Photograph by George Sakkestad
Three-year-old Mimi Werdegar plays the rhythm game with teacher Frank Lorgay.
At Longay, the students learn classical guitar the Suzuki way
By Rebecca Ray
Each time one of Frank Longay's classical guitar students plays a bit of music correctly, Longay lets the student make the next move in a game of tick-tack-toe. If the student plays the music wrong, Longay makes the next move.
Longay, who teaches classical guitar at Longay Guitar Center at 12302 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, follows the Suzuki teaching method of making music lessons fun for students.
It is through this method, says Longay Guitar Center office manager and parent Kim Buller, that her 10-year-old son, Gilbert Wilds-Buller, learned to play classical guitar at 3 1/2. He has also excelled in academics. According to Buller, Gilbert, who has played in front of hundreds of people since he was a toddler, has little stage fright when performing. His mother adds that, unlike many of his peers, Gilbert doesn't rely on his friends to maintain his self-confidence.
The Suzuki method also places a unique emphasis on parental involvement. Buller says, "It's a journey to connect with your child in such a personal, daily, ongoing way."
Since Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, a violinist, developed the teaching method in Japan in the 1960s, instructors have mainly applied it to the violin, flute, piano, harp, cello and guitar. Rather than continually engaging in not-so-fun technical exercises, which Suzuki called "manufactured studies," the program involves students listening to and practicing pieces over and over, similar to the way children learn languages.
In fact, Suzuki developed his method after marveling at how children as young as 4 could master a complex language like Japanese. Once he observed this, Suzuki thought, "Why can't a child also master the language of music?"
Part of Longay's program involves daily practice. Students also listen to CDs that contain the songs they play in order to familiarize themselves with the songs.
Although students have private lessons about once each week, they also have group lessons about once every other week. The group classes are designed to build a sense of community, motivate students to practice more and give them an incentive for playing.
The school holds solo recitals about once a month, as well as annual spring and holiday concerts, so that students get used to performing.
Students continually review past pieces they've learned before they move on to the next book, which is similar to how people learn vocabulary, Longay says. He adds that students learn rhythm by looking at cards and beating on a drum and counting by moving beads on a wire before they learn to read notes, which he compares to children learning to speak before they learn how to read.
Longay's mission is to provide a positive, nurturing environment that protects children's self-esteem. Longay believes that any child can learn to play music well in such an environment.
However, he acknowledges that the Suzuki method doesn't work for everyone and that it makes tremendous demands on parents. Parents who enroll their children in Longay's program must undergo an intensive 12-week program, in which they watch instructors work with their children and learn how to play the instrument. The school uses this approach, which Longay calls the "mother-tongue approach," so that the parents can understand how their children learn, Longay says.
Although Longay began to teach classical guitar in 1975, he had marginal success until he saw a group of Suzuki's students from Matsumoto, Japan, perform at Stanford University. Longay was amazed by the focus and love of music that the children displayed and says that he had goose bumps throughout the show. He knew then that he had to teach the Suzuki method.
Longay opened his school in San Jose in 1983. Several years later, he moved it to Cupertino, and then moved it to Saratoga in January. On June 8, about 80 children will perform the annual spring recital at 3 p.m. at Saratoga Presbyterian Church, 20455 Herriman Ave.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
