” many chinese kids who study (forced to study) piano or violin yet cannot name the composer of the piece the are playing.”
That is not entirely unknown here among, at least semi-pto and casual, Classical musicians. My Sister plays the flute beautifully! But she can’t play anything at all without sheet music in front of her. It’s disheartening! And I know others like her. I taught myself. Country pedal steel and Delta Blues, Country and Rock guitar. I know much more about music than she does. I never play anything the same way twice,,well,,,except for “The Entertainer,” which I adapted for finger style guitar using sojoplin’s sheet music. Dang that’s a tough piece! But I feel sorry for my Sister’s inability to improvise anything. Yet that id the way many are taught Classical Music. That is, unless they really get serious!.
Just read it.
It’s about 7000 words. Skip the first quarter of the Saints v Cowboys and just read it.
Here’s an excerpt:
Faithfulness to God’s Design
13. Men rightly observe that a conjugal act imposed on one’s partner without regard to his or her condition or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife. If they further reflect, they must also recognize that an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator, through specific laws, has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life.
I've met several chinese classical music students who never heard of Bach. I don't think I can find an American classical music student or musician with this bizarre defect.
But, this is just an example out the glaring obvious: that the chinese simply don't understand the point of education. For us, it is about growth and development of the individual. For them it's... mindless performance on tests and in talent shows? Who knows...
Our education system is becoming like theirs. It's inevitable. You can't academically compete against people who have absolutely no life except for mindlessly memorizing test answers 12 hours per day. And the new trend is to use steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Unless the academic system changes, western kids will be forced into the same patterns if they want spots in their own universities. If academic admissions criteria were based on other factors besides test scores, the chinese would be in bottom place.