Recently, several phenomenal Japanese student wind
ensembles, including the Mama Elementary School and the Kodaiva Junior High
School Girls Big Band, plus the recent phenomenal success of the Musashino
Acadamia Musicae Wind Ensemble at the Med West Band Directors Congress in
Chicago, USA, have caused enormous chatter on the Internet. The evidence is
abundant that music education is alive and very healthy in Japan. Whether it’s
an elementary, junior high school or the Musashino Academia Musicae, a
university, these organizations represent the very best there is in student
ensembles, anywhere.
At this time, however, the very existence of music
education in North America is threatened. Funds have been cut back so severely
that an alarmingly large number of schools have simply removed music from their
curriculum. Similarly in Europe, countries like Italy, with its musically rich
historiy, have to resort more and more to private funding if music education
can hope to continue to exist. At the present time, however, Japan’s economy is
relatively healthy, and with its growing and passionate quest for making music
a part of its national culture, there is little question that funding needed
for this quest will be available.
As well as the good fortune that allows musical growth to
flourish in Japan, there is much more to this music education success story:
Japanese students have the will, perseverance and discipline needed to achieve
these extraordinarily high levels of performance. Many western teachers and
band directors have marveled at the openness of the Japanese students to new
ideas and remarked at the seemingly absence of “Attitude” or a “Chip on the
shoulder” (The accumulation from unknown sources of a resistance to accepting
new information and learning), which they have all experienced in their home
institutional environments. Japanese students want to learn, they accept the
information and instructions given them and most importantly, they do the work
necessary to realize the desired results.
These sensational performances that were seen on YouTube
and caused all the exclamation on the Internet, were most certainly the result
of an extraordinary amount of rehearsal. First of all, it should be noted that
both the Mama Elementary School and the Kodavia Junior High School Bands played
by memory; that alone indicates a
massive amount of rehearsal time! Further, the performances from both bands
were of their concerts that were prepared for the Japanese school bands
competitions; this means they most probably had most of the school year and
several days a week to work up to the level they achieved.
The preparations of the Musashino Academia Musicae Wind
Ensemble, being a music university
was, of course, more professional. However, the preparation time was still
extremely generous, perhaps between two and three months and at least two
rehearsals a week, plus the advantage of some of the very best and
world-renowned American band directors. The results have been absolutely
amazing.
Of course, not all these accomplished musicians will
become professional players but ironically this makes the Japanese music
education system even better. Many of these very accomplished young players
become teachers themselves and continue high-level music teaching in their
respective home environments. The future of music education in Japan is in very
good hands.
Now an important question has to be addressed: Performing
musical organizations today, for example symphony orchestras, need to present
as many concerts as possible, as frequently as possible, attract as much public
as possible in order to make as much money as possible so the musical
organization can continue to exist; that’s the reality the professional
musician faces today. Are the concerts presented by these Japanese musical
institutions, which are prepared with nearly unlimited rehearsal time,
appropriate in our present day world, where an absolute minimum of rehearsal
time is scheduled in order to present a maximum of performances?
The answer is a very clear and resounding “Yes”! Such thorough and complete
preparations give the students of these Japanese institutions the opportunity
to experience excellence, and such
experiences create an understanding of what finished preparation can be, and
helps it become easier to achieve superb ensemble playing in the less
idealistic professional circumstances.
Another aspect of teaching music in Japan that needs to be
approached is the development of musical individualism, a singular musical
personality. This is a more delicate part of the pedagogical process, not only
in Japan but also all over the world. There is in Japan, however, an old saying
that “The nail that sticks up gets pounded down”! This is a wonderful image for
maintaining perhaps the most socially harmonious society in the world but one
has to seriously question if it represents a healthy attitude for developing a
creative musician. Japanese players, especially brass players, strive for
perfection but in the musical world we live in, a world that is composed of
examinations, auditions, competitions and performing under all conditions, perfect is, quite simply, not good enough.
Of course, performances need to be perfect but that alone does not determine
greatness.
True greatness requires musicality and musicality is the composite of our personal use of
dynamics, rhythmic energy, variations in articulation, vibrato and all the
other facets of music making. It is using these musical tools with the right
mix, knowing when to use them, knowing when not
to use them, how much to use, and possessing a passion that can make music
special. Great musicians must have the courage to show their individualism, to
show their musical personality.
Japan is blessed with an abundance of great musicians and
with the characteristics of discipline, perseverance, will and dedication it is
absolutely inevitable that we will see an increasing presence of Japanese
musicians in the international musical community.
Written in Jeju, Korea and Okinawa, Japan, and finished
August 27, 2010
Republished without change from original, September 19, 2012
