About the Teacher
Rama Chobhe is the founder of the Suzuki School of Violin, Pune, started in July 2001.
Rama was exposed to Hindustani Classical violin playing at the early age of five and was part of the very famous children’s orchestra, Warana Bal Vadya Vrunda, Warananagar, under her teacher, Mr. Shankarrao Kulkarni, for ten years. Thereafter, she studied under her guru, Mrs. Vidya Dengle of the Delhi Gharana for 19 years, in the traditional Indian ‘Guru-Shishya Parampara’. Rama has completed her Master’s Degree in Music with a gold medal from the Centre of Performing Arts, Pune University, in 2003. Since then, she has also been a faculty member with them.
A mother of two boys, Rama was in quest of a method to start violin training for them at an early age and found out about the Suzuki Method and its unique philosophy. She underwent training in Western Classical violin playing through the Suzuki method under Mr. Richard Coff, at the Suzuki Method Academy, Florida, USA and was later certified by the Suzuki Association of Americas as the first certified Suzuki teacher from India.
On her return to India, Rama started the Suzuki School of Violin, Pune, in July 2001 with just five students. Since then, over the past 19 years, Rama has taught well over 250 young children to play the violin by the Suzuki method. She is also experimenting with teaching Indian Classical Music to her students. Rama was invited as a guest faculty to teach Indian Music for Music Enrichment Classes at the 6th Asian Suzuki Conference held at Bali, Indonesia in 2016.
Rama’s students are playing at high levels of proficiency and have been invited to play in prestigious national orchestras and various international events. In March 2016, the students of the school performed at the Suzuki Gala at the Royal Albert Hall, London, which had 1200 children participating from across the world. They also were a part of the Suzuki World Conference at Melbourne, Australia in April 2009.
Rama makes it a point to perform with her students at pediatric wards of government hospitals, cancer centres, old age homes and blind schools. She has successfully taught differently abled children to play the violin, which has made a very positive difference in their lives.
To make sure that her students are well aware of their responsibilities towards society, she always encourages them to contribute to noble causes. Recently, in 2018, she appealed to her students to perform and collect funds to help people from the flood devastated areas in Kerala. Her students, ranging from 3- to 20-year olds, very enthusiastically performed and successfully contributed towards the Kerala Relief Fund.
Rama is the recipient of the Swami Haridas Award, Vasantotsav 2019. This award has been instituted by the Ajivasan Trust in 2017 for recognising ‘Unsung Music Gurus’.
While teaching young children, the principle she follows is, “Being human is more important than any knowledge. It is important to have awareness of your duties towards society. The purpose of music learning is not only to make professional musicians, but to create noble human beings with a fine
character.” Rama strongly believes in Dr. Suzuki’s philosophy, “Beautiful Tone, Beautiful Heart”.
About the Suzuki School of Violin, Pune
The Suzuki School of Violin was started in Pune on 5th July, 2001 with five students. Over the past 19 years, the school has developed vigorously. It has nurtured and successfully trained 300 students, from ages 3 years and above.
The Suzuki School of Violin, Pune follows the internationally known music curriculum and teaching philosophy created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. The method aims to create an environment for learning music which parallels the environment of acquiring a native language/mother tongue.
The students of the school have performed at numerous concerts in our country and have played at paediatric wards of government hospitals, old age homes & cancer centres.
The students along with their teacher had the opportunity to participate in the Suzuki World Conference at Melbourne, Australia. In 2016 the students played at the Suzuki Gala hosted at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall, London. Students of the school often participate in the Indian National Youth Orchestra and Chorus.
The students also very enthusiastically used their musical skills to raise money for the Kerala Relief Fund in 2018.
The Suzuki Method of Music Education
The Suzuki method is an internationally known music curriculum and teaching philosophy created by the legendary Japanese violinist and pedagogue, Dr. Shinichi Suzuki.
The Suzuki Method is based on the principle that all children possess ability and that this ability can be developed and enhanced through a nurturing environment. Dr. Suzuki referred to the process as the Mother Tongue Method. The basic principles of the Suzuki Method consist of listening, repetition, motivation and encouragement.
Dr. Shinichi Suzuki believed that the potential of every child is unlimited, and appropriate learning environments help children unlock that potential. He realised the vast majority of young children naturally and easily develop language skills by early beginning, listening, loving encouragement, parental support, constant repetition, learning with other children and then learning to read. Because all children learn and master their own language, Suzuki believed all children could learn and master music in the same way. He devised this “mother-tongue” method for music education. Children can begin their music education from birth through listening, and can start learning an instrument from as young as three years old.
Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy for teaching music, commonly known as the Suzuki Method was first conceived as a system for teaching the violin. This philosophy grew to encompass viola, cello, bass, flute, guitar, harp, piano, organ, voice, recorder and early childhood education.
The important elements of the Suzuki approach to instrumental teaching include the following:
- An early start (aged 3-4 is normal in most countries)
- The importance of listening to music
- Learning to play before learning to read musical notations
- The involvement of the parent to participate in formal lessons, and regularly guide and monitor practice at home
- A nurturing and positive learning environment
- A high standard of teaching by trained teachers
- The importance of producing a good sound in a balanced and natural way
- Core repertoire, used by Suzuki students across the world
- Social interaction with other children: Suzuki students from all over the world can communicate through the language of music
There are ten Suzuki books in all. These are supplemented with scale books, etude books, other pieces from genres of interest to the student (pop, fiddle, Celtic, klezmer, you name it), exercises and more. This body of music allows each student to participate in group classes, helps to foster local and international musical community and camaraderie, and provides motivation for students to learn new music while keeping the pieces they have learned in top form. Completing the 10 volumes, however, is not the end of the Suzuki journey.