It was created in Japan in the mid-20th century by Dr. Shin'ichi Suzuki. He was a violinist who wanted to bring some beauty to the lives of children in his country after World War II. Dr. Suzuki saw that all children learn their own language very quickly. Even dialects which adults thought were hard to learn are spoken with ease by 5 or 6 year old children. He thought that if a person can speak their mother tongue, then they can learn to play a musical instrument. He came up with the idea that any pre-school age child could begin to play the violin.