Both yesterday and today I participated in Suzuki group concerts, watching others play and leading some of my own cello students. I stayed for the violins today, sitting in the balcony at MSM, seeing the most advanced groups go first, and bit by bit adding more students, so that the initial 10 became perhaps 100 by the end, the youngest probably 3 or 4 years old.
As a musician and a teacher, I have a rough first-hand experience of what it takes to learn to play an instrument, even for a young person. And yet still, the experience of watching 100 children play a song in unison together is quite moving. The discipline that it takes to get to this moment, within oneself, in relation to a teacher, and to the others playing along, is noticeable. For a child to put aside their own drives and needs long enough to develop these skills is beautiful, and for adults to find a way to foster it is inspiring. It somehow marks an urge and an ability to ask ourselves to be more than we are, and to help our children seek that as well.
Balancing the self with others is a difficult thing, and different cultures have different answers. And even though I may wish for greater individuality sometimes, the contribution that Japan has made to our early music education has a lot to offer and a lot to teach us. I wonder when it will cease to be amazing, the things of which we are capable.
No comments:
Post a Comment