A colorful life.

A colorful life. By the time you read this, the January 8 Wall Street Journalarticle by Amy Chua, "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior," willbe old news but I believe her essay remains significant. When I first read it, I thought it was tongue-in-cheek because somany ideas were extreme, yet they were in print. After sleeping on itand re-reading it, however, I realized it was in earnest, and I felt theweight of its import. I strongly disagree with Chua's educational philosophy. Butwhat is good about her article is that it has ignited public, frank andemotional discussion about why one sector of our music studentpopulation has been prospering while others falter. Chua has not justbroken the ice--fortunately she has obliterated it. The ensuing dialogue has been a long time coming. As we all know,for more than two decades in piano studios and universities, Asian musicstudents have increasingly been our best and most numerous performers.Many of us talked and wondered about this privately with trustedcolleagues, friends and spouses, but the subject didn't leak intopublications or conferences for a good reason: since the 1960s it hasbeen taboo to publicly discuss anything that could even remotely beconstrued as racist or sexist. But cultural and community differencesare just that. If a certain demographic is excelling, we benefit fromexamining their attitudes and behaviors, then disseminating them. My only concern about the Chua-article phenomenon is successfulChinese families might automatically (mistakenly, in most cases) beviewed as draconian tacticians, since extreme pronouncements usuallyprovoke extreme counter reactions. Based on my observations and chatswith Chinese parents who have lived both here and in China, only a tinypercentage of parents in China are like Chua. In my studio over the past decade, many of the best students havebeen from Chinese families, yet none of the parents treat their childrenas does Chua--not even close. What I see instead are parents who arewilling and able to do what some others are not: impart to theirchildren through their words and behavior that hard work and fun are notmutually exclusive, rather the greatest pleasure comes from bothintertwined; make firm unilateral decisions when necessary but do sokindly; persistently frame music study as a privilege and responsibilitythat requires commensurate effort over time; limit their children'soutside activities so they can enjoy doing excellent work (not perfect),but still allow the child choices; are involved in their youngchildren's home practice from a practical standpoint (helping withstructure and even content, regardless of their own music background)and an emotional one by showing sincere interest and providing moralsupport during bumpy times; set an example of commitment by rarelymissing or being late to lessons, and being on top of schedulinglessons, attending recitals and paying tuition; reinforce the joy ofmusic by listening to art music in their homes, and bringing theirchildren to concerts of all kinds, not just those by pop stars; modelthat recreation and a social life are natural, desirable facets of ahealthy person's life; communicate that piano study is part of aneducation that is not just about procuring a career, but helping aperson grow into themself, thus learning how to live a life rich in manyways. This was all said best by a Chinese mother in my studio, Ms."W," when interviewed her for the Winter 2004 issue ofKeyboard/Clavier Companion: "You have to balance everything. Youalready know how you would like your kids to be in the future. Everything I do is based on this vision. I want their life to bevery colorful for them: to know music, to enjoy sports, and to be goodstudents. I don't need to push them really hard to do this, but Ifeel I have to prepare them." Seven years later, her children arestill all of that, plus they are happy, levelheaded, beautiful people. Now that we're all talking, how do we get this word out? I thank Ms. Chua for making this article and others like itpossible. I trust that eventually, those shouting on the periphery ofthis complex topic will be drowned out by the quiet of common sense. BONUS BYTE To read the interview with "W" in its entirety (used bypermission from Clavier Companion), please go to the Bonus Bytes pageunder the Publications section of the MTNA website. To hear audio clipsfrom the interview, please visit www.claviercompanion.com. Bruce Berr is an independent piano and pedagogy teacher inGlenview, Illinois, where he works with children, as well as other pianoteachers. He is a former university professor and is known nationally asa clinician, educational composer and author. He is also associateeditor of Clavier Companion magazine. Please visit www.BruceBerr.com.