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Yamaha Music Education System: celebrating 50 years of growth

American Music Teacher, August-Sept, 2005 by Kathy Anzis

Tokyo 1954: Yamaha Corporation of Japan opens an experimental "Music Class for Pre-School Children." The curriculum centers on teaching musicianship through solfege and keyboard.

Fast-forward 50 years: The Yamaha Music Education System (YMES) has opened schools in 40 countries and produced 5 million graduates. Former students occupy a wide range of positions in the fields of composition, music education, performance and conducting. YMES now encompasses music courses for students of all ages, a Pop Music School, Grade Examination System, Teens' Music Festival, Electone Concourse, Yamaha Music Academy, Music Quest (support for emerging artists), artist promotion, Music Research Laboratory, music publishing and production and aid to charity organizations.

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How did one small music class initiate such growth?

One Man's Vision

"We aim at developing children who can appreciate and enjoy music, so that when they grow older, they can look back and say ... 'Music enriched our lives. 'People are born with different abilities; therefore, it is not possible for all people to attain the same high musical skills. But even if one cannot become extremely proficient, if one discovers the delight in communicating with others through music, or can live a more joyful and peaceful life through the act of laying music, I believe that the reason for studying music has been fully achieved." (1)

In the early years of his tenure as president of Yamaha Corporation of Japan, Genichi Kawakami (president from 1950-2002) took a business trip to Europe. While traveling, he noticed young people playing music and singing together. He was struck by the contrast he observed in Japan; rarely did he hear music coming from houses as he walked down the street. Casual, enjoyable music making did not seem to be part of the daily life of the Japanese people. He became convinced that Yamaha had a responsibility not only to produce high-quality musical instruments, but also to provide opportunities for people to learn how to play them. If an effective and exciting method could be developed, Yamaha would achieve one of its major goals--to enrich the lives of people through music.

Kawakami engaged an expert team of Japanese educators, musicians and psychologists to develop a method that would teach children the fundamentals of music and create an atmosphere of joy in which to learn. The project was met with enthusiasm and support, especially from Japanese musicians who were eager to promote the benefits of music and create a method that would appeal to the younger generation. After much research and collaboration, the Yamaha Method was born.

A carefully selected group of schools and institutions in Japan offered the first Yamaha music course for preschool children. After three years, Yamaha Music School enrollment rose to 20,000. After five years, the student base had grown to 120,000, and Yamaha decided to take its innovative teaching method to the United States, Asia and Europe.

While Yamaha offers beginning music courses for every age group, the cornerstone of the Yamaha Music Education System is the Junior Music Course (JMC), a two-year curriculum for four- and five-year-old beginners. The designation "cornerstone" indicates that JMC is the foundation for study in Yamaha advanced courses and emphasizes Yamaha's conviction that four- and five-year-old children are at an ideal age to begin music lessons because they are keenly attuned to sound.

Principles Fundamental to the Yamaha Method

Group Lessons: Teacher + Children + Parents

"I believe that music should not be competitive, but should be a means of fostering friendships. Music provides a context in which goodwill may be exchanged ..." (2)

Lessons are taught to a group of students (typically 8 to 10 per class) and, in the case of the JMC, one parent attends with each child. This format motivates children and provides an opportunity to develop ensemble skills and cooperation within a supportive community of friends and parents. With their peers, children become part of a musical team making music together. With their teacher and parents, the group becomes a musical community.

The group format, in conjunction with the musical content, brings joy and fun to the learning process. Students who attend class with their friends have extra-musical reasons to return every week. The camaraderie that grows contributes to tight, expressive ensemble performances at advanced levels and promotes long-term involvement in music.

Parental attendance facilitates accelerated growth. The parent/child partnership is active, not passive. Each partnership develops into a mini-ensemble, where co-learning, co-practicing and co-discovering can be enjoyed in class and at home. The entire family hears music shared between two members and often is motivated to join in the fun. In fact, when younger siblings of students become students themselves, we often find their sense of pitch is more developed than that of other entering students. They have heard the language of music at home and already have begun to absorb it.

Yamaha Music Education System: celebrating 50 years of growth

American Music Teacher, August-Sept, 2005 by Kathy Anzis

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