However, I’m glad that I was put through classical training, because I grew to have pride in being excellent at what I was doing (especially when I decided to randomly play for fun before music class at school and shocked my music teacher and the entire class… ). Call it a bit of a show-off sort of mentality, but as a child it was something that gave me a lot of self confidence, and that was what made me keep practicing. In fact, the way my mom made me keep playing was by threatening to make me quit.

None of the actual musical, expressive aspects really came to mind until I was in my early teens, and I think that was when I actually started to appreciate having a classical training. I think the difference though is that my mom was a professional musician, and so she was able to give me pointers on musicality and such, though she started giving them to me before I reached the age of ten, and so those all went over my head. Her background was that growing up, taking music lessons was a privilege that she only got if she was top in her class (which she wasn’t), so she wanted to make sure that all the kids in my family got that training from an early age.

To be honest, I think that my being pushed into classical music at a young age was more a musician aspect more than an Asian one, though my mom did also have the objective of teaching us discipline, and the good thing was that at least I liked it, and continued on through college of my own accord. It’s very funny seeing my brother go through the same process, and I’ve often talked with my mom about how it was for me as opposed to my brother – for a while, I was kind of her interpretor to my brother in explaining why he had to practice. I’m really thankful that she put me through classical music, because I really can’t imagine my life without it, and I know that as a child I would not have practiced on my own without her sitting there telling me to practice.

Plus, having all the theory background makes for hilarious conversations about perfect pitch and solfege and lets us mess with other instruments (including guitar and drums, though no electric bass yet sadly because my mom didn’t want to deal with an amp), and my brother has also become a metalhead (imagine my poor old Asian dad with him at a Metallica concert on the floor!). Maybe for us who became musicophiles, having the classical training was really a blessing because of what it enabled us to do, and I can’t thank my parents enough for it.

It seems to me the “Asian” approach to playing the piano is one of mechanical approach rather than that of artistry and truly feeling the music. I think this is a cultural thing. Although there are exceptions this stereotype seems pretty accurate. It was the same in university, why think with your own words when you can simply “memorize” the book passages to write down on one’s exam – not too popular with the Profs.

I encountered one young Chinese kid in the music store and his ego was bigger than his talent. Although he did compliment my playing I felt he could take a course in humility and how rude it was NOT to brag. But of course, we have many young little emperors being raised here. It makes the truly gifted and humble Asian kids – like with ALL RACES – stand out.

Chinese as a culture tend to be very competitive. This is NOT A RACIST COMMENT but a CULTURAL observation. I recall one women, when I was quietly trying out new piano pieces for purchase, try to catch my eye and proceed to outplay me. Yawn.

Many stereotypes about how Asian kids are raised are generally true, at least here in one of the largest Asian enclaves in North America. Kids are either neglected (some parents live abroad and leave highschool kids alone in their mega mansions -very sad) and spoiled with good and/or cash, or they are raised with an iron fist. The sweetest and most humble ones get our warmest hellos in the elevator where we live.

I remember one Asian man we were quite friendly with in our building, who wanted me to tutor his daughter, when I politely declined due to a variety of private family medical conditions/and work time, he was insulted. It didn’t seem to concern him that we had important family matters that was taking up all of our time. According to him – it’s only an hour a week. Now he avoids us. What a selfish man.

If Asian parents push their kids into music forcefully, I think it is merely a reflection of attempting to acquire what is perceived as “status”. Status to some people is more important than happiness.

What my parents did have me take however was art lessons, since I’m artistically inclined. I think I enjoyed it for the first few years, then after having been to about three places for lessons, I started to get tired of it, since I felt I wasn’t learning anything.

My parents actually encouraged participation in sports like track and basketball and the fighting arts instead of music. My mom didn’t want me to get my butt kicked by the white racists in my school.

I regret not having learned how to play the piano / keyboard.

It might be a generational and geographical trend.

as a piano student:
i lived in the generation of the movie and tv series FAME. i was a quiet little chinese girl and piano lessons saved my life bc it gave me a channel for expressing my moodiness outside of a repressive chinese family. my russian jewish piano teacher and my other piano teachers and other piano students showed me there were different people out there and i had options beyond what my parents told me.

as a piano teacher:
in high school, my orchestra teacher (where i played violin and viola) encouraged me to be a piano teacher. my piano students (kids and adults) thought it was a hoot to have a tiny teenage asian piano teacher. i retired as a piano teacher in college when i had to consolidate my work hours.