Music competition, cooperation and community: An ethnography of a Japanese school band
by David Hebert
PhD Dissertation, University of Washington
This ethnography describes an award-winning Tokyo middle school band, and examines its role within the Japanese band... more This ethnography describes an award-winning Tokyo middle school band, and examines its role within the Japanese band community. The findings are based on analysis and interpretation of fieldwork data, including fieldnotes, interviews, videotaped observations, documents, sound recordings, and an open-ended questionnaire. The organizational model of Japanese school bands was determined to entail a symbiotic partnership between school, community, and industry. Education in the Tokyo middle school band differed from its Western counterparts, showing minimal relationship to formal music teacher education. The All-Japan Band Association influenced the objectives, repertoire, and organization of the school band, and its annual band contest was determined to be the world's largest music competition. In terms of curriculum, a genre of music was identified as meaningful to Japan: amateur band repertoire produced by Japanese composers, fusing Japanese and Western influences. Aspects of instruction in the Japanese band differed from Western models of effective musicteaching, and made use of techniques associated with Japanese moral education and traditional music pedagogy. Peer tutoring played a fundamental role in the learning process, as band member interactions negotiated an ethos of cooperation, competition, and duty. Parents were relatively uninvolved in the band. An extreme gender imbalance was observed: predominantly female students among competitive school bands. Band participation played a significant role in the musical identities of its members, particularly in terms of gender and nationality. Japanese school bands are shown to represent a model of transculturation with implications for multicultural music education, as the tradition was mastered and transformed within a fewgenerations. The study concludes with presentation of an Ensemble Ethos Model, which illustrates the relationships and processes utilized by effective teachers to nurture a culture of musical achievement.
Music transmission in an Auckland Tongan community youth band
by David Hebert
International Journal of Community Music
This article reports on findings from a 2006 ethnographic study of a Tongan community youth band in Auckland, New... more This article reports on findings from a 2006 ethnographic study of a Tongan community youth band in Auckland, New Zealand. To begin, the study's rationale is discussed in relation to previous research, followed by a description of the band's repertoire and rehearsal strategies, instrumentation and uniforms, notational practices and institutional context. The youth band's role in the Tongan community of Auckland is then considered in relation to previous descriptions of ‘community music’. The band's significance in terms of musical identity and its socio-economic context are also examined, followed by a discussion of this study's implications for community music workers in other settings. The findings suggest that community ensembles rooted in musical hybridity may generate innovative models of music learning and play a unique role in cultural preservation.
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Download (.pdf) Reflections on teaching the aesthetics and sociology of music online
by David Hebert
International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, 39(1) 93-103.
Discusses recent music technologies and the rise of online graduate programs in music, providing reflection on the... more Discusses recent music technologies and the rise of online graduate programs in music, providing reflection on the pioneering experience of teaching online courses in sociomusicology and the aesthetics of music. Three key topics are considered, including effectiveness and outcomes, quality assurance, and international collaboration. While distance education technology may be used, an innovative 'blended learning' approach—utilizing both traditional instruction and online learning—is advocated as an effective program format for international collaboration in graduate music education.
Alchemy of Brass: Wind Music and Spirituality in Japan
by David Hebert
Hebert, D. G. (2008). Alchemy of Brass: Wind Music and Spirituality in Japan. In E. M. Richards & K. Tanosaki (Eds.), Music of Japan Today (pp. 236-244). Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Press.
Investigates how the wind band genre has been adopted, radically reinvented, and imbued with new meanings by the... more Investigates how the wind band genre has been adopted, radically reinvented, and imbued with new meanings by the Japanese. Wind band music only came to be popularized in Japan during recent generations, but the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra is now regarded as the world's leading professional wind ensemble, and the All-Japan Band Association (AJBA) national contest has become the world's largest music competition, with nearly 500,000 contestants. The role of spirituality within Japanese wind bands is considered (from grade school through professional levels) in their mission (outreach activities), practices (rehearsal strategies), and repertoire (hybrid repertoire by Japanese composers).
Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools
by David Hebert
Hebert, D. G. (2012-published). Wind Bands and Cultural Identity in Japanese Schools. Dordrecht and New York: Springer. (Series–Landscapes: arts, aesthetics, education).
This well researched volume tells the story of music education in Japan and of the wind band contest organized by the... more
This well researched volume tells the story of music education in Japan and of the wind band contest organized by the All-Japan Band Association. Identified here for the first time as the world’s largest musical competition, it attracts 14,000 bands and well over 500,000 competitors. The book’s insightful contribution to our understanding of both music and education chronicles music learning in Japanese schools and communities. It examines the contest from a range of perspectives, including those of policy makers, adjudicators, conductors and young musicians. The book is an illuminating window on the world of Japanese wind bands, a unique hybrid tradition that comingles contemporary western idioms with traditional Japanese influences. In addition to its social history of Japanese school music programs, it shows how participation in Japanese school bands contributes to students’ sense of identity, and sheds new light on the process of learning to play European orchestral instruments.
Content Level » Research
David G. Hebert, PhD is a Professor of Music with the Grieg Academy, Bergen University College, Norway. He previously held academic positions with universities in the USA, Japan, Finland, Russia, and New Zealand, and has directed (or currently directs) music research projects on 6 continents. Widely published and cited as a scholar of global music education, he is chair of the Historical Ethnomusicology special interest group of the Society for Ethnomusicology.
Keywords » All-Japan Band Association - European orchestral instruments - Japanese composers - Japanese influences - Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra - Yamaha - japanese schools - music education - wind bands - young musicians
Foreword (by Bonnie Wade).- Part I: A social history of wind bands in Japanese schools. Chapter 1: Introduction: The world’s finest school bands and largest music competition.- Chapter 2: Where are these bands from?: An historical overview.- Part II: An ethnography of wind bands in Japanese schools. Chapter 3: An invitation to the Tokyo middle school.- Chapter 4: The band rehearsal ritual and its participants.- Chapter 5: Instruction in the Japanese school band.- Chapter 6: Scenes from the 50th AJBA national band competition.- Chapter 7: Winning in the band: Views from beneath and within.- Chapter 8: Winning in the band: Views from above and beyond.- Chapter 9: Japanese composers and wind band repertoire.- Chapter 10: Leadership and duty in the ensemble.- Chapter 11: Cooperative learning and mentorship in band.- Chapter 12: Organizational training of the Japanese band director.- Chapter 13: Corporate giants: Yamaha and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.- Chapter 14: Metaphors of a Japanese band community.- Chapter 15: Musical identity in the band: Social class and gender.- Chapter 16: National identity in the Japanese school band.- Chapter 17: Ensemble ethos: Theorizing cultures of musical achievement.- Chapter 18: Conclusions.- Afterword.- Glossary.- Index