The Context of the Miessner Piano’s Introduction to the Japanese People by W. M. Vories :
Establishment of Music Education Included early 20th Century American Instrumental Music
2021 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 1-12
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2021 Volume 50 Issue 2 Pages 1-12
In this paper, I will describe how the Miessner Piano contributed to musical education. The purpose of this study is to gain a better understanding of W. M. Vories’ view that music should have a place in education. In 1924, Vories imported the Miessner Piano to Japan, and Japanese families began to introduce these small upright pianos to their living spaces. In the USA, music educators pursued the goal of teaching music universally, which included listening to instrumental music in the early 20th century. Previously, music education in schools had been limited to the study of vocal music. As a music supervisor, Otto Miessner had presented Music Supervisors National Conference (MSNC) in 1918, the year in which he devised the Miessner Piano, a smaller piano specially designed for use in schools. In 1921, MSNC presented a standard course in music for elementary students. In 1924, as MSNC’s president, Miessner devised the slogan “Music for Every Child,” and published a method for piano instruction called The Melody Way to Play the Piano. Miessner introduced practical measures to train educators to teach universal musical education. Miessner’s approaches to music had something in common with Vories’s thought.
