the good that can come out of this immersion into the classical music world, along with heeding instruction from a teacher other than myself, is just too good to pass up. It might mean that I can no longer afford highlights in my hair, but I think seeing that little boy standing proud with his miniature stringed instrument is well worth it. Here's to a few months of ear plugs!!! :) :) :)