In this post, I'll walk you through all 10 Suzuki Violin books, giving some insight into the pieces and the skills learned in each book.

The biggest reason why I'm such a huge proponent of the Suzuki method is because it is based around learning skills. In each piece, you're either learning a new skill, or working on one that you've just learned, and the pieces build upon each other in a really comprehensive way. However, the skills that you're learning are not always obvious, which is why it can be hard to go through the Suzuki books without a teacher. This is a huge reason why I created my Suzuki Courses and why I'm writing this article.

Suzuki Book 1

In my opinion, Suzuki book 1 is the hardest of all, because the learning curve is so steep. Students go from not knowing how to play the violin at all, to playing actual violin pieces! In my experience, it takes about 1.5-2 years to get through book 1, but this is obviously very dependent on outside factors such as prior experience and amount and quality of practice. In Suzuki book 1, you'll learn all the basic foundational skills that will carry you throughout your violin journey. These include things like bow hold, left hand placement, straight bowing, fingers 1, 2, 3, & 4, the basics of intonation, and how to read music. You'll also learn how to cross strings and three basic violin bow strokes: detache, staccato, and legato. I also like to introduce the very basic dynamics of loud and soft, using more bow to play louder and less bow to play softer.

Suzuki Book 2

Suzuki book 2 starts off relatively simply, especially when compared to the last piece in book 1! The first new skill that comes into play is lifting the bow in a short passage in Hunter's Chorus. The next new skills that occur are the low 1st and low 4th finger in the 2 Grenadiers, along with the new rhythm of a dotted eighth note followed by a sixteenth note. I also like to introduce the concept of resonant intonation, which is the idea that the violin will ring and resonate when your left hand fingers are placed on the exact right spot, which is how we can tell we're in tune without finger tapes. Other new skills include trills and pizzicato chords. I introduce shifting around the Lully Gavotte and generally start teaching vibrato at the end of book 2.

Suzuki Book 3

Book 3 is relatively short-it's only 7 pieces. Starting from the Minuet, which is the second piece in book 3, my students have at least 1 shift in every piece, to help build comfortability and fluidity between first and third position. Book 3 is also where double stops and chords are introduced. By the time students are at the end of book 3, they should be vibrating on long notes in their pieces. The pieces in book 3 also really lend themselves to working on dynamics, as most of the pieces have clearly delineated sections with different characters.

Suzuki Book 4

Our first concertos appear in book 4! The third piece also has a very tricky double stop section that students need to be prepared for-or it could lead to a very poor experience with that piece. Students should also learn second position, as they'll need it in the Vivaldi A Minor and Bach Double. Students should also be becoming more confident with their vibrato and vibrating more frequently in pieces.

Suzuki Book 5

Our first full concerto-the Vivaldi G Minor- appears in this book! It is very long, but it's important to play it all the way through to increase stamina. Positions 4 and 5 should be introduced and practiced in book 5 as well, because the Vivaldi G Minor uses all of those positions. The Veracini Gigue also introduces the gigue bowing and a new time signature-12/8. This is also when I start teaching 3 octave scales and arpeggios.

Suzuki Book 6

At this point, students have learned about 85-90% of all violin skills. The most notable skills that have not been covered yet are more advanced bow strokes such as spiccato and sautille. This is the point where I generally start veering away from Suzuki and into more "standard" repertoire. However, I always have my students play 3 pieces from book 6-La Folia, one of the Handel Sonatas, and the Fiocco Allegro. La Folia has some really challenging double stops and chords that are great for students to learn, and the Fiocco Allegro is great for working on fast playing.

Suzuki Book 7

The one piece that I always teach from book 7 is the Bach A Minor Concerto. Besides that, the rest of the pieces are all baroque music that could be easily subbed out.

Suzuki Book 8

I'm honestly not super familiar with this book, as I didn't play it as a kid (I stopped using Suzuki at book 6) and haven't had my training on it. However, from my understanding, the big piece in this book is the Eccles Sonata.

Suzuki Book 9

There's only 1 piece in book 9-Mozart 5.

Suzuki Book 10

There's only one piece in book 10-Mozart 4.