Feeding young ears
Hirotaka Kawai is trying to instill a sense of music in children as young as one
At the age of 67, Hirotaka Kawai seems a frail, old man. But he is very lively in conversation. His eyes sparkle whenever he talks about his beloved Kawai music empire — and the legacy of this world-renowned piano manufacturer — passed down from his grandfather Koichi, the company’s founder.
Kawai took over the company’s presidency from his father Shigeru in 1989. But it was not just the piano-building business he inherited. The Kawai Music School, founded in 1958, also passed down to his ownership and management. The school is famous for its music class for children as young as one year old.
“A child as young as one year old can’t really do much just yet. They can’t really speak or walk. So, learning how to play instruments is a thing reserved for them in the future. But, what we want for kids now is to listen to the music, the rhythm and know what’s going on. We can see a change in them when they do. Their body reacts and responds to the music,” said Kawai at the recent grand opening of Kawai Music School in Bangkok, located on the 15th floor of Zen World at CentralWorld.
At the sky-high academy perched in the heart of Bangkok, an elegant grand piano takes a portion of space from its modern lobby. A small statue of the Hindu deity Ganesh — believed to be the god of arts — sits on a shelf. Nearby, a cute soft toy gives an inviting smile to oncoming young students and their parents.
Kawai sat waiting at the black piano, but he didn’t play it. He couldn’t.
“I was born after World War II. It was a tumultuous time, and not many people my age can actually play a musical instrument,” he said.
“All my children know how to play the piano, though. I often see my daughter playing, wishing I could play like her. At our school, we do offer lessons for adults. But, to be honest, it is still inferior to our children’s course. Music is best learnt from a young age — as young as possible. Children just learn faster.”
Music education has been a part of Japanese society following World War II, said Kawai. Suffering for the war’s loss, the government and the ministry of education in Japan decided to implement music into the educational curriculum to recover the people’s spirit.
“After promotion by the state, parents thought that music was the number one thing for their children to learn. When the mums got pregnant, they would already be thinking about where to send their kid to learn music. They have to book the place, fearing there’d be no places opened for their kids,” recounted Kawai of the longheld value of his country, which eventually led to the start of the Kawai Music School.
At the school, it is astounding to see toddlers who can barely walk enter music classes with their parents. They would sit on their parent’s lap. Two instructors are moderating the class, playing piano for the children in a group lesson. The instructors adjust the rhythm as necessary to suit the children’s progress in the child-centred classroom.
“Each child has a different personality. Not everyone is a round circle. But when they gather, they can play and absorb music together. Differences can create harmony,” said Kawai. The courses being offered at Kawai’s have been continuously developed over the past 50 years.
“On the first week, kids naturally don’t know very little. But, by the second week, they start to know what they need to do. They start clapping and moving along to the rhythm. They get to develop their motor skills, senses, emotions, personality and concentration. Concentration, I’d say, is the area we have seen the most development in,” he said.
With the onset of popularised singing contests and talent shows in the country, it has become somewhat fashionable for parents to ship their children off to music school. Some parents are hoping to make a superstar out of their own kids.
Others are looking to equip their youngsters with additional skills, or to further develop the children’s brain.
But for whatever reason parents choose to send their children to music school, Kawai insists that parents should eventually allow their children to pursue music out of their own interest and willingness. “If you force kids to learn music, nothing will come out of it. They will resist the pressure. We’d better ease them into music without forceful coercion,” said Kawai. “In the end, we can’t force them to go beyond their ability.”
But not all hopes are lost for parents who still want to groom their children into a musical prodigy. The key, said Kawai, is to make children fall in love with the music.
“It’s better to focus on instilling happiness and passion into children. And passion, really, can be created through a well-executed teaching method. If we can make children happy and let them enjoy music at their own pace and time, then they will eventually grow to love music [and do well at it].
With popularised singing contests and talent shows across the country, it has become fashionable for parents to send their children to music school