About Lia Taylor
Lia Taylor is the founder and director of the Suzuki Violin Studio of Phoenix, a private violin and viola studio located in Phoenix, Arizona. She has taught music for 18 years and has been teaching the Suzuki method in the Valley for the past thirteen years. During that time, her students have placed in the American String Teachers Association Solo Competition, won the Scottsdale Musical Arts’ Young Artist Competition, and held Concertmaster and Principal Second positions in the Phoenix Youth Symphony String Orchestra, Phoenix Youth Symphony Symphonette, and Metropolitan Youth Symphony.
Taylor earned a BM in Violin Performance from Cleveland State University and an MM in Violin Performance Pedagogy from Arizona State University. As a doctoral candidate at the University of Oregon, she immersed herself in the Suzuki Method guided by her teacher, Judy Bossuat-Gallic, who studied directly with Shinichi Suzuki in Japan.
Taylor is a registered teacher on Violin Books 1—6 (including Every Child Can and the Practicum) with the Suzuki Association of the Americas. Taylor is a first violinist in the Tempe Symphony. Her past performance ensembles include MusicaNova Orchestra, Corvallis Symphony, Brevard Music Center Orchestra, and Musica Lozzo Chamber Ensemble. Her former teachers include Dr. Katherine McLin, Molly Fung Dumm, and Fritz Gearhart.
About Suzuki
The Suzuki Method
Dr. Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998) created a special method of music education called Talent Education. He believed that every child can learn and that talent is not inborn, it is nourished and developed over time with love. Suzuki realized that all children learn their native language with ease so he applied the principles of language acquisition to the learning of music. He called this the mother-tongue approach.
His method of teaching is successful when these key principles are followed:
- - Parent Involvement
- - Early Beginning
- - Listening
- - Repetition
- - Encouragement
- - Learning with Other Children
- - Graded Repertoire
- - Delayed Reading
Recommended Reading
- Nurtured by Love - Shinichi Suzuki>
- Ability Development from Age Zero - Shinichi Suzuki
- The Suzuki Violinist - William Starr
FAQS
The studio accepts children ages 3 and up.
When a child is ages 3--6, the parent is responsible for learning how to play the violin and taking lessons with the child. This includes sharing a 30 minute weekly lesson, renting or purchasing a full sized violin, and dedicating time to practice at home in addition to the time the parent spends with the child's practice. The parent is the "home teacher" so it is very important that they know how to play the violin. From ages 6 and up the parent is responsible for attending the lessons and taking notes. The parent may ask questions, but it is their job to stay in the background as much as possible to let the teacher and student have a productive lesson.
Music stores and charts on the internet often size children in instruments that are too large. It is best to wait until you begin lessons so that the Suzuki teacher can properly size your child.
Children ages 3--6 will begin lessons with a "box" violin that the studio will provide. When the child is ready he/she will graduate to a real violin.
On a per child basis, the studio introduces note reading at one of two milestones. Either when the child's technique is solid or when the child is half way through book 1.
Suzuki Links
International Suzuki AssociationSuzuki Association of the Americas
Arizona Suzuki Association
