Suzuki violin Book 3 songs in order, and what each one teaches

Suzuki Violin School, Volume 3, has 7 pieces. Six of them are in old dance forms, and four of those are gavottes. This page lists every piece in order, where each tune comes from, and what the book adds.

The 7 pieces in order

No.	Piece	Composer	Where the tune comes from
1	Gavotte	P. Martini	The gavotte from his Sonata No. 12 for organ or harpsichord
2	Minuet	Bach, in the book	Two minuets from the notebook Bach made for his wife, Anna Magdalena. Both are now credited to Christian Petzold
3	Gavotte in G Minor	Bach	The Gavotte en Rondeau from a keyboard suite in G minor, BWV 822
4	Humoresque	Dvořák	No. 7 of his Humoresques for piano, Op. 101
5	Gavotte	J. Becker	A piece for violin and piano by the German violinist Jean Becker
6	Gavotte in D Major	Bach	Gavotte I and II from his Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068
7	Bourrée	Bach	Bourrée I and II from his Cello Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009

Only one of the seven began as a violin piece. The rest were written for a keyboard, a piano, an orchestra, or a cello, and they were arranged for a young violinist.

Three dances to know

• A gavotte is a French dance at a steady, moderate speed. Its phrases often start in the middle of a bar.
• A minuet is a graceful dance in three beats.
• A bourrée is a lively dance in two beats. It starts with a pickup note.

Baroque composers gathered dances such as these into sets. Read what is a suite in music?

What Book 3 adds

Exercises before the first piece. The book opens with study points, a page of tonalization, and a page of vibrato exercises. Tonalization is the Suzuki word for exercises that build a full, ringing tone.

Four study points. The book asks for daily listening to the recordings, tonalization at each lesson and in home practice, constant care with playing in tune, and special attention to phrasing.

Vibrato. Vibrato is a small, quick wobble of the left hand that warms the sound. Read string playing words. Teachers often begin vibrato and shifting around this book. Shifting means moving the left hand up the neck. The timing is the teacher’s choice.

Longer pieces. Book 1 has 17 pieces, Book 2 has 12, and Book 3 has 7. The contents page gives two pages to each of the first six pieces and four pages to the Bourrée.

Two dances in one piece. The Minuet, the Gavotte in D Major, and the Bourrée each hold a pair of dances. The student plays the first dance, then the second, and then the first again.

Major and minor. Several pieces move between a major key and a minor key. The Gavotte in G Minor and the Becker Gavotte both begin in a minor key.

Notes on each piece

1. Gavotte. Giovanni Battista Martini was a priest and music teacher in Bologna, Italy, who lived from 1706 to 1784. People called him Padre Martini. The first tune keeps coming back between new sections. Ask your child to count how many times it returns.

2. Minuet. The first half will sound familiar. It is the tune of Minuet 3 from Book 1. Here it gains a partner, a second minuet in G minor, and then it returns. The book prints Bach’s name. Scholars now credit both minuets to Christian Petzold. Read Minuet in G: who wrote it?

3. Gavotte in G Minor. “En rondeau” means that the opening tune returns after each new section. This is the first piece in the book that begins in a minor key.

4. Humoresque. Dvořák wrote his Humoresques for piano in 1894. No. 7 is the famous one. A skipping tune comes first. A smooth, sweeter tune follows, and then the skip returns. Read Humoresque by Dvořák for kids.

5. Gavotte. Jean Becker lived from 1833 to 1884. He was a German violinist who led a well-known string quartet. His gavotte was published around 1880 as a piece for violin and piano. It is the one piece in the book that was written for the violin from the start.

6. Gavotte in D Major. Bach wrote this pair of gavottes for an orchestra with trumpets, drums, oboes, and strings. The same suite holds the slow movement known as the Air on the G String.

7. Bourrée. Bach wrote this pair of bourrées for a cello playing alone. It is the longest piece in the book.

Meet the composers

These composers have a page on this site.

• Bach
• Dvořák

For the rest, read composers in the Suzuki violin books.

Hear the real thing

Book 3 is a chance to play the original pieces at home. Find the Humoresque played on a piano. Find the Gavotte in D Major played by an orchestra. Find the Bourrée played on a cello. Your child will hear their own piece in a new way.

For more cello music, read famous cello pieces for kids. Use a listening journal page to note what your child hears.

Book 3 and exams

Four Book 3 pieces are on the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) violin lists. The Minuet and the Becker Gavotte are listed at Level 3. The Gavotte in G Minor and the Humoresque are listed at Level 4. Read RCM violin levels explained.

What a parent does

• Play the Book 3 recording every day, and start it before your child finishes Book 2.
• Keep Books 1 and 2 alive. A child in Book 3 still plays the earlier pieces each week.
• Leave vibrato to the teacher. It is taught in small steps, and the teacher decides when to begin.
• Go to group class. Read Suzuki group class.

Before and after

• Suzuki violin Book 2 songs in order
• Suzuki violin Book 1 songs in order
• Suzuki violin books 1 to 10: what each one teaches
• The Suzuki method explained for parents

Sources

Checked in November 2026.

• Alfred Music. Suzuki Violin School, Volume 3: contents and sample pages.
• Johnson String Instrument. Suzuki Violin School, Volume 3, International Edition: contents.
• Long & McQuade. Suzuki Violin School, Volume 3, International Edition.
• Polesky, M. Suzuki violin pieces in their original forms: Volume 3.
• Wartberg, K. Johann Sebastian Bach in the Suzuki Violin School.
• The Royal Conservatory. Suzuki repertoire and the RCM Violin Syllabus, 2021 Edition.