Scott Price is Assistant Professor of Piano, Piano Pedagogy, and Coordinator of Group Piano and Piano Accompanying at the University of South Carolina. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and Bowling Green State University, he has studied with Jane Magrath, Thomas Hecht and Virginia Marks. He has performed at the national conventions of the Music Teachers National Conference, Music Teachers National Association, the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy, and has given performances and seminars at the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas TX, the University of Oklahoma Seminar for Piano Teachers, the North Dakota State Music Teachers Convention, the South Carolina State Music Teachers Convention, and the Bowling Green State University Summer Music Institute. He has served as repetiteur with Lyric Opera Cleveland, and as music director for Lyric Opera Cleveland's Educational Outreach program. He has been a faculty member of the Cleveland Music School Settlement and the Bowling Green State University Creative Arts program. Dr. Price is creator and co-editor of the on-line piano pedagogy journal "Piano Pedagogy Forum," and publishes educational piano compositions with the FJH Music Company.
Scott Price
School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
sprice@mozart.sc.edu
803.777.1870
The quick rise and development of keyboard technology has been a somewhat frightening time for piano teachers. Most teachers found themselves facing a barrage of new and complicated machinery and programming procedures. Many teachers had to become familiar with computer usages literally "overnight." The constant development of the industry, products, and the competition to see which technology formats would be adopted as standard, created confusion and fear when choosing which formats to learn and which investments to make in equipment. Teachers also hotly argued and debated their position in the market-place and the fear of potential loss of livelihood.
As things have settled down and equipment and formats have become somewhat standardized, piano teachers have been able to reassess their place in relationship to keyboard technology. The livelihood of the independent teacher grows and is enhanced by the use of keyboard technology. Piano pedagogy instructors now include instruction and implementation of keyboard technology not only in their pedagogy classes, but in their intern and demonstration teaching classes as well. In many university and college music programs, some form of keyboard or music technology is being implemented as a learning tool in music theory and sight-singing classes. The development of music and keyboard technology has opened up new career opportunities for students including specializations in music technology and in commercial music. An increasing number of college and university music schools are creating budgets to develop music technology centers and are even going as far as to create specialized degree tracks in music technology.
Throughout the development of music and keyboard technology, the piano pedagogy instructor's position has constantly shifted in focus. While pedagogy instructors and industry insiders were quick to embrace the new technology and bring their influence to bear on the implementation and application of technological advances, other university and college faculty members with a stake in the force of new technology on the academic arena were doing the same. As a result, we now have many brilliant and capable people in academia who are working with the development and implementation of keyboard and music technology. In many cases, faculty have chosen technology as their full or partial specialization making them more qualified than many pedagogy instructors in the learning, application and implementation of technology in the classroom and the teaching studio. Now that many pedagogy instructors do not have to fully support the implementation of keyboard and music technology into their curriculum, what is their role in the application and development of these technologies?
The role of many piano pedagogy instructors in music and keyboard technology now falls into the category of "facilitator." As music technology has separated into the general areas of industry, product development, music technology specialist, and piano pedagogy instructor, it is the pedagogy instructor's responsibility to help their students absorb and use the forms of technology most valuable to them in their future careers. We now facilitate paths of choice in music technology as we aid our students in shaping their futures and areas of specialization.
Technology instruction and application in piano pedagogy has traditionally fallen into two areas: group piano and demonstration/intern teaching. These areas are unique to the pedagogy curriculum and require in-depth knowledge of technological applications from the pedagogy instructor. Technology instruction in group piano generally includes the following:
In the area of demonstration/intern teaching, pedagogy instructors are faced with the review, evaluation, and application of MIDI materials that now accompany the current piano method series. Learning and developmental differences in student age groups may dictate different applications of the group piano laboratory. Disklavier and sequencing capabilities may also be utilized.
As the field of keyboard and music technology continues to grow, it is the duty of pedagogy instructors to be responsive to the new technologically adept generation of students and their needs in learning and building and sustaining their careers. Some ideas for future directions may include:
Coursework:
It is imperative that we keep abreast of new developments in technology and give our students continued exposure to knowledge and applications that may enhance their career possibilities. Courses may contain a module on technological instruction and application, or elective courses may be developed that allow students to explore specialized projects in keyboard and music technology. These courses may involve the following:
Teaching Experience:
Pedagogy students must have practical teaching experience in the utilization and implementation of keyboard and music technology. Graduate assistants in group piano get this experience through continued assignment to differing levels in the group piano curriculum. Other students may gain experience through assistance and partial direction of the undergraduate demonstration teaching laboratories. Should graduate students enter a pedagogy program with limited exposure and experience in teaching, they should be given the opportunity to be involved in the undergraduate setting to gain the necessary exposure and perspective in teaching applications.
Degree Flexibility:
As piano pedagogy degree programs and curriculums go through the periodic process of review and revision, provisions should be made that allow the utmost degree flexibility for students who desire specializations in keyboard technology. In the area of elective coursework, students should be allowed flexibility in choosing courses from the technology curriculum that will broaden their area of interest. Many technology specialists are quite willing to design course projects for these students that complement their pedagogy coursework. The ultimate duty of the pedagogy instructor in this area is that of proper advisement. The pedagogy instructor must facilitate and design a program of study for the individual student that allows him the utmost opportunity for future career enhancement.
Dissertation/Final Degree Requirement Flexibility
The rise of music and keyboard technology and specialists in those areas will be reflected in the future through the types of dissertations and final projects that graduate students are required to complete. Pedagogy instructors must be flexible in their ideas regarding these final requirements and standards must be created that will reflect the ideals that are achieved through the process of the thesis or dissertation. These projects may ultimately take the form of studies that resemble only a portion of the traditional writing requirement. We may, in the future, see graduate students who are developing new instructional materials that utilize some form of music and keyboard technology. Degree candidates may also be involved in projects that use technology in the areas of assisted and distance learning. Applications of music technology in the area of teaching/assisting handicapped and learning-disabled students is a new and emerging field of study. Performance medicine, commercial music, and the recording industry are all areas where a pedagogy degree candidate may gain valuable and career enhancing skills.
It is the duty of the pedagogy instructor to facilitate venues within degrees and individual programs of study that will give students a broad base of general knowledge that will allow them to gain perspective, experience, and to formulate a personal philosophy that is relative to developments in their chosen field of study. We are not giving up portions of our degree programs in pursuit of these goals. We are allowing specialists in these areas to take some of the burden from us as we move on to further explore the art of piano teaching. We are also allowing the course of the piano pedagogy degree to develop freely while keeping a watchful eye on the central core of necessary knowledge and applications. Most importantly, we are allowing new forums for debate and experimentation whereby the study of piano pedagogy may remain alive in the next century.
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