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Vol. 22.1 January/February 2017
T o f a c i l i t a t e , p r o m o t e , a n d e d u c a t e t h e p u b l i c o n t h e w a y o f t e a c h i n g a n d p l a y i n g t h e p i a n o t a u g h t a t t h e T a l e n t E d u c a t i o n R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t e i n M a t s u m o t o , J a p a n b y D r . H a r u k o K a t a o k a
Knowledge versus
Character
By Haruko Kataoka
From the Matsumoto Suzuki Piano Newsletter
Vol. 5 No 11, April 18, 1996 Translated by Chisa Aoki and
Teri Paradero Edited by Karen Hagberg
In the dictionary, knowledge isdefinedas“thefactualunderstandingof a subject” and character as: 1)personality,2)heart,3)morals,and4)principle.Knowledge is very important andusefulforhumanbeings.Ofalllifeonearth,humansare theonlybeings tobe bestowed the ability to possessknowledge. Since the Stone Age,mankindhasputgreatefforttowardsacquiring knowledge and passing itdowntoyoungergenerationswho,inturn, continue to pass down whattheyhavelearned,leadingtoanevenhigher level of accumulatedinformation.Overmanythousandsofyears this process has producedcivilizationasweknowittoday.
Piano Basics Foundation News
Editor Karen Hagberg
Layout
Teri Paradero
Translators Chisa Aoki
Teri Paradero
Production and Distribution Linda Nakagawa
Send Articles to: Piano Basics Foundation
67 Shepard St. Rochester NY 14620 [email protected]
585-244-0490
Memberships / Subscriptions Linda Nakagawa
242 River Acres Drive Sacramento, CA 95831
916-422-2952 [email protected]
Next Deadline: February 15, 2017
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Concurrently, I feel that education of Character hasbeenhandeddownfromgrandparentstoparents,thento children and then to grandchildrenwith great careandvalue.However, fifty years ago, since the post-war period,Japanese society has come to value only Knowledgeeducation. This attitude has escalated to the pointwhereinmanyhouseholds,mothersareobsessedwiththeirchildren’sschoolgrades.As I said earlier, there is no doubt that knowledge isimportant and useful. Comparatively speaking,however, iftherearetenthingsthatare importantforhumanbeings,knowledgewouldonlybeoneof thosetenthings.Itisnottheendall.Becausewearehumanbeingswepossessamarvelous,splendidCharacter that is vitally important tonurture.Thedevelopmentofourcharacterisnecessarybecauseitisindispensabletolife;indispensabletoliving.Withinsociety as citizens, and within households as familymembers, inorder for life to runsmoothly theremustbe manners, basic rules for living with others, andconsiderationofothers.In adulthood, regardless of the field of work, merelyhaving knowledge does not ensure that one can do agoodjobatwork.Proofisinthenewspapersandinthenewsontelevisionwheretheyarebustlingwithreportsof bribery allegations involving the Housing LoanCorporation and the Ministry of Finance, the HIVlawsuit and the Ministry of Health and Welfare, andphysiciansandmanagersofpharmaceuticalcompanies.They lack the common sense that normal peoplepossess.Whattheyaredoingisbeyondbelief.Allthesepeoplehaveattendedthehighestinstitutesofeducation and have exhibited high academicachievement. In other words, they have incrediblecredentialsasfarasknowledgeisconcernedbutwouldearn a zero when rating their character as humanbeings. It has often been said that character hasnothingtodowithknowledge.Thisistrue.
We must take all children born intothisworldandraisethemproperlyashuman beings of character. In orderto do this,wemust steer away fromtheoveremphasisonknowledgemanners, morals, and rules, andfurthermore, to engender a loving,caring heart together with the senseofappreciationforthearts.While mulling over these thoughts, Iwas approached by amother of oneof my students, “The other day, mydaughter in high school received herthird semester final report card. Shecame home ecstatic. She had thehighestgrades inher class.However,that sameday I hadbeen veryupsetby her recent insolent behavior andnegativity at home. So I scolded hervehemently. She snapped back, “Innormalhomes,whenkidscomehomewith good grades, parents are happyand reward their kids with moreallowance. So unfair!” Then shestomped off to her grandmother’s.Sensei,was Iwrong?”Withoutmuchthought,Ireplied,“Admirable!”In our present day and age, what ismost important forhumanbeings? Itis hard to findparentswhohave thecourage to think logically. It was notthiswayinthepre-warerabecauseitwas the norm for parents to besensible. Itwas unthinkable that youwouldberewardedforgoodgrades.At thispoint, it is time tocalm the spiritand listen to lots of wonderful music. Ifwedon’t change thewaywe think, I amworried about the future. What willbecome of our precious children whomwelovesomuchinthiscountryofJapan.
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What’s Happening?
“Bullying in Schools”
From the Matsumoto Suzuki Piano Newsletter Vol. 5 No 11, April 18, 1996
Translated by Chisa Aoki and Teri Paradero
Edited by Karen Hagberg
Mr. Kamata, known for his research onbullying, was recently featured on late-nighttelevision with a class of sixth graders in thecityofNagoyawhoweregraduatinginMarch.Mr.Kamataisafamousauthorofmanybookson the subjectofbullying in schools.Childrenare so candid thatwhen asked for a show ofhandsofthosewhowerebullied,halftheclassraised theirhands.Whenasked fora showofhandsofthosewhodidthebullying,overhalftheclassraisedtheirhands. Itwasnotsobadat this point, but what came next wasalarming. The students admitted that theywerenothappyaboutenteringmiddleschoolin April and that they were worried aboutbeing bullied by upper classmen. Was myshock a sign of my old age, of being old-fashioned, of being behind the times, or out-of-date? Mr. Kamata observed that untilrecenttimesschoolswere‘educationfactories’butnowtheyaremorelikedetentionfacilities.
Itmademefeelbadforbigcities.Theyhaveallthebestmodernconveniencesandeverythingisonthecuttingedge,andtheyareintheleadevenwithsomethingbadlikebullying.Onthatmatter,ourcityofMatsumotoissolucky.Herein the countryside there is no such thing asfearofchildrenenteringmiddleschool.OrsoIthought.But then, just the other day one of mystudentscamewearinghernewmiddleschooluniform. When I congratulated her, she toldmethatshewasnotsohappyaboutit.WhenIasked why, she replied, “Upper classmen aresoscarythatIreallyworrya lotabout leavingtheclassroom.” Iwas flabbergasted!HowcanwhatIwitnessedontelevisionbehappeningtoour bucolic Azumino surrounded by therichnessofnature…
Suzuki Piano Basics Web Site and discussion group:
http://core.ecu.edu/hist/wilburnk/SuzukiPianoBasics
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PATIENCE
From the Matsumoto Suzuki Piano Newsletter Vol. 5 No 11, April 18, 1996
Translated by Chisa Aoki and Teri Paradero
Edited by Karen Hagberg
SuzukiMethod, as developed and taught by Dr.ShinichiSuzuki,aviolinist,becameasuccessaftermany years. His Method is based on the“mother-tongue”approachtolearning.Everyonemustre-readDr.Suzuki’sbook,NurturedbyLove.There is an incredible feeling of hope found inthesepages.However,ononehandapersoncanread the book and say, “Yes, of course it allmakes sense but how do we accomplish this?”Anotherpersoncanreaditandsay,“Yes,butthatwasthenandthisisnow.”I believe there are constant changes in our livesall around theworld. But, the fact remains thatunless there is someunfortunate illnessorbraininjury, all babies still learn to talk their nativelanguageandwalkontwolegs. Ittakespassion,dreams, hard work, focus and concentration,good health and patience to accomplish manythingsinlife.Dr.Suzukiwasaviolinistsoheprovedhistheorythroughteachingtheviolin.Inthosedays,itwasthought that you perform the music of theWesternclassicalcomposersonlyifyouwereborninWesternEurope.AsyouhavereadinDr.Suzuki’sbook,thatbeliefwasdisproven.We,asSuzukiPianoBasicsFoundationmembersplayandteachpiano.Itisourjobtolearnhowtouse thebody so thepiano can sing. Dr.HarukoKataoka worked very hard to find the mostnaturalwayofplayingpianotoproducethemostbeautiful tone. As young students ourselves,most of us did not learn how to use our wholebodynaturally.Nowthatweare“teaching”thepiano, we must change any and all of our badhabits because our students become ourmirrorimage.
Asadultsandteacherswehaveegos.Itiseasytomake an excuse for the students who do notpracticeandmovealongaswewould like. But,are we not better than that? Let’s learn tonurture. Let’s nurture thewhole child. There isgood in every child. While we work to teachchildren how to play the piano, let’s becomegoodhumanbeingsourselves.Talking about how to play the piano and talkingabout how to be a better human being is justthat;onlytalk.Itdoesnotmeanthatwehavetobecome professional pianists and learn theTchaikovsky Piano Concerto, but it does meanthatwelearnhowtodemonstrategoodsoundasopposed to not good sound from the piano andbe able to show students how to create goodsound. And it does notmean thatwe have tobecomesaints,butitdoesmeanthatwehavetolearnhowtonurtureandnotmakeexcuses.To develop an ability takes great patience andperseverance.Let’snotrevertbacktothe“Traditional”waysofteaching.LindaNakagawa
Kataoka Research Scholarship: Planning for 2018
With the start of 2017, we welcomeSenseisOgiwara and Kawamura backto the United States for our PianoBasics Workshops! In February theywill take place in Louisville and inOrange County, California, and inAugust in Philadelphia andSacramento. Thanks to yourcontributions, the SPBF provided itsfirst full tuition scholarship toChristine Darling of San Diego,California.ChristinewillbeattendingtheOrangeCountyWorkshop.Now is the time to startplanning for2018. The Kataoka ResearchScholarship is designed to providefunding for teachers who wish toattend events featuring SenseisOgiwara and Kawamura.Any teachermay submit an application! Teacherswho are in their initial stages mayapply to attend a workshop or 10-Piano Concert held in the UnitedStates. Teachers with moreexperiencemayalsoapplyfor
scholarshipstowardeventsinJapan.Applications for2018eventsaredueonSeptember1,2017. Please submit all inquiries and requests forapplication materials to Hannah Hall, Chair of theScholarshipCommittee:[email protected],simplyaddittoyourSPBFrenewal,ormailyourgiftto:Piano Basics Foundation, 242 River Acres Dr.,Sacramento, CA 95831. Please notate “Scholarship” inthememoportionofyourcheck.Yourdonation,nomatterhowsmall,fosterscommunityandhelps theworldof PianoBasics growever better.Without your gifts, SPBFwill not be able to grant thisgreatopportunity.Thankyouagain foryourcontinuedgenerosity.HannahHall,ChairScholarshipCommittee
To Our Members All membership in Suzuki Piano Basics Foundation is for a calendar year. Therefore, now is the time for all of us to renew our membership. Dues for the calendar year 2017 are due and payable between now and February 15, 2017. Members whose dues are not received by March 15 will not appear in our 2017 Directory. The fee for teacher members is $40, and family membership is $25. We encourage all teachers to require family membership in your studio so that we may continue to relieve workshop directors from airfare fluctuations when we invite teachers from Japan. As usual, we do not routinely send out separate bills to individuals, trusting our members to renew in time to appear in our annual directory. Please send checks (we do not accept credit-card payments) payable to Suzuki Piano Basics Foundation, and send to Linda Nakagawa, Treasurer, 242 River Acres Drive, Sacramento, CA 95831. Thank you for all your continued support!
Piano Basics Foundation – General Meeting August 3, 2016
Sacramento, California
Attending:ReneeEckisRitaBurnsRaeKateShenNaomiWysongJackiBlockAnnTaylorLindaNakagawaShirleeRickmanJoShannonReneeEckiscalledthemeetingtoorderat1:00p.m.AttendingmemberswerenotedandRaeKate Shen read the minutes from the 2015meeting,whichhad takenplaceat the SuzukiPiano Institute held at the University ofLouisville,KY.RitaBurnsmovedtoapprovethe2015 minutes and Ann Taylor seconded themotion.Themotionpassed.Treasurer Linda Nakagawa asked everyone torefer to the last newsletter for the 2015Treasurer’sreport.Linda also reported there is $610.00 in theScholarshipfund,agoodstart.NominationsJacki Block was nominated by Rita Burns toreplace Renee Eckis as Vice President,seconded by AnnTaylor. The motion passed.The proposed new slate of officers for2016/2017is:ReneeEckis–PresidentJackiBlock–VicePresidentLindaNakagawa–TreasurerRaeKateShen–Secretary
Jo Shannon moved to accept the proposedslate of 2016/2017officers. Naomi Wysongsecondedandthemotionwasapproved.OldBusinessMemberswereremindedtopassonvideosofDr.Kataoka teaching frompastworkshops, toKen Wilburn, before the videos deterioratefurther.Detailscanbe found in theMay/JunePianoBasicsNewsletter.NewBusinessThefirstnewbusinesswastoremindmembersthatteacherandstudentapplicationsfor2017Japan’s 10-Piano are due August 30, 2016.Teachers are to email Karen Hagberg forregistration applications. Some teachersmentioned they had already emailed Karen,buthavereceivednoresponsebackyet.ItwassuggestedtheynagKaren.Thesecondnewbusinesswas tomention theboard was looking for a member to setup aGateway Website. Jo Shannon volunteeredandshewasdirectedtocontactKarenHagbergregardingthis.OtherBusinessApplicationsforScholarshipfundsfromthePianoBasicsFoundationaredueSeptember1,2016.Itwasmentionedthatteacherswithsomeexperienceteachingshouldapply.InterestedteachersshouldcontactHannahHallforinformationandapplicationforms.Moredonationsareneededforthescholarshipfund.Teacherswereencouragedtoasktheirstudiofamiliesaswellasanyoneelsetheyknowfordonations.
Scholarship Committee: Hannah Hall, Chair
Details about theScholarship fundarealso intheJuly/AugustPianoBasicsNewsletter.Finally,membersatthismeetingwantedmoreclarificationaboutthedifferencebetweentheBoardofDirectorsandOfficers,whattheirjobdescriptionsare,andalistagainofwhomtheyare.Rita Burns motioned to adjourn the meetingandsecondedbyAnnTaylor.
Themeetingwasadjournedat1:15p.m.Theseminutesapprovedby:ReneeEckisAnnTaylorRespectfullysubmittedbyRaeKateShenAugust3,2016
Suzuki Piano Basics Foundation: The People
Hereisalistofpersonsresponsibleforthevariousworkingsofourorganization.Pleasefeelfreetocontactanyofuswithyourquestionsandconcernsortovolunteeryourhelp.Wealwayswelcomewritten inputfromanyandallofourmemberstoshare inthisnewsletter. What isonyourmind?Don’tputoffwritingthatarticle!
Board of Directors: Karen Hagberg, Chair Hannah Hall, Recording Secretary Bruce Boiney Linda Nakagawa Keiko Ogiwara, Honorary Life Member
Officers: Renee Eckis, President Jacki Block, Vice President Rae Kate Shen, Secretary Linda Nakagawa, Treasurer Nominations Committee: Ann Taylor, Chair
Newsletter: Karen Hagberg, Editor Teri Paradero, Design & Layout Teri Paradero & Chisa Aoki, Translation Linda Nakagawa, Printing and Mailing Membership Services: Linda Nakagawa, Directory Editor Linda Nakagawa, Educational Materials Order Fulfillment Manager Suzuki Piano Basics Web Site:
Prof. Kenneth Wilburn, Web Master Carol Wunderle, Content Editor
IfyouwouldliketoassumeresponsibilityforanypartoftheworkingsoftheSuzukiPianoBasicsFoundation,orifyouknowsomeonewhowould,pleasecontactourNominationsCommitteeChairperson,AnnTaylor,beforeJune15.
Suzuki Piano Basics Foundation 2016 Annual Report
January 1, 2016 through January 10, 2017 StartingBalance: $5,444.66minus$215(Scholarshipfund-seebelow)=$5,229.66Income: +$12,398.36Expenses: -$13,589.39EndingBalance: $4,038.63
Expenses Legal/Accounting $1,360.00 Materials $1,307.00 Supplies $63.46 Postage $1,502.93 Printing $2,000.00 Travel$3,111.00 Taxes $45.00 Compensations $4,200.00 Total $13,589.39
Income Dues $7,160.00 Donations $2,150.00 MemorialFund $595.00 Materials $2,493.36 Total $12,398.36 ScholarshipFund Broughtforward: $215.00 Income: $395.00 Expenses: $365.00 Balance: $245.
RespectfullysubmittedbyLindaNakagawa,Treasure
Piano Basics Foundation Upcoming Workshops/Events
The events listed above are for the information of Suzuki Piano Basics Foundation members and others. Suzuki Piano Basics Foundation does not endorse, sanction, or sponsor events.
To add or change items on this list and on the Suzuki Piano Basics website, contact
Karen Hagberg ([email protected], 585-978-0600).
July 7-10, 2017 Tacoma, Washington Suzuki Piano Basics Festival
with Rae Kate Shen Contact: Jacki Block 253-759-7213
PLEASE NOTE: AUGUST WORKSHOP DATES REVISED FROM THOSE PRINTED IN SEPT/OCT NEWSLETTER
August 3-7, 2017 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Suzuki Piano Basics International Teacher Training Workshop with Keiko Kawamura and Keiko Ogiwara
Contact: Janet Kaido 267-251-0429 [email protected]
August 10-14, 2017 Sacramento, California
Suzuki Piano Basics International Teacher Training Workshop with Keiko Kawamura and Keiko Ogiwara Contact: Linda Nakagawa 916-422-2952
April 30, 2017 Matsumoto, Japan
Suzuki Piano Basics International 10-Piano Concert Contact Karen Hagberg, 585-978-0600
[email protected] Deadline for registration has passed.
