Scott Price is Assistant Professor of Piano, Piano Pedagogy, and Coordinator of Group Piano at the University of South Carolina. 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, and the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra. 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 has recorded two compact discs of educational piano music for Alfred Publishing Company.
Scott Price
School of Music
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
sprice@mozart.sc.edu
803.777.1870
Group piano teaching and education has almost become a sub-discipline under the umbrella of Piano Pedagogy. Publications from the Music Educators National Conference, Proceedings from the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy, Proceedings from the Music Teachers National Association Pedagogy Saturday, the National Group Piano/Piano Pedagogy Forum, the former National Group Piano Symposium, unpublished dissertation studies and surveys, currently available group piano texts, articles and book chapters, conference presentations, listservs, and columns in this internet publication all demonstrate that group piano instructors have many beliefs, curricular ideas and teaching techniques that support the discipline. We have many beliefs about the education of students and about the education and training of graduate students who will serve as future educators in the area of group keyboard instruction. Among these many philosophies of teaching group piano, is there one that addresses the courses and curriculum from the student's perspective?
Lecture-demonstrations, articles, presentations, and conference discussions focusing on motivation, teaching techniques, technological applications, curriculum/text development, piano proficiency, learning styles and outcome measurement are all crucial to the success of the group piano instructor. However, I also feel that they work only when weighed in balance against a healthy dose of student pragmatism. Graduation and grades can only go so far in motivating students to learn skills. If students bring to the class a feeling of necessity in learning keyboard skills, then the process becomes a bit less painful for both sides in the teacher/student equation.
The question then becomes "What is the bottom line for the student?" Required mastery of some level of keyboard skills usually comes as a shock to most non-keyboard music students entering college. The courses have a reputation for being difficult, and students see them as just another unrelated and useless requirement in the system. The saturation of the marketplace with youth-directed products has made many young people wary of the very systems that will grant them a degree in music. Young people often enter college with a shrewd outlook and are no longer afraid to ask tough questions of their instructors. They want to know the what and why of keyboard instruction. "Why do I need to learn these skills", "What am I going to use this for?" and "Give me a good reason to do this work and learn this skill" are very fair questions to ask when spending a great deal of money for an education. Do we, as instructors, have the answers and do we respect the students enough to give them the answers they need and deserve?
Over the course of nine years of group piano instruction, I have found it useful to begin each semester with a brief explanation of the course to the students complete with answers to the questions posed in the preceding paragraph. I instruct my graduate students to do the same. The result has been a remarkable change in attitude, work habits, and a general increase in level of mastery of the curriculum.
The following list contains some of the explanations that I give to the class at the first meeting. I fully realize that these ideas are "old hat" for readers and may seem like a painful revisiting of obvious concepts. However, entering freshmen are new to the entire system and deserve at least a basic explanation of the tasks before them. They respect the justification of "What" and Why" and are more willing to spend time in the classroom when given the master plan. These "reasons for study" are not given all at once but as new activities are taught to give justification for paying attention and learning the skill. Not all of the reasons are necessary all of the time and I generally pick and choose as the situation warrants.
The National Association of Schools of Music. All college and university faculty are aware of the National Association of Schools of Music and their requirements for standards and accreditation. Although college-level instructors are aware of the needs and issues involved in creating national NASM standards, the keyboard skill requirement (now including improvisation) means little if nothing to students. Most students don't know what NASM is, why it makes requirements, or why they should even care. Students will understand the requirement if they are shown how keyboard skills complement the comprehensive nature of their musical education and prepare them for the demands of the workplace.
Secondary Instrumental Study. Being able to apply learned skills to another foreign instrument is a measure of how well one really understands the basics of the musical craft. Application of skills to another instrument also clarifies and cements basic concepts in the primary area of applied study. Secondary instrumental study can make students more marketable in the employment arena. It can also supplement and provide remedial instruction in music skill weaknesses.
Music Theory. Non-keyboard music majors, with the exception of some percussion instruments, harp, and guitar, experience theoretical concepts in a linear fashion. Notes unfold one-at-a-time, and students experience the full complement of the harmonic structure when working with their accompanist-if one is available. Through keyboard study, students can fully experience and apply the knowledge learned in music theory classes at the keyboard thereby fully understanding the concept and, most importantly, making it work for themselves.
Music Reading. To successfully read music notation at the keyboard, students must learn to conceptualize printed notes as black and white key patterns. Fingering patterns are then applied allowing students to execute their musical knowledge at the keyboard. A brief explanation of this skill and how it can transfer to students' major instruments can strengthen reading skills by transferring the conceptual idea to the mechanics of other instruments.
Improvisation.Improvisation can be a very accurate and personal measurement of general music skill understanding. If students can take a set of basic guidelines and create music at the keyboard, they truly understand the theoretical concepts and can make them work in the "real world".
Composition/Creative Activity.Through harmonization, creation of accompaniment patterns, and ensemble creative activities, students gain practical skills that have direct impact on their ability to function in their chosen career field. These skills are not just silly keyboard activities they have to do in class to satisfy a piano proficiency examination. These skills have direct application in the classroom and can be used to accompany and facilitate a choral rehearsal, elementary music class, or music appreciation class, or in creating simple arrangements for elementary of middle school band ensembles. The keyboard is the medium that facilitates these skills.
The group piano class is a teaching laboratory. The keyboard is the medium for practical applications of comprehensive music skills. It is a laboratory where students may take the concepts they learn in other coursework and apply them in a practical way with immediate and measurable results. Instructors know this and work tirelessly to bring students along on the journey. Perhaps a little explanation at the beginning will make them more willing participants.
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