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PAN PIPES • SPRING 2016 • sai-national.org 12 N O P S T U X Y Z KEEPING MUSIC ALIVE, PART 2 Can Purists Survive the Digital Age? By Mary Jane Tashiro is article is a follow-up to a Spring 2012 PAN PIPES article, "Keeping Music Alive," where Mrs. Tashiro wrote about the creation and use of her Children's Piano Course to encourage musical curiosity in young learners. Here is a brief excerpt: "I believe in 3 ingredients for success: Nice melodies, beautiful sound and feeling comfortable/technique. e published music should be clear, concise and have a consistent thread for positive learning. e children's attention has to be immediately directed to the beautiful cascading sounds created by the "waterfall" movement, so that they can always continue to recreate this sound while playing: As I press down the pedal, they place their elbow on the black keys and gently move their arm down and up many times." e SAI Purposes are sure to bond purists: to "...have a sincere interest in music…to uphold the highest standard of music…to further the development of music in America and throughout the world." When I joined in 2008, it was not soon enough. Shortly aer that, I was asked to be an American Association for Development of the Gied & Talented (AADGT) judge. e number of Gold and Silver winners picked from 84 applications from all over the world was just a handful compared to the huge number of young people attending loud concerts with "live" music from electronic instruments. Should we purists be concerned? e digital age is "in" and young people want instant gratification. ey are attracted to the idea of learning piano through YouTube and the promise of being able to play in months instead of years. A favorite music store of serious musicians, Patelson's in New York City, closed its doors this past year. e internet is now the vehicle for acquiring music digitally, designed to meet the demands of a public that wants music quickly and cheaply. e electronic keyboard is being used instead of real instruments in the television and movie world. With these obvious changes happening, do we, as teachers, stop raising quality musicians? Food is a basic need to survive physically. I also believe that music is a basic need for a different reason. I would never have spent 21 years to complete the Children's Piano Course if I didn't think that it would mean the difference between happy and unhappy children. In my first article in the Spring 2012 issue of PAN PIPES, I explained about "golden nuggets" and children's input being the two important keys to turn the tide from ineffective to effective teaching. Unfortunately, many teachers I met seemed to want to stay with their old methods or they were simply unwilling to look at another method. However, things are on the up-swing. A reversal in reaction occurred when 18 teachers agreed with the problems I mentioned in my first article and ordered books. One teacher spoke of older students wanting to play only "by ear" or rote what they heard on YouTube. Another said that aer teaching 50 years, her biggest complaint is that the students do not read well. It would be a stumbling block to teach this course as other method books do: teaching the music in the order that it is presented. e beauty of this course is that teachers can use it creatively. Since each student has a different capacity to learn and a different taste in music, teachers can customize the course for each student. A very small matter, but important to please a child would be the following: "Pink Tutu", as a title, certainly would not win a boy's vote, even though it is a nice waltz with teaching value. You can give the student the added fun of choosing his own title, and in an instant, with "Wite-Out," the piece becomes his. Remember that the magic drawing power to get them to practice is to get them personally involved. To continue this trend, what better way to celebrate a special event, a birthday, or a specific holiday than to play a song. is is where the teacher has the responsibility to know where these songs are in the books, Steps 1 to 6. Any teacher willing to be flexible and to change with the child's needs is on the way to becoming a great teacher. Two strikes against a new student? Laura wouldn't have seemed an ideal candidate for piano lessons because she had quit violin aer Composer Mary Jane Tashiro

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