Susuki: Helpful or not?

Hi,

do you think Susuki is a good learning tool, or do you think it's a waste of time?

I use it, and while it might be tricky, it does help, to a certain point. After book 5, you should move on, I think.

What do you think?

I think it depends on who is overseeing the instruction of the method. Suzuki method is good for providing a repertoire basis for the various techniques but without the proper teacher the results are often robotic in nature. That said, i don't think that after the 5th book you should move on ;)

There are more concise methods to teaching violin than Suzuki. Suzuki aims at teaching familiar and catchy tunes so the student doesn't lose interest immediately. I don't see anything wrong with it, but it shouldn't be a primary source for teaching/learning material.

It depends who you are. I think it works best for young kids as a way to learn to play the instrument even if they are to young to learn to read music. For older students it is great because it include many works from the standard student repertoire.

There is a point in all methods where you must make the move out of the method book world and into the real music world. I personally think that Suzuki make this transition easy and less daunting.

again, this is all my opinion.