Fred Kern, Professor of music and a specialist in piano education and basic studies at the University of North Texas, has been on the faculty of the College of Music since 1980 where he is coordinator of keyboard skills and music fundamentals. He is co-author of the recent, multiple-volume Hal Leonard Student Piano Library. He has published six texts on piano instruction and has more than two hundred original compositions and arrangements in the Warner Bros., Kjos, G. Schirmer and Hal Leonard catalogues. Widely known as a clinician at state and national gatherings, Kern holds the master teacher certificate awarded by the Music Teachers National Association. He received his bachelor's degree from Illinois State University; a master's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University, a second master's degree from Northwestern University and a doctorate from the University of Northern Colorado.
Fred Kern
College of Music
University of North Texas
Denton, TX 76203
940.565.4731
fkern@music.unt.edu
I started teaching more than thirty-five years ago and in my very first job I did all three things I said I would never do: teach general music in junior high; teach band and choir; and teach in my hometown. As I often suggest to my current college students who are sometimes very adamant about what they will do, or need to know after they graduate, life's circumstances may force adjustments in those rigid stances that originate in youthful inexperience. (I call up Geezer Lecture #1.) It is puzzling to try to find the appropriate match of desire, ability, interest and opportunity. How is it possible to maintain professional momentum and avoid burnout in a career?
It has taken me several decades to recognize that I was meant to be a generalist who likes to see the forest, while knowing and embracing the fact that forests, trees, leaves and their veins are all part of the big picture. I am talking about this now as background to understanding how a career pedagogue could still be looking for a better way to teach class piano.
I am in my twenty-fifth year as Coordinator of Keyboard Skills and Music Fundamentals at the University of North Texas. Translated, those subjects mean "general music for theory and piano" and they involve about 800 students, three faculty members and fifteen graduate teaching assistants peryear. So, after four degrees in music, I am still doing what I originally found appealing - generalizing knowledge and skills that relate to many levels of more specific technical, stylistic, historic and theoretical information in music. As I progressed through my years of formal education, I was not aware of the natural and continual pull I felt "to acknowledge what I was meant to do," although the indications were there all along.
I first majored in music education with piano as my primary instrument. That is somewhat of a square peg in a round hole to start with, but I'm sure many of you have been there too! Next, I momentarily took a swing toward piano performance, and while I completed a masters degree in it, I realized that performance was not my primary gift, desire or dedication.
After that, and two years of public school music teaching, a second masters degree seemed like a good out - but what would I specialize it? - music history? "no"; music education? "maybe, but I really did like the piano best!" My interest in music education was in the curricula and foundational philosophies of creative teaching, but not so much in their application to pre-college music programs in public schools. Doesn't that sound like the same place I was in five years ago?
I went to Northwestern University and my experience there was life-changing. Dr. Clifton Burmeister was the chair of the music education department and he recognized my conflict and was sympathetic to it. He was willing to let me complete a Master of Music degree in music education with piano as my area of specialization. By so doing, he accidentally created the first ad hoc degree in piano pedagogy at NU. Frances Larimer was my main professor and champion in that area. She mentored me from student to Assistant Professor until it was time for this bird to fly completely on his own. I flew south for the winter of 1980 and made my nest at what was then, North Texas State University.
The last piece of the four-degree puzzle was yet to be put in its place, although this time, with the help of Dr. James Lyke, I found a school and degree that matched me: a Doctor of Arts in Piano Performance and Pedagogy at the University of Northern Colorado. The degree required performances and a dissertation with a lot of opportunities to custom-fit and individualize the details of the program. It was perfect for someone who wanted to be creative in a formal academic structure. I was still walking that line between fish and foul and trying to fit the square in the round. Guess what! I'm still doing it. I am officially a member of the Division of Music History, Theory and Ethnomusicology. I teach Music Fundamentals to 200 students per year, with the majority of my appointment in the Keyboard Division, coordinating twenty-nine Keyboard Skills classes.
What happened to the perspectives? What now and what's next? When I started in this area of teaching it was called "class piano," and still is in many locales. To put it bluntly, class piano has often been perceived by students and some faculty as having no "class" and not enough piano. Other titles have included group piano, functional piano, keyboard skills, etc. Right now I am thinking that we should perhaps change the course title to "Piano Skills." That would continue to make it clear that the course is not piano performance and would separate it from any confusion with the newer computer terminology which uses "keyboard" and "keyboarding" to mean something else. I have not proposed that change yet, but I'm thinking about it.
Other changes that I have seen and participated in have had to do with the focal points of the functional use of the piano and the "dreaded" Piano Proficiency Exam, a graduation requirement for every music major. By the way, that exam used to be called the "Piano Barrier" at my school. Talk about positive reinforcement! In proposing change, I pointed out to the administration that barriers in roads are something to "get around," rather than something to accomplish or achieve. That seemed to make sense to everyone and we changed it.
Within the actual requirements of a proficiency exam I have seen changes from mostly scales and memorized repertoire to more and more practical and at-sight skills. This makes the instrument useful to the individual musician who needs to study scores, or to a teacher/performer who wants to use the piano as a reliable resource.
We have transfer students coming to UNT who say "I passed the piano requirement at my other school." I am shocked to hear that some of those tests are still primarily four-octave scales (hands together) and memorized repertoire, such as a Bach Invention! Why, and what good will that ability, such as it is, do a future band, choral or general music director?
"Well, what do you do?" is the question I am sensing from the reader at this point. I have come to this in the fall semester of 2004:
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS
COLLEGE OF MUSIC
SECONDARY PIANO PROFICIENCY EXAM (2004-5)
TEXTS: KEYBOARD STRATEGIES, Master Text II, (KS II) by Stecher, Horowitz, Gordon, Kern & Lancaster (G. Schirmer, Inc.)
ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS 2000 FOR STRINGS, Piano Accompaniment, Book 1 (EES), by Allen, Gillespie & Hayes (Hal Leonard).
1. SCALES: Play all major & parallel harmonic minor scales, in tempo, with a metronome, hands separately or tog. (four octaves, four notes/beat, MM = 60).
2. PROGRESSIONS: Play progressions (pages 22 e & 92 c, KS II) in keys through 4# & 4b (major & relative minor).
3. HYMN SCORE READING: Read at sight, two non-adjacent voices (ST, AB, SB) on a grand staff.
4. CHORAL SCORE READING: Read at sight, pairs of voices (Soprano/Alto; Tenor/Bass) in a four-part open score. (Examples of difficulty in KS II, pages 392-405.)
5. HARMONIZATION/FIGURED BASS: At sight, play melody(R) & bass line(L). (Examples of difficulty in KS II, pages 216 #15; 216 #18; 218 #20; 290 #5,6; 294 #17; 295 #19.)
6. READING & ACCOMPANYING: Accompany a solo from ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR STRINGS (melody numbers 100-192) to be selected by the examiner. Simplify.
7. TRANSPOSITION: Play melody in RH and blocked chords in LH, in a key selected by the examiner (up or down, a half or whole step).
(All of my syllabi and proficiency information are updated yearly and are available on line at www.music.unt.edu/piano, click on "Resources" Studying Keyboard Skills at UNT.)
I make a continual effort to improve upon the relevancy of work in piano classes to prepare for future application by the students. While we use a basic text, the newest aspects of the proficiency test include the ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS 2000 FOR STRINGS, Piano Accompaniment, Book 1, by Allen, Gillespie & Hayes (Hal Leonard). I added that book this year for Piano 3 & 4.
For Piano 1 & 2, I added ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS 2000 COMPREHENSIVE BAND METHOD, Piano Accompaniment Book 1, Lautzenheiser, et al, (Hal Leonard). I needed both of these books as texts because the band methods are mostly in flat keys and strings are in sharp keys. Since the Essential Elements methods for band and strings predominate in the public schools of Texas, and by extension, much of the rest of the country, there is no denying the future and direct application for instrumental music education majors who will teach.
In general, they provide more adaptable sight reading, accompanying, harmonization and figured bass resources than can ever be exhausted in class or practice. Thus, I no longer have to search for an easy answer for my teachers or students when they ask, "Where can I find some more sight reading material?" The student method books also have CD's and DVD's available, although I have not used those as yet. Many of the methods classes use the student books of Essential Elements, so it also makes for some continuity with other courses they take.
I have found the professional place for me. I am able to learn, teach, write and create as a productive faculty member and individual. The job allows me to use the practical materials of music at the piano and to enjoy the progress of undergraduates and teaching assistants as they go on their way. The opportunity to learn and apply is refreshing and invigorating. An educational writer once said, "If you haven't learned anything lately, you probably haven't taught much either." I am still a student too. It is my habit in presenting pedagogy sessions to end with a few quotes to summarize the day and my approach to the teaching profession. I will do the same here.
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