What teaching methods integrate well with creative self-teaching?
Of interest to a student wishing to learn in a profound way are two methods which develop the ear in depth, while also developing excellent reading and technical skills. These are the methods of Shinichi Suzuki (applicable to a number of instruments) and Robert Pace (applicable to the keyboard). These methods integrate sight-reading with ear training, but in such opposite ways that the methods seem to many teachers incompatible. The methods are sometimes pitted against each other, and characterized as rote versus concept teaching. In my view, the two methods are highly compatible for self-teaching. Both instruction methods have the same objective: developing versatile and expressive musicians with excellent technique and deep musical knowledge. As a point of comparison, the simple difference might be said to be that the Suzuki method employs inductive reasoning, whereas the Pace method employs deductive reasoning. In the Suzuki method, the student induces how to read music. First, the
