This is an English translation of an article that was published in Nikkan San on February 7, 2019. It was a part of my column, “The Way of the Pianist.
Alfred Adler, one of the founders of psychology along with Freud and Jung, said “Empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another and feeling with the heart of another.” Empathy requires imagination, courage, and commitment. I am committed to my life in music, because I have faith in the power of music to inspire empathy in all of us.
For example, our preparation for a performance is not just to learn to play the notes on the score accurately. We research and think about the historical background to the piece, and the composer’s circumstances, feelings and desires. This is a long process of developing empathy to the composer through his/her music, beyond time and space. And in our performances, we share our empathy with the audience by communicating what we think the composer wanted to communicate with the world through his/her music.
Communication can be analyzed into three different components.
- WHAT (the content) you want to generate
- HOW (the method, timing and expression) you want to express the content
- HOW to receive (feel about, interpret and react/or not) the content transmitted to you.
In a conversation 1 would be thought or feelings you choose to share, 2 are choices of words, timing and expression, and 3 is what to listen to how. In music, 1 is composition, 2 is performance and 3 is interpreting the composition and/or listening to it.
One tends to focus on 1 in communication, especially in the process of growing up, establishing your identity. But in order to become a mature and effective member of the society, we need to cultivate 2 and 3. In that sense that training I have gone through as a pianist seems particularly useful, and socially relevant.
What made me realize this was the commission I received to design a workshop using music for corporations. An organization specializing in aiding Japanese companies in their globalization approached me, encouraged by my cosmopolitan and bilingual background and being an expert on the “universal language.” There are many workshops offered by various organizations using music for team building and leadership skills. Singing together, and moving to the rhythm of music can be used to enhance the so-called “love hormones” oxytocin production, making the participants feel closer, even affectionate, toward each. In thinking about how to harmonize and coordinate a better ensemble becomes analogous to how to work effectively as a team. There are so many possibilities for workshops using music! Music is powerful.