Note on Japanese Transverse Flute Education: Studying Characteristic Japanese Expressions through lessons with an American Student
Second author, with NISHIKAWA Kohei as primary author. Published in 洗足論叢 (Senzoku Ronsou), Issue 44, 2016. The essay is written in English despite being published in a Japanese journal. There is no offical abstract, but the introduction is reproduced below.
Introduction
This paper is a continuation of a report which [Nishikawa] wrote in 2014. Japanese traditional music has been taught in hereditary fashion within families of musicians or by the traditional model of transmission from masters to students. In the traditional style of oral instruction, students learn by imitating their teachers, not from theoretical explanations. The traditional Japanese lifestyle, including this typical educational approach, is quite different from that of the West. Unfortunately, especially after World War II, culture in Japan has dramatically Westernized, and this has made it more difficult to explain the culture of old-time Japan to the young generations of Japanese, or to foreigners.
The continued study of Japanese transverse flutes requires substantial explanation of the background of Japanese culture and the music formalities to students who are not familiar with old Japanese culture. Thus, I have cooperated with a flute student and composer from the U.S., John Chow Seymour, to document ideas in how to explain and practice three genres of Shino-bue (篠笛) and Noh-kan (能管) music in practical study, including how to deepen comprehension of the old oral way of teaching. I taught these genres to Seymour over the course of about a year, working on all three genres at the same time, so that the student could get used to playing in a variety of genres right from the beginning. For this paper, I have invited Seymour to write his reactions to the teaching methods I describe, from the point of view of a student with a background in Western music.