The Suzuki method was developed by the Japanese violinist Shin'ichi Suzuki during the mid-twentieth century. It quickly spread to the Pacific Rim countries, Europe and parts of Africa.
Suzuki developed his method after noticing how well very young children learned their home language through rote (listening and repeating) and memorization. He modeled the Suzuki method after the natural tendencies of children to learn language at home.
On the piano, focus is placed on the student's ability to recognize the most pleasing sound that the instrument can make. Through listening to audio recordings of the piece that they are preparing, students attempt to mimic the sounds that they hear on the piano.
The Suzuki method books for piano are presented in seven volumes. The first piece presented to each student studying the Suzuki piano method is Mozart's "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
The Suzuki method was likely modeled on Shin'ichi Suzuki's own experiences with music as a child. He took a violin from his father's factory and began to study by copying recordings of music. He was not allowed sheet music at first because his father thought the study of music to be beneath his son's social status.