Comments

good. thanks. Thanks much for sharing this bit of insight. I am just a beginner w/ the violin, but I find this insight rings true (perhaps universally so across a wide range of disciplines, including my own profession) and so should serve as a great "reminder" of sorts.

It's like that old saying that "one should learn to walk before one tries to run".

Kind regards,

_Man_

I learn something every time your respond to a discussion or write a blog. The conductor of my community symphony orchestra often tells us not to listen to recordings of what we're working on. He wants us to get rid of our preconceived notions and let the orchestra, guided by the conductor, find its own sound. It is important to be able to play what is written on the page and then to make the music one's own, with changes in bowing, dynamics, etc.

I don't want to be misinterpreted re racial or cultural issues, but I find it interesting that you say that Japanese musicians are especially susceptible to playing music the way others have because of cultural considerations.

Welcome to the blog page, Buri! Well said. Also scary--sometimes I'd rather not be that responsible for my music :) It is a good image you begin with--sculpture. Helps me to see the business I'm about, and remind me to think things through.

Your comments are very close to lectures I get regularly from my teacher. I'm still developing my musical brains and it is certainly difficult work.

Great, insightful blog, Buri.

BTW - I love the title.

Nifty essay. For more on Michelangelo, check out Irving Stone's great potboiler "The Agony and the Ecstasy". So japanese players are inscrutable and mindlessly imitative?? I guess I know what you think of the Suzuki method, eh?

Unfounded and racist remarks aside, I enjoyed your post.

Howard Uritaka

Howard,

I don't believe his remark is completely unfounded or racist nor did he say anything that suggests to me that he thinks "japanese players are inscrutable and mindlessly imitative".

All he said was that he's observed more of this kind of thing going on amongst Japanese musicians than amongst musicians in other cultures and that perhaps their culture as a little to do w/ that. His main point was not to smear Japanese musicians (or the culture), but to talk about a certain tendency (or "trap") that we can *ALL* fall into, regardless of race, culture, etc, and thus should seek to avoid. And since this is a personal blog, not some "objective" research thesis, he is simply writing from a recent experience and using that as a sort of spring board to a more important subject to share w/ us. There doesn't appear to be any tone of malice or elitisism (spl?), neither ignorant nor intentional, though I suppose it's always possible for someone to feel slighted or wronged or whatever else whenever words are written and published on the net no matter how well intentioned they may have been.

OTOH, I suppose we are *ALL* biased to an extent, and there might indeed be just a tad bit of "innocent" bias in the thinking process that led to what was written in the blog. None of us are perfect afterall, but I personally would prefer to "see the glass as half full" rather than "half empty" and give him the benefit of the doubt.

Kind regards,

_Man_

Greetings,
MMM. Let’s take a look at this one for the heck of it.

>So Japanese players are inscrutable and mindlessly imitative?? I guess I know what you think of the Suzuki method, eh?
Unfounded and racist remarks aside, I enjoyed your post.

The charge of racism has been made. If you are going to make such a charge then do so with precision to start with. No use was made of the word ‘inscrutable’ either literally or by implication. Very sloppy.
Next, the words ‘mindlessly imitative.’ I am unable to find any reference to or implication of mindlessness. On the contrary, it actually takes mind to imitate something.
Aside from the fact that the writer has utterly dishonest in their representation of what was written , for there to be any truth in his vague and appallingly written charges it would have to be established that the Japanese do not have a long history of imitating, absorbing and making their own diverse aspects of many cultures, be it writing, fine arts, martial arts or whatever. It is a great and honorable skill. This skill is reflected for example, in the teaching of calligraphy in which the student (such as myself) is taught to imitate a masters work repeatedly until at a later stage more personalized art is presumed to emerge. I can have serious and thoughtful discussions about this aspect of Japanese history and culture with all manner of educated Japanese in any of the institutes I work. No charge of racism or rudeness would ever be raised. Simply a learning experience.
Another factor contributing to this situation is the nature of Japanese society which is very hierarchical and allows far less questioning of authority figures such as teachers or established experts. I have done thousands of hours of work in discourse analysis comparing degree of challenge to assumed superior such as in the doctor patient relationship and can assure you that my observations and other well know research has shown that one takes what is given to a much greater degree than in a western culture.
As a corollary to this one might examine the language and find, for example, that the best known proverb is ‘a nail that sticks up is hammered down.’ I.e. right form the earliest school days group identity is emphasized over individual to an enormous extent.
Aside from having lived in Japan for 15 years , been married to a Japanese and so forth I think I can claim knowledge of a great deal of anecdotal evidence, that is non racist of comments made by teachers from sources such as the Institutes I attended to newspaper magazines in support of the basic premise that Japanese students achieve the most astonishing technical level but have to work hard to allow their individuality to grow and it may take some huge stimulus. One famous violin teacher in London told a colleague of mine that whenever she has a Japanese girl student she has to wait a few months for her to have her heart broken before she can get that person to express themselves. Another example I recall is a Strad interview with the great Japanese violinist Takezawa who described her struggles when she first went to Julliard because she had never been allowed to really question things or assert her ideas freely.

I must say I have also found it an interesting feature of this site that knee-jerk antagonists present pseudo claims about what one thinks in order to pontificate about what is really their own problem. Thus it is assumed I cannot stand the Suzuki technique. That is an interesting one. Actually I think it is a very fine and productive concept in its original form that had to move on. In particular in the US teachers have worked diligently to not only remake it according to their cultural more but also adapt as they see fit so that one can no longer present blanket attacks on the ‘method’ such as ‘those students can’t read music.’ Ironically, the country where the method is highly stultified is actually its origin. The reason being obvious from the commentary above. One does not challenge or criticize cultural icons, their thoughts , ideas and precepts however much the world around us changes.
So I think I am owed both a retraction of the charge and an apology. It would be really nice just once in a while if people would take a little more care and thought , make a little more inquiry, before making accusations of racism. At the very least they could have the intellectual honesty to represent what I say truthfully before whingeing about it.
Cheers,
Buri

Howard,

Anyone who has spent even a little time in v.com would know that you couldn't be furthur away from the truth if you tried. SBs comments and and writings are always thoughtful and appreciated and can be looked up in the site if you are really interested.

I see now that SB himself has replied.
If you are going to be around v.com and want to people to take you seriously, you will find out soon enough that this site is a bit different and cheap remarks like yours have no place here

I literally bit my lip when I read Pauline's response, and then today I find Howard'sresponse, and Buri's thoughtful reply.

Frankly, both Pauline and Howard very transparently show to all the world that they are quite literally ignorant with respect to Japanese culture.

There is indeed a disturbing knee-jerk trend in the US called "multiculturalism" which in its most odious form is in fact a fascistic position where no "culture" can ever be criticized in either the lay sense nor the literary sense.

Clearly culture is a core prinicple for most every human on the planet and it is impossible not to observe cultral differences. Learning to navigate cutural differences is not a matter of turning a blind eye toward observation and comment, which is the fascist multicultural approach. Rather, it is healthy to feel the strangeness of a different culture and then to ask why, how, etc and most certainly to comment!

Finally, Howard's response is quite frankly ethnocentric, to use one of the favorite catch words of the multiculturalism movement. He presumes that imitation is a lower form of behavior than origination which, in the Japanese cuture, is not quite the case as Buri has so eloquently shown.

There is quite clearly nothing wrong with becoming acquainted with multiple cultures. Yet there is everything wrong with the turgid belief that there is some neutral position from which to judge all others who in fact navigate the turbulent waters of cultural interaction.

Bill, I’ll respond to your comment in a manner analogous to Buri’s response to another comment about ethnicity and culture. Before criticizing what I said, read it. To save you the trouble, I’ll repeat it here. I said, “I find it interesting that you [Buri] say that Japanese musicians are especially susceptible to playing music the way others have because of cultural considerations.” Bill, please tell me exactly what there is in my comment that serves as a basis for your remark that I am “quite literally ignorant with respect to Japanese culture.”

I have taught ESOL to many immigrants from different cultures, including many Asians, although Japanese have not been among them. My Chinese students, however, tend not to ask questions of teachers – at least not until they have become somewhat Americanized. I have taught visiting scientists from Japan in research laboratories, and I’ve found it difficult because they do not ask questions. Even if I say, “Do you understand this?” they say “Yes” or “Do you have any questions?” they say “No.” I have also found it very difficult to learn a new technique from them because, no matter how badly I mess something up, they tell me that I am doing it very well. This is not because of a language barrier since they are watching my actions. I remember trying to inject something into a rat’s tail vein and squirting it all over the lab bench and the floor. My Japanese instructor said, “Your technique is very good. Mine is not so good.” Respect is viewed differently in different cultures.

Hi Pauline,

Sorry about that.

When I first read your comment, my initial feeling was, "oh no here we go again..."

I did reread your comment after I posted, and came to realize that indeed you were not judging, but merely making an observation. Quite distinctly different from the other cited comment.

Again,

Sorry for mishandling your comments.

and how is the rat? ;)