Tsai, Mei-Ling

We sat down with Tsai, Mei-Ling to discuss her career so far and thoughts around music and education.

How did you start learning music?

I was a Yamaha student from my youth, having enrolled in the Yamaha group music courses when I was only four years old, and later progressed to individual classes. Around sixth grade, I saw a friend playing the Electone by chance, which sparked my interest, so I delved fully-fledged into Electone music performance and never turned back. After graduating from high school, I went to Japan to further my studies, since not many schools in Taiwan offered degrees in Electone performance art. During that time, I wanted to find work related to Electones, so I chose to work at Yamaha. When I came back after graduation, I was still young, and I longed to be a performance musician, so I started my career as a Electone demonstration performer.

How did you start your music education career?

My first encounter with the Electone really moved me inside, as it stirred up my yearning to perform on stage! So I longed to become a performer. However, the Electone performance market was limited, and it would be difficult to make a living purely on Electone performances, so I needed a regular job, which is why I chose to become a professional music instructor. Initially, I only wanted to experience teaching, but when I became an instructor, I found I had to learn how to teach while teaching, and I also started to contemplate how to become a good instructor.

How do you feel when you are teaching in the classroom or creating music with students?

When creating music with students, it keeps me on my toes, because what students want may not be what I am familiar with, so I must think outside the box to help students achieve their goals. Therefore, I need to be observant with each student every step of the way, a situation that is quite tense rather than enjoyable. Also, when we create music, it's usually not out of leisure but with specific objectives. For example, we may need to create music for competitions, so there are time-sensitive pressures. During such periods of music creation, it's often very exhausting, however, when I see students express and perform their music on stage with passion and with flying colors, all the tensions are converted to happy smiles and tears of joy. I am filled with emotions and a feeling of satisfaction, perhaps even more so than for my own performances. I consider my students' achievements as my achievements also. I am always proud of them and enjoy their performances. Finally, as students go through and experience these pressures, they will receive a solid sense of accomplishment, and I, as their instructor, will also grow with them. Such progress requires hard work and endurance, but it is due to these pressures that help my students and myself learn and grow alongside one another.

Have you ever encountered any gender equality issues in teaching music? If so, how did you overcome these issues?

I usually meet parents and children. Children are innocent and neutral when it comes to gender issues, and the parents that I meet are usually mothers, so I seldom come across gender inequality issues at work. In Taiwan, we enjoy many freedoms in this regard. For example, we have excellent female chefs, female athletes and female professors...etc. I feel we are very blessed in Taiwan, because gender equality is not much of an issue. Consequently, I think being in such a free and open society, we should focus more time and effort to explore our hearts, find our true values, and discover and build a better self-image.

Do you have any advice for future generations?

My advice for children who would like to learn music: Learning music requires hard work and endurance, because you need to sacrifice a lot of time to practice and study. Firstly, you must be filled with curiosity and passion when it comes to music. For example: Do you have a yearning passion to perform on stage? Or, are you extremely curious about a musical piece's structure? Or, what if we change the music's style and expression? Such curiosity is a must, because it is our drive to explore, seek answers, and find satisfaction. Secondly, you must find your own groove or path in the world of music. The musical universe is a broad mix with classical, pop, jazz...etc., although you don't need to know them all, but you must find one that you love, because it is this love that will continue to propel your progress. Finally, besides studying the techniques of music performance, I hope we can all learn to turn down the noise in our heart and mind, and just listen and enjoy music in its purity, because this is also an important element that nurtures persistence in learning music. Throughout my life, not only has music always been my best friend, but music is also my best ally in times of turmoil. I hope future generations of children learning music will also expand their horizons and open their hearts and minds by embracing music in life.