Shinichi Suzuki believed a major purpose for teaching a person how to play an instrument was to create sensitive, intelligent, caring individuals. Ability develops into talent, he said, and he did not just mean talent in playing music. We can develop our ability to listen, to look for meaning, to work with other people, to motivate ourselves and others to further learning, to experiment and try new ideas, and even our intelligence.
In her blog Rethinking Genius, Suzuki violin teacher Danielle Gomez touches on how we can develop intelligence through music lessons. She says, "music doesn't just stop at learning the skills necessary to play an instrument beautifully. In going through the process of learning an instrument, a student is becoming a more intelligent individual."
She notes that the dictionary defines intelligence as more than giving the correct answer. It is "The ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations."
Students nurture and grow their intelligence as they encounter new and difficult challenges in music, and learn how to move forward through practice towards mastery.
I encourage you to read Danielle's full blog article here.
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