Martha Hilley joined the faculty of The University of Texas School of Music in 1982 as coordinator of group piano. In 1986, she became head of the keyboard division and served in that position until 1989. She served as Associate Director of the School of Music as well as Director of Undergraduate Studies from 1994-1999 and as Chair of the University of Texas Faculty Council for the 1999-2000 academic year. She currently serves as South Central Vice President for the Texas Council of Faculty Senates. Ms. Hilley has been an active participant in workshops, conferences and seminars on the international, national, state and local levels. She has been pedagogy faculty for the International Pedagogy Workshops in Italy, Belgium, Hawaii, Australia and Norway as well as pedagogy faculty for the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Alaska and Tunghai University's Summer Keyboard Institute in Taichung, Taiwan. Through national televideo conferences (KTV I & II) Ms. Hilley had the opportunity to communicate as one of five panelist to over 29,000 music teachers across the country. Her abilities as a teacher were recognized in 1983 when she received the Texas Excellence Teaching Award and again in 1988 when she was awarded one of four Dad's Association Centennial Fellowships for excellence in undergraduate teaching. In 1992, Professor Hilley was recipient of the prestigious Orpheus Award presented by Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in recognition of her contributions to the field of music. In 1997, she was awarded the Outstanding Collegiate Teacher Award by the Texas Music Teachers Association. In the Fall of 1998 she was awarded the William Blunk Endowed Professorship given for excellence in undergraduate teaching. In 2002 she was named as MTNA Foundation Fellow for the state of Texas. Professor Hilley's articles have been published in Clavier, Piano Quarterly and Keyboard Companion. She is co-author of two college piano texts: Piano for the Developing Musician (in 5th edition) and Piano for Pleasure (in 4th edition). The texts were the first to embrace dedicated digital sequencer technology through disks furnished to teachers as well as the first to provide web-based computer tutorials.
Martha Hilley
School of Music
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station
Austin, TX 78712
512.471.0751
mfhilley@mail.utexas.edu
In the most perfect of all worlds there would exist the single perfect method or text book, depending on the type of teaching you do, that would address the needs of all of your students. Alas, we all know that this old world is far from perfect and such a wonder of publication probably will never exist. And this is a good thing - who wants students who are stamped out of a cookie mold blindly marching in a perfect row, never needing additional drill, never questioning a presented concept, never creatively pushing the envelope. All teachers have as their long-term goal students who no longer need us but what fun would teaching be without the challenges?
It is because of the ever-changing challenges within the classroom that I turned to technology several years ago. I was looking for something that might help that student who was hesitant to put up his or her hand when I asked the perfectly ridiculous question, "Are there any questions?" Most students would rather bite off their arms than admit in front of their peers that they do not understand something. Even in a one-to-one teaching environment our students will tend to agree with us ("Is this all clear?" brings a reply of "Uh-huh.") I know, and you know, that students leave our studios and classrooms every day with unanswered questions - questions that were never asked. Some even leave with the best of intentions to "figure it out on their own." Technology provides a wonderful opportunity to allow this student to do just that - figure it out.
I have also found technology to be a great way to accommodate the different learning styles of students. Within one computer "tutorial" it is possible to address the visual, aural and kinesthetic learner. I have been very encouraged by the number of conversations about learning styles and teaching styles I have overheard at pedagogy conferences, MTNA conferences, as well as state and local meetings. If I might take just a moment to refer you once more to the excellent article by Susanna Garcia that originally appeared in Piano Pedagogy Forum Volume 5, No. 1 and is featured in the "Best Of" issue of PPF (Volume 7, No. 2) - a wealth of information for those both experienced and inexperienced in the area of learning styles.
Let's talk equipment for a moment. All of you know that I am a group teacher and therefore use digital keyboard labs, etc. For those of you reading who are also in a higher education situation, let me briefly describe my setup - two digital labs each consisting of 16 student keyboards (no disk drives), teacher instrument with the majority of the bells and whistles (on-board arranger, disk drive, etc.), KeyNote Visualizer, laptop computer at teacher station, 8 X 8 wall mounted screen, and ceiling mounted computer projector. Software available in each room is Microsoft Office, Finale, Sibelius, Dreamweaver, Audacity, Roland Visual Music Tutor, plus incidental programs for pedagogy demonstrations. Check into the computer/technology fee that your students pay to your college/university for funding possibilities.
For independent music teachers, calm down! You don't need all of this to get completely involved in the wonders of technology. I would suggest one digital keyboard (88-key, touch sensitive, disk drive are minimums), a laptop computer (Mac or PC), Microsoft Office with PowerPoint, either Finale or Sibelius or some other notation program that allows you to save files in a format such as TIFF or PICT, and Audacity (free download recording software that will allow you to save sound files in an mp3 format - much smaller files). You will also need to go to a dealer such as Radio Shack and get an adapter cable that will allow you to go directly from the Audio Out of your digital instrument to the Line In of your computer. Don't get me wrong, all of this is a significant contribution from your checking account or VISA but it is tax deductible and if you are smart, you will charge a technology fee in your studio and let your students help pay for all of the equipment they will be using. Set all of this up as a technology station in your waiting area, have students bring their own headsets and make the station available as a reward for a successful week of practicing.
If you would rather not get into all of this then take advantage of those of us who have jumped feet first into the technology pool. You are more than welcome to use any of the files included in this article. If you would like to explore the uses of programs such as PowerPoint, Dreamweaver and Director, please contact me (mfhilley@mail.utexas.edu). I have created tutorials that will allow you to get a taste of working with each of the programs. The drawback is that you must have the program on your computer. PowerPoint is included in Microsoft Office and therefore present on virtually every computer. Dreamweaver is web-authoring software from Macromedia. It is icon driven and has an extremely short learning curve. Director is a multimedia authoring software also from Macromedia and is for those who are serious about getting into animation, audio and video. The program is quite expensive so you might want to hold off jumping on that bandwagon. If you are affiliated with an institution of higher learning check with your computer lab and see if they have this program available. It is fairly common within the fine arts due to its applications to music, theatre, dance and art.
The programs I have found most useful for delivering information to my students are Microsoft PowerPoint, Dreamweaver, and the Visual Music Tutor. For those of you interested in studying the possibilities of PowerPoint in piano instruction, I offer you copies of all tutorials I have created. Please send a blank CD with return postage to my home address - 7513 Downridge Dr., Austin, TX 78731. Indicate PC or Mac as there are certain transition issues that may occur when going from one platform to the other.
The Visual Music Tutor has proven to be indispensable to our group piano program. We have built an extensive library of sight reading and transposition exercises to be used for prima vista in-class practice. Any standard MIDI files saved with right hand on Track 4 and left hand on Track 3 (at this point the industry standard for piano method disks) can immediately be shown as manuscript on any PC. Within our classrooms at UT Austin these SMF examples are projected on an 8 x 8 wall mounted screen - a great way to get students’ eyes up off the keyboard!
The true technology workhorse in our classrooms is the web site created specifically for the group piano program. Dreamweaver by Macromedia is the web design software used for the creation and on-going revision of this web site. Software programs used to create the majority of the tutorials, drills and exercises found on the web site are Director, Finale, Peak, QuickTime, and Shockwave. I invite you to look at the web site. There are particular lessons that are in the process of being revised and/or repaired and for your inability to open them, I apologize ahead of time. This particular version of the web site will be up for another year. The 6e version will be up and running by mid-April or May.
The best way to share some technology ideas with you is to show you these ideas. You will need the following on your computer: Shockwave Player plug-in (free download http://www.macromedia.com/software/shockwaveplayer/); QuickTime Player plug-in (free download http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/). I have listed some hypothetical and some not so hypothetical scenarios to help demonstrate the usefulness of technology. Any of these could be put on a web site. I could then let the student or students know by email that a special lesson or tutorial was on the web site just for them.
Take a moment and go through the scenarios that interest you.
Scenario #1 – Your high school student from 4:30 this afternoon had some trouble with rhythm and you will not see her for another week. You have just had an idea that could help her with the particular problem not totally solved in today’s lesson.
Scenario #2 – A student in the morning freshman piano class has asked for additional help with note reading. Your schedule is full for the next three days.
Scenario #3 – It is obvious that a few students within class do not completely understand harmonization and how to decide chord choices by looking at the melody. You don’t want to take any more class time for this activity.
Scenario #4 – A student is sick and must miss a partner lesson. The student who was at the lesson should not have to “pay for” the other student’s absence. You also do not want the absent student to get behind.
Scenario #5a – It is time to address improvisation with your student/s. Some of these students are going to be unable to shake the inhibition that couples itself to the mere mention of the word improvisation. They need a chance to try it on their own.
Scenario #5b – For that visual learner who needs the reinforcement at this point – still the same improvisation concepts as before.
Scenario #6 – You have a delightful group of “more mature” students who have given themselves the name Scarlatti Seniors. They learned the first part of Amazing Grace by ear at the last class. They need some gentle support throughout the week.
Scenario #7 – You have spent several lessons/classes on blues improvisation and it is time for your student/s to start creating their own bass lines. There was no time to introduce this in the last lesson/class but you want your students to have a “heads up” before your next meeting.
Scenarios 1, 4, and 5a are also available as PowerPoint presentations. The beauty of PowerPoint is that you can burn a CD for your student and he/she can take it home to work with. It is a great tool for reinforcement. Yet another way to get the point across – and that is really the key, isn’t it? How many different ways can you say the same thing? How many different ways can you demonstrate a new concept?
One last technological suggestion is to use a digital camcorder. This can provide immediate feedback to your students about a variety of points. I use “iMovie” to create QuickTime movies, burn them to a CD and give them to my students. This is particularly helpful when students do not understand grades given during mid-semester and final juries. For those of you in higher education positions now is the time for your graduate assistants to begin building their library of teaching DVD’s to be used in the job application process. Use digital cameras during observation and they have immediate documentation of their teaching.
Another use of the camcorder is to document the really wonderful things that happen in the lesson/classroom and then post them on your studio/class web site. I have provided you with three QuickTime movies. The composition movies were all winners of the “Best in Show” for group piano. Students vote on students and the winners are posted on the group piano web site.
Casey Thompson and Megan Pachecano – a composition assignment using an Ogden Nash poem, The Panther.
Kimberly Pearce – a composition assignment to write a “descriptive miniature” – the class had to guess the title after hearing the composition.
David Rosales – a composition assignment to write a rhythm ensemble. The composer then had to conduct a class performance.
Technology is forever changing. New versions of software and updates of digital equipment seem to appear overnight. The changes can be very frustrating not to mention incredibly expensive as you try to stay up with what is the "latest." But, the big plus is that you will never be bored. There is always the challenge of finding a more appropriate, more pedagogically sound, more appealing way of presenting information to your students. The ability to enhance enthusiasm and curiosity in your students is worth the long hours you will spend creating new materials for them. Technology is fun, time-consuming, exciting, expensive, addictive, and appealing to students and teachers of all ages. I invite you to embrace it with open arms. Technology will never take the place of the flesh and bones teachers that we are. It can, however, provide that extra spurt of motivation that we and our students need from time to time. So, plug in and enjoy!
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