My friend from Juilliard teaches the Suzuki method for violin, and i was wondering if there's a "drum" method to do so.  would love to get my little 3-4 yr. old cousins into the art.

has anyone heard of such?

If you had a setup resembling Hal Blaine's fabled kit, I'm sure something could be worked out.

What's the Suzuki method anyway?

its a specialized method that teaches children thru encouragement, and by way of them learning music as another "tongue" or language.  its quite extraordinary because children as young as 4 are able to bust out a Mozart violin sonata!

here's info on the man, Dr. Shinichi Suzuki

http://www.suzukiassociation.org/SuzukiWeb/index/About%20Us/Dr.%20Suzuki/ShinichiIndex.htm

here's a synopsis i found:

http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/1116/suzuki.html

What is the Suzuki Method?
The Suzuki Method of music education was begun in the middle of the twentieth century by Japanese violinist Shinichi Suzuki.

Dr Suzuki believed that the best and most effective way to learn music is to be exposed to it from a very early age. He calls this the "mother tongue" method - young children learn to play an instrument in the same way that they learn their own language: by listening, absorbing, and copying.

In the beginning, the parent is given the first lessons on the instrument, while the child watches. In this way, the child's interest is aroused by its natural desire to copy the parent. This also gives the parent an understanding of the technical difficulties that playing a musical instrument involves.

When the child begins learning, it is by ear - music reading is not taught till later. Again this ties in with the idea of the "mother tongue": one could not imagine trying to teach an infant to read before it can speak - similarly the young musician does not learn to read music until it has begun to understand music aurally. In general, the age at which a child is taught to read music is the same as when it is learning to read books in its own language.

Dr Suzuki's philosophy is one of "Talent Education": he does not believe that only certain people are born with "a gift", or "talent", rather that each child has infinite potential. He believes that in teaching the child music, he is in fact creating a medium for the emotinal and spiritual growth of the child.

I also went through Suzuki Method for Violin and still have the books, although it was junior high and not college.

I don't agree with Felix however on his comment about every child not having infinite potential.

Felix, have you ever watched a child in the early stages of development? They are like angry little sponges. They soak up EVERYTHING in front of them. True that some has to do with them wanting to do it, but the potential for a child to learn is infinate based on the way a human mind gains knowledge of the world in the early stages of development.
They learn...thats all they do.
-RHS

Come on Felix...first you made a balnket statement about every child not having potetial...then you turn around and narrow it down to specific instances where its not possible?
ok....well.....I still disagree.
It is possible for a child to have Downs Syndrome ( mongoloidism as you call it) and not be developmentally challenged. It all depends on which type affliction he or she has.
Also..Crack Babies have not been around long enough to study long term developmental effects.

Think of the brain as a muscle, it's true that some are born with a "rippling right frontal lobe" , but it is also possible to develop a "rippling right frontal lobe".

but buy your statement, if I wanted rippling popeye lobes ala Mr. A, it would be impossible no mater how much I tried?

ennnnnnngh...WRONG ANSWER...thanks fo playing though...Bart...tell him what he's won! LOL!  

I do agree that talent would help a person further and faster down a particular road, but it's not the only way. Hard work can also get you there...if it were a talent only thang, then 1/2 the MLB players would not be there.

For the record...I am one of those people WITHOUT the natural talent...so I have to work twice as hard to keep up with the rest. Thats ok though...it's my choice. I also play multiple instruments which take hard work,  but your scenario would make it an impossible goal for me to achieve...yet I have.

The Suzuki method does not say the "everychild is a genius", what it does is expliot the early stages of development when children learn faster and are capable of learning and absorbing more.

I am not making a statement saying "every child is a potential genius" either...I am saying...teaching a child something like this at an early age make retention more possible due to the way the human mind works. Period.

Guess I just mis-typed what I meant...
You dig?
-RHS  

Perhaps "infinite potential" should be rewritten as "greatest potential"--then it would make more sense.  Children have particular windows of opportunity for learning various things: foreign language before the age of 10, musical instrument betw. 3-10. Music and math ability follow along the same circuits in the brain, so musical exposure at a young age can improve mathmatical ability. So a person will be more likely to reach his greatest potential if he starts w/ music at a young age.

well i know my little sister... NO POTENTIAL PERIOD!!!

stupidest little kid on the planet...

but she is kinda funny when she does REALLY stupid things...heh heh heh

Is that opinion based on personal experience.  LOL.  

Ratamatatt

Kooky or not, he had a good point! After a certain age, the learning circuits in the brain are hardwired, and the person can no longer learn foreign language/music/etc. TO THEIR OWN fullest potential. My son's school starts the kids in Spanish in the first grade, and he's light-years ahead in math, I think b/c he's been in music since he was about 4.