culture

Toksong Primary School in Phyongsong City attached to Phyongsong Teachers Training College is well known for having produced many music prodigies thanks to its active encouragement to music education.

“All the music group members of the school are good at singing and dancing and can play more than three kinds of musical instruments,” said Choe Yong Ae, headmistress of the school.

According to her, nearly 20 such members performed in singing and janggu (an hourglass drum) beating Motherly Party Is Always Close By in the provincial New Year celebration performance and their performance struck all audience with great admiration.

People who have seen a performance by music group members of the school unstintingly praise them, referring to them as music prodigies able to not only sing folk songs but also beat janggu and other percussion instruments and play xylophone, piano, oungum and so on.

What is amazing is that such good performers do not number merely a few at the school.

The audience noticed that teachers of the music group must have made strenuous efforts to train such prodigies. 

Kim Yong Ok, one of the teachers, says it is a duty of not only an educator but also any member of the nation to put much effort into national music education. 

While teaching her pupils Korean tunes, she explains them the origins of the tunes and their advantages, telling them relevant interesting anecdotes to suit the psychology of the little children, and thereby instils in them the pride of being members of the Korean nation.

Meanwhile, she directs efforts to dance rhythm lessons so that the pupils can master not only singing and tunes but also dance rhythms peculiar to the nation.

“We cannot notice the passage of time in the music group. Because every day we learn how to sing and dance and play many musical instruments including the piano, xylophone, janggu and other percussion instruments,” said Pak Ryu Gyong, fourth-year pupil of the school. 

Pak has attended the group for three years and she can sing folk songs well and dance gracefully and is excellent at playing the piano, xylophone, janggu and other percussion instruments, which amazes even her parents.

She intends to enter Phyongsong Art School after finishing the primary school.

The headmistress said many music prodigies from her school now distinguish themselves at national art troupes and its graduates who attend the art school are highly rated for their good ABCs and high artistic skills. 

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