Shinichi Suzuki's ​Nurtured by Love​ explains the many inspirations in his life for the

methods used in his Talent Education movement. In this book Suzuki details his upbringing, his

education in Germany, teaching experiences, and encounters with many influential people. All

of these events helped Suzuki create his teaching method: a method based on the idea that any

child can develop musical talent through diligent and intentional repetition.

Suzuki begins the book by sharing a simple realization: every Japanese child speaks

Japanese. While simple, this realization was quite powerful for Suzuki. He reasoned that every

child could speak their own language, even though language is complex. How do children

acquire this ability? Suzuki believes that talent is an ability that can be acquired in a young mind

through repetition. Teachings early in his career showed Suzuki that daily training is an

excellent way to build hand strength and control. He stressed the idea that, just like learning a

language, musical training should start as young as possible. Early training gives the student

time to learn proper technique and develop a musical sense gradually. In this way music

becomes a natural part of life, like speaking.

According to Suzuki, Talent Education is more than a teaching method. It means living a

life of nobility, tackling shortcomings and improving slowly. The values that Talent Education

teaches extend far beyond a musical context. For instance, memory is an essential part to

Suzuki's Talent Education and he strongly believed that memory was a useful skill that could be

taught and honed through practice. One of the most powerful examples that Suzuki used, was a

story about teaching a blind student. Suzuki first sought to help the student "see" the bow. He

did this by assigning weekly goals for his student. Over a few weeks, the pupil learned how to
find the tip of the bow and effectively "see" without seeing. Even a blind student didn't show a

lack of talent after consistent practice. It is through this repetition that Suzuki believed every

child could develop a talent for music.

Suzuki also emphasizes the importance of treating music as something fun. He suggests

that parents start learning the instrument first. Not only will they be able to more effectively help

their child if they know the instrument, but it also creates a desire within the child to be like his

or her parent. Making music seem less like a strict education and more like playing causes the

child to want music and enjoy it.