Please, come home and practice the piano

Chapter 907 167. Same Kind: Origin of Four Steels

Although Haitao is always laughing and joking and looks like he is just wasting his time, Li An knows that Haitao is not what everyone in the sect thinks he is.

“Haitao has raised an issue that deserves our attention.”

After Li An finished speaking, Old Tang Muxin nodded in agreement.

Taking advantage of Wang Xiaohu's question, Haitao compared a considerable part of the current academic teaching in China to an assembly line, and he just stopped short of naming names.

“But this is a bit of a stretch.”

"Let's go back to Wang Xiaohu's performance. Because I didn't hear it before, I don't know how Wang Xiaohu played it specifically. Let me explain the situation first. This is also the first time I heard him play like this. It has never happened before."

After adding some background information, Li An continued, "Let's just talk about what I heard. First of all, the rhythm is stable, the left hand is under control, and the right hand is coherent. Teacher Mu has already made it very clear about the shortcomings, so I won't repeat them."

"Let's not talk about how well he plays, just talk about his idea. Although he is my student, I have to say that I think it's fine and I support him doing this."

Just like Mu Xin's blunt one, two, three remarks, Li Ang also stated his own views directly.

"First, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with what he did. Now let's magnify this issue. If he was wrong, then Beethoven should be nailed to the top of the pillar of shame in the history of Western music."

The three of them laughed, and Mu Xin said, "Isn't this considered a substitution of concepts?"

Li An smiled: "Please speak."

Mu Xin: "Wang Xiaohu doesn't know what he is doing."

Ang Lee: "Did Beethoven know what he was doing?"

Mu Xin: "Beethoven already had a complete system in his late years."

Ang Lee: "But this complete system was questioned by several key figures at the beginning of the 20th century."

Mu Xin: "Schoenberg's transformation was to rely on literature and drama other than music to form a new form of musical expression. He finally found serial music after a considerable period of transitional exploration."

Ang Lee: "So can I infer this way? When Schoenberg was young, he was like all music lovers. Suddenly one day he found that the mainstream music in the world today could not express his views on the world, so he had the motivation to seek change."

Mu Xin: “That’s reasonable.”

Ang Lee: "Mr. Mu, do you know how old Schoenberg was when he started composing?"

Mu Xin: “Twelve years old.”

Ang Lee: "Do you know who his composing teacher is?"

Mu Xin: “I don’t know about that.”

Lao Tang: "It is said that Schoenberg was self-taught, but that was the era of Wagner and Mahler. The popular pitch-changing systems and complex composition techniques at that time were all nourishment for him. We can only say that he was a genius."

Lee Ang: “Very objective.”

Lao Tang: “Very objective.”

Ang Lee: "But music is subjective, and creation is even more private. There are many talented young musicians of Schoenberg's generation. Why are we discussing Schoenberg now? Because he is the most dazzling one."

"His brilliance lies in the fact that he finally broke the tradition of 19th century romantic music and systematically created the serialist music theory and method."

“Thus completing the historic task of transitioning from romantic music to modern music.”

"Back to my original question, let me change the character. Before this, did Schoenberg know what he was doing?"

The three of them fell into deep thought. Haitao pondered for himself, wondering why he didn't study music history well at that time. He felt a little embarrassed sitting here now.

Ang Lee: "Compared to that line of reasoning, I prefer to believe that Schoenberg was able to accept music other than tonal music when he was younger. He probably didn't know anything at that time."

“Music is subjective and is an extremely personal emotional feeling, so if we can accept it, we accept it, and if we can’t accept it, we don’t accept it.”

“But we are teachers.”

"One day, when we heard a child playing Chopin's melody with his right hand and Mozart's accompaniment with his left hand, we felt that it had no aesthetic value and was even ugly. Because we had never done this or heard it, we simply and crudely defined it as incorrect."

"Excuse me, is this correct?"

“What do we base our belief on?”

“I don’t know what classical music will look like in a hundred years, but I know that we may be a punctuation mark in the history of music. We cannot represent anyone, but are just a few individuals in a group of music teachers in a certain period. We are passed over in passing. In the future, music history books may say that this was the most mediocre period in the development of classical music in China.”

Lao Tang felt a surge of emotion after hearing this, while Haitao only felt a gust of calm wind whistling towards him.

After a long while, Mu Xin opened his mouth and said, "I'm grateful for your advice. Thank you, Brother An."

Li An waved his hand: "We are just discussing and learning from each other. At this moment, four of us from all over the world can get together and sit here. I think we all want to do a good job together."

Mu Xin nodded.

Lao Tang: “Yes.”

Haitao: "I feel like I just started to feel something."

The four of them laughed. Lao Tang said, "Don't mention it. Me too."

Mu Xin said modestly: "Ange really enlightened me. It was a problem with my inherent concept. Since entering university, every teacher of mine has emphasized the importance of orthodoxy to me. So in the teaching process, I have always asked my students to pay attention to this issue. I will not allow them to go off track."

Li An: "That's not a problem. Haitao and I are no exception, and Lao Tang is no exception. Most of our generation went through this. We are lucky to have caught up with a relatively standardized teaching environment, but that's all. This standard is compared to the current teaching environment in China 30 years ago. So for our generation, we can't stop, we have to keep exploring. There is no right or wrong, let alone enlightenment."

"We are a team, everyone speaks freely, and when there are conflicts of opinion we discuss them together. I like this feeling very much."

Lao Tang: “I like it too.”

Haitao: "You are responsible for speaking, and I am responsible for learning."

Lao Tang: "Nonsense, the issue you just mentioned is not sharp enough."

Mu Xin suddenly smiled, and the three male teachers looked over.

"very nice."

Recalling her experiences over the past year, Mu Xin could hardly believe what she saw. She had always thought that she was an alien. Now she knew, but she had not encountered it at that time.

Now she has met it.

"And then?" Seeing that Mu Xin had stopped talking, Lao Tang asked, "Really? That's all."

"That's all," Mu Xin took a sip of the milk, "a little emotion, Ang, continue, what about the second one?"

After being reminded by Mu Xin, Old Tang Haitao remembered that Li Ang had not finished speaking.

"Second, as I mentioned earlier, there is no right or wrong. I did not say Wang Xiaohu was right, I only said that I supported him in doing so."

"Don't think that I said so much because Wang Xiaohu has some genius thinking. Let me put it this way. I guess he just had a sudden whim and played with it for a while."

Lao Tang: "Most kids wouldn't think of that."

Haitao: "Wang Xiaohu is very smart."

Mu Xin: “I can see that.”

Li An sighed with a smile: "He's OK." After a pause, "Actually, Haitao and Lao Tang both know that when you weren't here yet, Xin, I said that we could have a good chat tonight when you came. It just so happens that Wang Xiaohu is playing the piano, so I think this is a good topic, so let's talk about it in depth."

"We have a course on the teaching system, and we will talk about it later. Today, I would like to take this opportunity to talk to you all about my ideas about Piano Classroom No. 4."

"Well, Ah Xin, do you know why our school is named this way? Lao Tang probably doesn't know either, right?"

The three of them laughed. Lao Tang said, "I heard about it from Wang Xiaohu at lunch today."

Mu Xin followed: "Your classroom number."

Li An nodded: "Yes, when I first arrived at Blue Sky, the teaching group assigned me to classroom No. 4. In fact, looking back now, many of my teaching views were formed in this classroom."

"Because I met several children here, they have different personalities, each with their own characteristics. They brought me joy and distress, but also a lot of thinking."

"Through teaching them and spending time with them, I found that piano teaching is really not an easy thing. The same method used on another child will not work, or even be counterproductive. Sometimes I rack my brains to think about how to solve a problem for a child, but then this child says something, and through his thoughts, I follow his thoughts and go deeper into his mind. I find that this is what he thinks, and I immediately understand how to explain it to him. But when I put it into practice, I find that this is not right. Doesn’t this go against my own ideas?"

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Haitao clapped his hands: "I do this all the time!"

Mu Xin: "In order to get students to correct a mistake, sometimes I have no choice but to let them correct the mistake by practicing in a wrong way."

Lao Tang: "You guys are amazing, but sometimes I will simplify the problem and let him practice first, without worrying about why he is practicing like that. Some things cannot be explained in a short time."

Ang Lee: "Right. I was very confused during this process. I was confused about myself because I started from their questions and finally found that I didn't have the answer to the question myself."

Mu Xin: “!”

Ang Lee: "What should I do? I have to find the answer myself. At first I always doubted myself, worrying that something was wrong here or there. Later I figured it out, and that's it."

Lao Tang: “What do you mean?!”

Ang Lee: “Is there a pianist who plays perfectly?”

Lao Tang: “It depends on one’s opinion.”

Li An: "Yes or no?"

Lao Tang: “I don’t think so.”

Mu Xin: “I don’t think so either.”

Hai Tao: "Things with flaws are perfect, and the same goes for pianists."

Ang Lee: "Talking about shortcomings can easily lead to conflict. We might as well replace shortcomings with characteristics or traits. Perhaps what you see as a shortcoming may be an unrepeatable trait in my eyes."

Lao Tang grinned: "That makes sense, that makes sense, quite interesting."

Li An: "I just applied this viewpoint to teaching. There is no problem with the general direction. Isn't it good to let the children follow their own feelings? I think there is no problem. I also fell into the same idea as Ah Xin, whether it is orthodox to play like this. Later, I felt that those things are superficial. The child has the material. When the time comes, he practices enough and is exposed to it, he will naturally understand and know it. The teacher only needs to give a little guidance in this process."

"99% of the children cannot reach this stage. Only those who can reach this stage have the opportunity to move on. I hope that their musical thinking will still be irregular at that time. If it has become a fixed pattern, how can they move on? The viewpoint mentioned by Haitao just now is a bit radical, but it also makes sense."

Mu Xin: “Thinking.”

Ang Lee: "Yes, we don't train piano-practice machines. We help children feel and think about things beyond music through music."

"I have to emphasize one thing here. We have to guide them carefully and not just feed them fixed ideas."

"I'll tell you a story that happened in Piano Classroom No. 4. One day at noon, I was teaching two children. One of them was about to learn elementary Bach music. The two of them were flipping through the catalog. One of them asked me, 'Teacher, are all the songs in this book dances?'"

"I said yes, and I gave them a brief explanation. The whole book is basically dance music." (Volume 136, Chapter : Major Triad)

"In order to give them an intuitive feeling, I described the court dance. I deliberately said that there is a princess dance that gives people a firm feeling, and a prince dance that is deep and sentimental. I swapped the princess and the prince."

Haitao: "Digging a hole."

Ang Lee: "Yes, when I was talking about this, a child immediately jumped out and asked, "Teacher, why isn't the prince's dance brave and firm?" He also said that girls are the ones who cry."

Mu Xin: "This child listened very carefully."

Lee Ang: "I asked him, do boys cry? He said yes. Then I asked him, do girls have a strong side? He said yes."

"Just like major and minor keys, I don't want them to bring in an inherent formula that major keys must be bright and minor keys must be dark. They can tell me through their own perception that major keys are bright and minor keys are dark. I won't actively say that because music is subjective and subjective things usually don't have a correct answer."

"A long time after this incident, Wang Xiaohu suddenly asked me one day."

Mu Xin: "It's Wang Xiaohu indeed~"

Ang Lee: "Yes."

Mu Xin smiled: "When you talked about it, I felt like he was the one. Is the other child Che Lin?"

Haitao: "Is it Xiaobei?"

Li An: "It's Xiaobei."

Xiaobei, Mu Xin remembered another name.

Ang Lee: "It was a long time later. He asked me, 'Teacher, there is a piece of Mozart music that made him feel sad.' I asked which one, and he said 'Divertimento in D major.'"

Haitao: “I don’t even know which one.”

Lao Tang: "I can't remember the number, but I'm sure I've heard it. I've heard all of Mozart's Divertimentos. His melancholy in the major key string music is really unique. Maybe it has something to do with your guidance."

Li Ang smiled and said, "I don't know. Maybe, if he doesn't just talk about it, then this is just the beginning. We can wait and see. Now let's go back to his performance."

"Sorry," Li An took out his cell phone and took a look. Xu Li had sent him a message.

"Third, and lastly, I want to say that the profession of piano teacher must return to the essence of piano teaching and to the children themselves. There are all kinds of children, and we must make this clear. We must value every child, accept every child, discover their strengths, and give them affirmation."

“The purpose of Piano Classroom No. 4 is that as long as the children are willing to sit in front of the piano, no matter what the reason is, as teachers we should treat them with a consistent attitude.”

After a pause, he said, "This is not an order. It is just my expectation of you as the person in charge of the school."

"I know this is difficult. Okay, let's go back. Sister Xu is back with the information."

moment.

“The name of Piano Classroom No. 4 was not given by me, but by the children.”

“Without these children, there would be no Piano Classroom No. 4.”

Mu Xin: "I suddenly became curious about the other kids."

Lao Tang: “They are all very interesting, and each of them has his own unique style in playing.”

Mu Xin: "Oh? You know them very well."

Lao Tang: “I have taught every child.”

Mu Xin: “?!”
-
The second floor stage.

"Linlin, it's your turn this time!"

Standing up from the piano, Senior Sister Xiao Ji put her hands on her waist.