Suzuki cello Book 1 songs in order, and what each one teaches

Suzuki Cello School, Volume 1, has 17 pieces. It starts with the Twinkle Variations and ends with two minuets by Bach. Many of the tunes are the same ones Suzuki violin students play. This page lists every piece in order and explains what the book builds.

The 17 pieces in order

No.	Piece	Composer
1	Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star Variations	Shinichi Suzuki, on a folk tune
2	French Folk Song	Folk song
3	Lightly Row	Folk song
4	Song of the Wind	Folk song
5	Go Tell Aunt Rhody	Folk song
6	O Come, Little Children	Folk song
7	May Song	Folk song
8	Allegro	Shinichi Suzuki
9	Perpetual Motion in D Major	Shinichi Suzuki
10	Long, Long Ago	T. H. Bayly
11	Allegretto	Shinichi Suzuki
12	Andantino	Shinichi Suzuki
13	Rigadoon	Henry Purcell
14	Etude	Shinichi Suzuki
15	The Happy Farmer	Robert Schumann
16	Minuet in C	J. S. Bach
17	Minuet No. 2	J. S. Bach

The book also gives Perpetual Motion in G major. The publisher’s list shows both keys. The cellist Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi plays the recording for the current edition.

How the cello book differs from the violin book

A family with a violinist and a cellist will hear the same tunes twice. Fourteen of the 17 cello pieces share a title with a piece in violin Book 1. Three things differ.

	Violin Book 1	Cello Book 1
Second piece	Lightly Row	French Folk Song
Piece by Purcell	None	Rigadoon
Last piece	Gavotte by Gossec	Minuet No. 2 by Bach

The cello book has no Gossec gavotte. It has two minuets where the violin book has three. The keys can differ too. Violin students play Perpetual Motion in A major, and cello students play it in D major. Ask the teachers before siblings plan a duet.

What the book builds

Piece 1: the Twinkle Variations. How to sit with the cello, how to hold the bow, and how to play short, clear strokes. Read Suzuki Twinkle variations explained.

Pieces 2 to 7: six songs. Tunes a child can sing. Each one adds a small new step for the bow or the fingers. The child learns them by ear from the recording.

Pieces 8 to 12: Suzuki’s own pieces and a song. These train a steady bow arm and quick, even fingers. Perpetual Motion is a stream of even notes with no rests.

Pieces 13 to 17: music by Purcell, Schumann, and Bach. The first pieces by famous composers. A rigadoon is a lively old dance. A minuet is a dance in three beats.

Notes on a few pieces

French Folk Song. A tune in three beats. It is the first piece after Twinkle in the cello book.

Perpetual Motion. The book prints it in D major and in G major. Playing the same piece in two keys moves the same finger pattern to other strings.

Rigadoon. A short dance by the English composer Henry Purcell. Read Purcell for kids.

The Happy Farmer. A piano piece from Schumann’s Album for the Young. Read Robert Schumann for kids.

Minuet in C. The publisher notes that this minuet comes from the Notebook for Anna Magdalena Bach. That is a book of music the Bach family kept at home. Read Bach for kids.

How long Book 1 takes

A young beginner may spend one to two years in Book 1. That is normal. The early pieces build the posture, tone, and listening that everything later rests on.

What a parent does

• Play the recording every day. Read Suzuki listening.
• Check the size of the cello. A cello that is too big makes every piece harder. Ask the teacher to check the fit every few months. Read cello sizes for kids.
• Set up the chair. Ask the teacher to check the chair height. Both feet rest flat on the floor.
• Keep old pieces going. A child on piece 10 still plays pieces 1 to 9 each week.
• Go to group class. Read Suzuki group class.

For the whole method on this instrument, read Suzuki cello for kids. For the instrument itself, read cello for kids.

Sources

Checked in November 2026.

• International Suzuki Association. Suzuki Cello School, Volume 1, cello part: contents and sample pages. Summy-Birchard and Alfred Music.
• Alfred Music. Suzuki Cello School, Volume 1: cello book and CD.
• Long and McQuade. Suzuki Cello School, Volume 1, International Edition: contents.
• Alfred Music. Suzuki Violin School, Volume 1, International Edition, for the comparison.