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Michael Benson, a faculty member in the Department of Music at Ohio State University-Lima has performed at the Smithsonian Institution during the International Schubert Symposium, Steinway Hall as a winner in The Pinault Biennial International Piano Competition and Preston Bradley Hall on the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series heard on National Public Radio affiliate WFMT 98.7 FM from Chicago. He has presented lectures, adjudicated and performed for national, divisional and state conventions of Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) and for international conferences of the College Music Society. He has contributed articles to Texas Music Teacher, American Music Teacher, Teaching Music, Piano Pedagogy Forum and Clavier. As an active member of Ohio Music Teachers Association, he serves as State Chair for MTNA Professional Certification and as Northwest District Pre-College Buckeye Chair. He has taught on the faculties of Carl Sandburg College, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Oakland University. As a guest of the Fujian Provincial Education Department in the Peoples Republic of China, he taught piano, group piano and piano pedagogy in the Arts Education College of Jimei University during Fall 2001. Mr. Benson holds degrees in piano performance from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and The University of Texas at Austin. His piano and piano pedagogy professors include Ester Mills Wood, Samuel Driggers, Noel Engebretson, Sophia Gilmson, Martha Hilley, Robert Roux and Nancy Garrett.
Michael Benson
139 Reed Hall
4240 Campus Drive
The Ohio State University at Lima
Lima, Ohio 45804
419.995.8442
Benson.126@osu.edu
While visiting with independent piano teachers at professional meetings and conventions around the country, I often ask them to complete a questionnaire regarding their teaching objectives and music education values. In their written remarks, they often comment on their belief that they are doing a fine job of teaching piano skills but wish they had "more time" in the studio piano lesson to incorporate and teach functional musicianship skills. Many of these teachers go on to explain how the inclusion of music education computer software in their independent studio allows them to provide certain educational experiences before or after the lesson and allows the primary focus of their teaching to be on "playing the important piano repertoire." Alone, the educational music software cannot answer all of the student's questions or fulfill certain musical teaching objectives. The primary purpose of this article is to submit my personal rationale for how and when to teach functional musicianship skills (i.e., sight-reading, keyboard theory, composition, improvisation and accompanying) in the studio piano lesson of a beginning piano student or a transfer student (e.g., lower intermediate level) utilizing the standard teaching literature.
First, why comprehensive musicianship through functional skills?
Functional skills can assist the traditional piano student through:
So, in detail, what are the musical parts and pieces of standard functional skills?
Sight-reading
5-finger melodies
Duets
Ensembles (two or more parts)
Repertoire
Rhythm drills
Accompaniments
Keyboard Theory
Harmonization
Composition
Composer-style
Pentascale/5-Finger melodies
Using primary chords
Using secondary chords
Free or improvisatory
Improvisation
Black key
5-finger patterns
Scales
Simple melodies (antecedent-consequent phrases)
Counter-melodies
Composer-style
Pop, rock, jazz, folk and blues
Second parts to pieces
Playing by ear
Accompanying
Second parts to pieces (improvised)
Written accompaniments for pieces
Duets
Ensembles (two or more parts)
Having elaborated a bit on what may be defined as "functional musicianship skills," what are the musical skills emphasized by incorporating these music activities into the studio piano lesson? By incorporating "functional musicianship skills" into the traditional piano lesson, the teacher is able to emphasize:
Which of these skills would I incorporate with beginners? Why?
In his book, The Process of Education, Jerome Bruner states, "...any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development." I begin my answer to this question with this quote because I believe it is true. Experience has taught me that there are many ways to measure student success and that a grade in a class or winning the local piano competition does not always reflect the knowledge (or lack of knowledge) gained by the student. As Bruner states, any subject can be taught to anyone at anytime in his/her respective lives. Music is an example of a subject that may be taught to all ages and at all levels.
So, having shared a bit of my teaching philosophy, I believe that all of these functional skills may be taught to beginning piano students. Why, because students are capable of "performing" or approximating these musical activities from the first lesson. Susie comes for her first piano lesson. She is excited to even sit at the piano, let alone play the instrument. The first thing we do in the first lesson emphasizes improvisation, interval awareness, and transposition. First, I ask her to listen to me play two notes and then perform those two notes as she heard them. While the musical trials are many (for dynamics etc.), there are multiple opportunities for Susie to play the instrument she has dreamed of playing. Second, we perform question and answer musical examples on these two notes. Finally, we move or transpose these two notes to another pair of white keys somewhere on the piano. This is not all I would do in the first lesson, but I believe this is one way to emphasize "functional musicianship skills" in conjunction with Susie's introduction to piano lessons. Susie is listening and repeating musical phrases, not knowing anything about the piano, as well as having positive musical experiences during her first piano lesson. There is no music score, no "sit this way" or "sit that way", just music and listening as well as opportunities for creative meaningful music making. These initial skills are being experienced/learned without explanation for now and will be explained in subsequent lessons.
Seibenaler, in Training Piano Students and Piano Teachers, discusses Jellison's questions concerning the inclusion and merit of "functional skills" in the music curriculum. These questions are:
How would I incorporate such skills into the lesson of a transfer student, lower intermediate level, who plays quite well but has never been asked to sight-read or to analyze one of his/her repertoire pieces?
Before answering this question, I would like to share a personal definition of "lower intermediate" or "early intermediate" level student.
Musically, the "lower intermediate level" student should:
1) be capable of finding starting pitches without asking for teacher guidance
2) have the ability to recognize and perform correctly appropriate rhythmic
durations (whole, half, quarter, dotted quarter and paired or single eighth notes as well as the rests associated with these note values)
3) be capable of explaining and performing accurately the time/meter signature
4) have the ability to understand introductory musical expressive markings (e.g., piano, forte, decrescendo, crescendo, staccato, legato, andante, allegro, a slur) and perform them in a convincing musical manner
5) be able to perform a piece without stopping
Musical examples of "lower intermediate level" repertoire are:
Air in F Major by Johann H. Buttstedt (1666-1727)
Minuet in C Major by C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788)
Air in D Minor by Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
German Dance, WoO 8, No. 1 by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
Suite in C Major, movements I, II, and III by Johann W. Hassler (1747-1822)
The Hunt by Cornelius Gurlitt (1820-1901)
Rigaudon by Alexander Gedike (1877-1957)
Soldier's March by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Climb Up On An Elephant arr. by Nancy Telfer (b.1950)
Dorian Invention No. 6 by Pierre Gallant (b.1950)
Having shared a few of my personal repertoire favorites from the Eighteenth- through Twentieth-century for the "lower intermediate level" student, now I can share how I might work with a transfer student to begin incorporating functional skills into the lesson.
As mentioned above, "...any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child at any stage of development." Bruner's statement also applies to the "lower intermediate level" transfer student. If Johnny transfers to my studio and he is performing the German Dance, WoO 8, No.1, by Beethoven, I can begin working with him on functional skills immediately. Using musical concepts Johnny already understands, we can begin to explore numerous functional skills. The first step might be to have him write down the note names of the left-hand chords on the score. Second, construct a C Major scale and write it out on staff paper in treble and bass clef, identify the chord tones associated with the C Major scale, and ask him to play the left-hand chords blocked (i.e., all notes together). Finally, show him how the left-hand chords he sees, hears, and performs relate to the C Major scale he has written out on staff paper.
We could stop here and would have emphasized key signature, intervals, the C Major scale, major triads, a seventh chord, and chord progressions or Roman numerals, but what if we go a step further and ask him to transpose the piece to the key of G Major? This way we could identify what he knows and what questions Johnny may have concerning functional skills. In the last eight years I have asked my independent studio and group piano students to compose music in the style of (in this case) Beethoven. So what are the characteristics of a German dance? As defined by The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, a Deutsher Tanz is a late 18th and early 19th century dance for couples in fast triple meter. Now Johnny has composed his own German dance and transposed one of Beethoven's finest didactic pieces.
At this point, the transfer student who knew very little about functional skills has been introduced to many activities but there is still sight-reading, accompanying, improvisation and modes to consider. Those issues may also be addressed with this piece. Since there are repeats in German Dance, there is an opportunity to have him improvise. Improvisation for Johnny might be as modest as using different dynamics or articulations or as challenging as having him add ornaments to the half notes in measures 1 and 3 (right-hand). Johnny might also be asked to improvise/compose a new right-hand part to go with the left-hand accompaniment. As for sight-reading, he might sight-read and compare other German Dances from WoO 8, by Beethoven. Are there similarities? Are there major differences in length, difficulty, etc.? The accompanying part of functional skills may also be addressed using German Dance. I would ask Johnny to accompany me with the left-hand chords arpeggiated in both hands. He could also change the accompaniment pattern to an Alberti bass and experience another stylistic musical trait of the 18th and early 19th centuries. As for minor scales or key areas, Johnny could be directed to play German Dance adding e-flat and a-flat. Then not only is he sight-reading in c-minor (harmonic), he is also performing the piece in variation and this could lead to a very interesting student composition or improvisation. Finally, if he were asked to play the piece as written and add f-sharp, he would get to hear c-lydian mode.
Along with the introduction to these skills, Johnny knows something more about functional skills and musical concepts than when he walked in the door for the lesson. Now, how do these skills help him become "maximally independent?" How do they apply to a performance situation? I am confident that Johnny will develop an awareness and theoretical understanding of other piano pieces based on these early positive experiences with functional skills. It will help prepare him to memorize with more confidence, will broaden his learning experiences in music, and hopefully motivate his musical development because he is learning to become an independent musician as well as a life-long learner.
How do I incorporate functional musicianship skills into the studio piano lesson utilizing the standard teaching literature?
Below are musical examples that I regularly use to introduce and develop certain "functional musicianship skills" with beginning piano students.
Example 1: Love Somebody from Alfred's Lesson Book, Level 1A, p. 47
Sight-reading: right-hand part, rhythms etc.
Duet part: as written for teacher (accompaniment)
Harmonize: primary chords or chord tones
Transpose: major and minor pentascales
Compose: right-hand pentascale piece in C Major
Introduce: whole note rests, reinforce dynamics
*Note: I exclude the left-hand/bass clef part so the student will be able to compare their composed left-hand chord symbols/Roman numerals/notes ("C" & "G") with the example in the method book. I introduce harmonization by having the student choose between "C" and "G" to accommodate the right-hand melody in each measure. I usually play both left-hand notes for them and ask them to choose which accompaniment note(s) they believe sounds most appealing. This formula works well for most two-part beginning piano pieces. I have no personal research to support this assumption, but as they understand and develop these skills they usually enjoy performing their own renditions of these compositions more than the written model.
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Example 2 is (Go Tell Aunt Rhody) another example of a major pentascale piece that could be developed like Love Somebody. I have provided chord/guitar symbols and at this point expect the student to play single chord tones in the left-hand as the accompaniment pattern. When introduced, this example is more of a sight-reading piece to hear if a student comprehends or is able to transfer the information from Love Somebody to another piece.
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Example 3 (Chord Tones & Passing Tones) is an example I use to develop improvisation. Also, this example lends itself to transposition and by the time the student can perform the left hand chords proficiently, I am able to have them play chords with the right-hand and improvise, in this case, with the left-hand on a C Major pentascale. All of these examples are taught with both left- and right-hand performances in mind. In other words, I supervise the students playing melodies and chords/single note accompaniments with both hands.
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For beginning piano students, these activities take time. I value these functional musicianship skills and work with my students weekly and in group piano/theory lessons to improve and help them transfer this information from one piece to another. I believe, although I have no data to support these claims, that as the students understand these concepts, their musical progress motivates their practice and musical growth. I have heard examples of intermediate level compositions from my piano students that provide me with evidence that they do understand these musical concepts and that the acquisition of these skills was worth the time spent in the studio and group lessons. As the questionnaire's reveal, the most common reason for not including functional musicianship skills in the studio piano lesson is "lack of time" or need for "more time" during the traditional studio piano lesson. While I understand the decision of teachers who choose not to include functional musicianship skills during the studio piano lesson, I would encourage them to spend the time needed to organize these opportunities for their students. It takes time to explain "how" and "why" these skills are important to a student, but as the compositions by my students exhibit, is worth the lesson time to develop these functional musicianship skills early in a student's musical education.
In many states where I have lived and taught piano there are music exams that have been developed to assess student progress associated with the functional musicianship skills discussed above. These musical competency tests are given concurrently at state conventions around the country and are generally associated with professional music organizations. These pre-college exams emphasize harmonic analysis/music theory, harmonization of melodies using primary chords (i.e., I, IV and V), realizing figured bass, interval recognition or aural training, and composition. These exams have taken a great deal of time and effort to develop and reflect the movement in music education to include functional musicianship skills in the studio piano lesson. In many cases, independent piano teachers choose to purchase computer instruction software that leads the student through sequenced music theory materials that provide immediate feedback. While I use many different types of technology in my independent piano studio and university classes, music education research supports Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI) as long as it coincides with teacher instruction and feedback. These CAI music education software programs aid the preparation of the next generation of musicians and college music majors as well as life-long learners but do not allow the teacher to be a part of the learning process. I would encourage all independent piano teachers to teach these skills during the studio piano lesson as it is in the best interest of the students and allows them to communicate their knowledge of functional musicianship skills. Furthermore, I sincerely enjoy hearing my student's compositions and improvisations and believe that it adds a dimension to the piano lesson that is educational and motivational for the teacher and student.
In his book, Developing Talent in Young People, Benjamin Bloom found that a common factor for high achievers in several areas (including piano performance) was multiple positive experiences during the earliest stages of learning. Other motivational factors discussed by Bloom, included curiosity, discovery learning, and recognition for personal achievement in these earliest learning environments. I believe this is important because the functional musicianship skills developed by teaching these musical concepts not only develops "talent" but also helps a person to be "maximally independent." And that, I believe, is the short-term and long-range goal of every teacher who chooses to teach functional musicianship skills.
Selected Bibliography
Berliner, David. "In Pursuit of the Expert Pedagogue." Educational Researcher 15(7) (1986): 5-13.
Bloom, Benjamin S. ed. Developing Talent in Young People. New York: Ballantine Books, 1985.
Bruner, Jerome. The Process of Education. New York: Vintage Books, 1963.
CD Sheet Music. Beethoven: Complete Works for Solo Piano. Theodore Presser Co., 2000.
Collins, Ann. Lead Lines and Chord Changes. Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Publishing Co., 1988.
Hilley, Martha. Piano for the Developing Musician. Comprehensive ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1998.
________. "Composition and Improvisation in Class Piano: Curricular Approaches." Proceedings of the 72nd Annual Meeting: National Association of Schools of Music 85 (1997): 47-49.
The National Conference on Piano Pedagogy. Proceedings of the 1990-1991 Meeting. Schaumburg. Il.: 1991.
The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, Mass.: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1986.
Palmer, Willard P.; Manus, Morton.; and Lethco, Amanda Vick. Piano, Lesson Book-Level 1A. Sherman Oaks, CA.: Alfred Publishing Co., 1981.
Royal Conservatory of Music. Celebration Series, Piano Repertoire Album 1. 2nd ed., Ontario, Canada: The Frederick Harris Music Co., 1994.
Siebenaler, Dennis. "Training Piano Students and Piano Teachers: Common Elements." Proceeding of the 1990-1991 Biennial Meeting: National Conference of Piano Pedagogy. (1991): 121-122.
Uszler, Marienne; Gordon, S.; Smith, S.M.; Upitis, R.; and Mach, E. The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher. 2nd ed., New York: Shirmer Books , 2000.
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