A brief history of the Yamaha Music Education System, from its origins in the 1950's to the present day. Over this time, many lives have been touched by the joys of making and teaching music.
The Yamaha courses began in the mid-1950s in Japan under the direction of Mr. Gen’ichi Kawakami, the president of Nippon-Gakki Company, Ltd. (now called Yamaha Corporation). Mr. Kawakami believed his company was responsible not only for making a quality product, but also for teaching customers how to use the product. Consequently, he established the non-profit Yamaha Music Foundation (YMF) in 1966 for the purpose of developing and promoting music education and music popularization activities internationally. YMF guides the development of the Yamaha Music Education System in 41 countries and also sponsors international events such as the Junior Original Concert (JOC).
In the United States, the Music Education Division of Yamaha Corporation of America works in cooperation with Yamaha Music Foundation to design new courses, improve instructional quality, and refine existing programs.