Piano Fun on the Internet

As a change of pace, here are some fun piano-related activities for families to do on the Internet:

CONNECT:

Watch and listen to this brief history of the piano at https://youtu.be/63snnLQqBLQ

Go into depth about its history at https://www.piano-keyboard-guide.com/history-of-the-piano.html

Find out how the piano works at https://www.ducksters.com/musicforkids/how_the_piano_works.php

Watch how a piano is made at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAInt7hIZlU

CREATE:

Try these piano inspired music activities including crafts, motor activities and play: https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2016/02/piano-inspired-music-activities-for-kids.html

These piano games help get kids excited about piano lessons: https://fireinsidemusic.com/kid-piano-games/

Play these online games to learn how to read piano notes: https://takelessons.com/blog/learning-piano-notes

CARE:

A piano can be an expensive investment, so here are some factors to consider when buying one: http://www.ptg.org/document//36/

The piano teacher makes a real difference in helping you to learn how to play. Here are tips of the Piano Teachers Federation on choosing the right teacher: http://pianoteachersfederation.org/Choosing_the_Right_Teacher

A piano needs care just like any other musical instrument. Here are tasks you can do at home to keep your piano in good condition: https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/piano/maintenance/

CAREERS:

Think of all the steps in involved in piano performance: making and selling and fixing pianos; writing and publishing piano compositions; learning and teaching how to play the piano; performing for competitions and at a workplace; recording and producing piano performances; incorporating piano music in education and health. Any of these careers could be the (piano) key to success.

https://www.careersinmusic.com/

Piano Playing As Family

The holidays are family time. Coming home. Enjoying each other’s campny. Remembering the joint memories. Tomoko contents: “Piano playing is like a family.” Here is why.

A family is a long term commitment. It has its ups and downs, but relationships are deep and impactful. This long-term dedication can apply to can piano playing.

Think about raising a child. It requires regular attention. It needs to learn the basic steps. Its communication is limited, and it can be hard to express itself. It can be frustrated, and needs calming. So too the beginning piano student needs to acquire the habits of regular practice. She needs to learn the basic hand positions and touch, the scales, the musical notation. The first pieces need to be easy in order to experience early success, motivating the student to continue those basic skills. Even so, the student may be frustrated because fingering is not natural yet; the sound produced is not what is in the mind of the student.

Families grow and change week by week. You cannot leave the members alone. They continue to have needs, though those needs may change, and the way to address those members may also need to change. So too do piano students constantly need to be challenged and supported. As they grow in confidence and expertise, piano students need to be handled differently. As the pieces become more complex and sophisticated, new skills are added. The piano teacher knows the likely obstacles, and can advise ways to overcome those obstacles.

With growth, family members gain more responsibility. Likewise, the piano student takes more responsibility in analyzing a composition, marking those sections that need more attention and care, for instance.

“Interaction with each other makes the family closer,” says Tomoko. “So too as the piano player gets to know the piece, he becomes more comfortable with it.”

And lastly, families build memories together, and look back on those memories that continue to knit them together. The piano player’s growing repertoire also elicits memories of the music, the composer, and the experience of performance.

No wonder that pianists, such as Tomoko, build lifelong meaningful musical relationships.

Student Success

The topic of student success is “hot” these days. How much of their success is due to their teachers? Several studies state that the teacher is the most important factor. That can certainly apply to Tomoko and her students. She would assert that she sees the potential in her students, and helps them to build their expertise and self-confidence. In either case, many of her students have blossomed in their lives. Here are a few examples.

One of her students came from the area of Yugoslavia that became Croatia. Tomoko encouraged her singing when the girl was a piano student of Tomoko’s, and she become a professoinal singer. Another student, Cristina Igoa, went on the serve on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.

Andrew Ahn, who was a student of Tomoko’s for ten years, is now in London working on economics. He asserts, “After joining the working world, I realized so clearly the impact Ms. Hagiwara had on my upbringing. Everything I learned in her two-piano classroom has translated directly to the ‘real world.’ Discipline, incredible work ethic, high standards, pressure cooker situations, performing at the highest level, and acting with class are all fundamental lessons I have embedded in my value system. With equal importance, she vocalized her concept of ‘Yoshi!’ – the resilient spirit necessary in finding a way to succeed no matter the challenges.”

Tomoko’s student Linda Poligono Webster is now in Canada as an engineer. She met her husband Rocky Nevins as the Van Cliburn adult competition, and they cofounded DataSea. She hadn’t known him when he was Tomoko’s student. Linda states, “Tomoko is to this day an integral part of my life. I hear her voice giving me advice when I'm in a difficult situation. I hear her cheering me on when I need encouragement. I hear her challenging me to have courage when I feel like giving up on something. More than just the gift of music, Tomoko has taught me about what it is to have the highest standards as a person: integrity, respect, honesty, and accountability, not just for others, but also for myself.”

Another student of hers, Bora Kim, said, “I wanted to be surrounded by the arts, to be sustained by the creative energies and output of others and myself that shared this singular passion for the arts.

My work at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council enacts this selfsame vision by bringing art and culture to the New York metropolis. If it weren’t for the difficult years of training and what it meant to pour passion into an art form, I would not be able to muster the hard work and dedication into what I do. The teachings and contributions of Tomoko Hagiwara inevitably factor into this, and I consider myself most fortunate to have taken part in her tutelage and guidance. Without her influence, I would not have experienced the transformative aspects of the arts.”

In her teaching, Tomoko feels that there is a “spirit of family.” She has students who are very loyal to her, and study with her for a decade or more. In turn, these students may reflect the importance of family in their love of music. One student’s mother said, “Tomoko is like a grandma. She says that practice is important in everything; she encouraged her students to be self-award and self-disciplined.” Another student’s parent echoed the affirmation: “Tomoko has raised so many children. We’ve all grown because of that.”

Family of music

A spirit of family may exist in the relationship between piano teacher and student. That is the case with Tomoko. She has students who are very loyal to her, and study with her for a decade or more.

In turn, these students may reflect the importance of family in their love of music. That is also the case with Tomoko, whose mother loved music and whose family bought an organ for the children to play.

One of Tomoko's longtime students Vivian shared with her about family inspiration of music. Vivian and her family lived in Vietnam. Her father was a young tutor of wealthy children. One rainy day on his way home from tutoring, he stopped and stood under his umbrella, inspired as he listened to someone playing Chopin. At that moment, he thought to himself: "If I have a daughter, she must study piano."

Indeed, he fathered Vivian, and she studies piano -- with Tomoko. "Vivian performs Chopin, Liszt, and Beethoven beautifully," says Tomoko. She continues, "Both her children studied piano with me throughout their childhood. So that moment of rain led to at least two generations of pianists, and most likely more."

That moment also speaks to the insight and determination of the father, who recently passed away.  His love of music -- and of his family -- continues. And the family of music continues and grows as well.

Remembrance of War

November 11 is Remembrance Day in the United States, honoring war veterans. Tomoko has her own vivid remembrances of war time.

Tomoko was born and raised in Japan. World War II was very hard for the people of Japan, but it unified them. No one was rich. They were all in the same situation. No one cared what people wore; it wasn’t important; education was. The war increasingly encroached on the lives of the Japanese. By 1943 they would see the B29s flying overhead. By 1945 many of the shops were closed instead, there were hawkers calling about specials. Farmers would go door to door with the food they had just harvested. People had ration tickets for food. There was little to eat, mainly rice, and sometimes they would eat the grasshoppers that the children used to play with.

Tomoko’s father was conscripted when he was 43-44 years old. All the men in Japan had to go to the coast to protect the region from the invaders. Each house had a bomb shelter with supplies, under the house. When the bombs started, the children were sent to the country; Tomoko visited relatives in the countryside. There were still schools in the country, but the children got behind in their education. Schools were closed in Tokyo, and the high schoolers worked in factories to help the war effort. They were given their diplomas automatically at age 16. This happened to Tomoko’s sister, who never married because so many men were killed in World War II.

Tomoko started playing the piano during World War II, using a piano that the neighbors had to sell because they needed money. Fortunately, Tomoko has continued to play throughout her life, and has shared her love of music internationally. Music transcends war.