Listening to Your Suzuki Violin Music

Accessing the Suzuki violin recordings is a critical element of your Suzuki Method education.

Here are different commonly used music apps and purchase options.

Mattix Music Studio recommends…

Purchase the music through Alfred Music using the platform you prefer – Alfred/Purple Play, Amazon Music or iTunes. That way you have the latest and best recordings.

What does Ms. Katie do personally?

Ms. Katie purchases the music through Alfred Music directly so it’s linked to her Purple Play app. That way she can slow down the playback speed for students and her own kids during practice.

Then she downloads the mp3s to her computer and imports them into iTunes. Now there are at least two ways to access and play the music from all her devices.

What are the best and most recent recordings?

Books 1-3: Hilary Hahn, violin & Natalie Zhu, piano

Books 4-6: Augustin Hadelich, violin and Kuang-Hao Huang, piano

Books 7-8: Koji Toyoda, violin

Scroll down for paid and free listening options.

Suzuki Violin Book 7

Download on Amazon

Download on iTunes

 

Suzuki Violin Book 8

Download on Amazon

Download on iTunes

 

What about Books 9 and 10?

Suzuki Violin Books 9 and 10 are the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major and No. 4 in D Major.

We recommend listening to the recordings below because they use the same cadenzas as the Suzuki books (Joachim) and are standard interpretations of the concertos.

Of course, you may have a different favorite performer of your own, and feel free to explore other cadenzas and recordings on your own.

These recordings are easily found on streaming platforms and YouTube.

 

Violin Concerto No. 5 in A Major (Suzuki Book 9)

Hilary Hahn, violin with Paavo Järvi, conductor and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonic Bremen orchestra

or

Isaac Stern, violin with George Szell, conductor and the Szell Columbia Symphony Orchestra

 

Violin Concerto No. 4 in D Major (Suzuki Book 10)

Ray Chen, violin with Christoph Eschenbach, conductor and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival Orchestra

or

Isaac Stern, violin with George Szell, conductor and the Szell Columbia Symphony Orchestra

PAID OPTIONS

1. Alfred Music & Purple Play App

Purple Play in App Store

Purple Play in Google Play Store

Pros:

      • Latest recordings
      • You can control the playback speed (slow down for student paced practice)
      • Instantly linked to your Alfred Music account

Cons:

      • Purple Play app needs to be downloaded on different devices.
      • Alfred doesn’t have Book 7-8 available to purchase at this time.
      • Most expensive download ($15.99)

2. iTunes

Book 1 Suzuki Evergreens for free with an Apple Music subscription

Purchase the latest recordings through Alfred Music to your iTunes account

Pros:

      • Easy to share your purchased music across all your devices
      • Make playlists with your music to listen to particular tracks more often

Cons:

      • Outdated recording if you use Suzuki Evergreens
      • Can’t control the playback speed
      • Purchase each album for $9.99 or sign up for an Apple Music subscription

3. Amazon

Pros:

      • “Alexa, play Suzuki violin book 1”
      • Latest recordings

Cons:

      • You may need to download the mp3s to your iTunes account to play them
      • Amazon Music subscription required or $8.99 per album

FREE OPTIONS

1. Spotify

Search for “Suzuki Evergreens”

Pros:

      • Included with Spotify subscription
      • Many different playlists already created

Cons:

      • Outdated recording
      • Can’t control the playback speed

2. YouTube

Violin Book 1 Playlist

Complete Book 1-10 Playlist

Pros: 

      • Web-based, easily accessed on any device
      • Control the playback speed for slower practice
      • Free

Cons:

      • Ads, pop-ups, auto-plays
      • Outdated recording

3. Amazon Music

Suzuki Evergreens

Violin Book 1 from Suzuki Evergreens

Pros:

      • “Alexa, play Suzuki violin book 1”
      • Free

Cons:

      • Amazon Music subscription required
      • Outdated recording
      • Can’t control the playback speed
      • Can’t make playlists

Need help navigating your Suzuki listening?

Reach out!

Our staff would be delighted to talk with you and help you decide what is best for your family.

[email protected]

708-638-3027