Christy Vogt is currently Assistant Professor of Piano/Piano Pedagogy at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA. She recently completed the DMA in Keyboard Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Miami where she studied pedagogy with Dr. Ken Renfrow. During her studies, she was also the Director of Keyboard for Kids, a preparatory program that offered group lessons, theory classes, studio classes and private lessons for its students.
Christy Vogt
Department of Performing Arts
McNeese State University
Lake Charles, LA 70609
337.475.5038
cvogt@mail.mcneese.edu
I love piano teachers, I really do. I love them because they come in such a wide variety of shapes and sizes, so to speak. There are teachers who specialize in early childhood music and early elementary piano teaching. Then there are those who have mastered the skills for teaching intermediate skills and repertoire. Finally, there are teachers who specialize in teaching the complexities of advanced repertoire and performance techniques.
Regardless of one's specialization, there is one ultimate challenge all piano teachers face: to inspire all students to be life long music lovers who participate in and sustain the musical fabric of our society. Music and the arts are an indispensable thread in the fabric for our society. Yet we seem to be losing so many students to video games, competitive sports teams, and other extra-curricular activities. How exactly are we to keep our students involved in music learning for life?
One simple but powerful answer to this question lies in the phrase "music literacy." Music literacy can be defined in a variety of ways. Many assume that being musically literate means having an understanding of music theory. While an understanding of music theory is certainly important, music literacy goes far beyond this one facet. The musically literate student uses their understanding of music theory to recognize the phrase structure and form of a piece. They can also demonstrate their knowledge of theory in the creative skills of improvisation, harmonization, composition, and transposition. Being musically literate includes having an understanding of music history and how the historical background of a piece affects its performance. It also means having the ability to accompany others with ease. The musically literate can sight read well but are not afraid to pick out melodies by ear and harmonize them. Essentially, a musically literate student is one who has an intimate grasp of music as a language and can utilize it in a variety of dialects.
Piano teachers who once thought they were doing their job if they taught pieces and technique are becoming more concerned with teaching students to harmonize, transpose, memorize, improvise, create, ornament, and analyze. The piano teacher is becoming a music educator who uses the keyboard as a tool, one who is more aware of process than product, and one who leads the student to integrate assorted skills.1
Developing music literacy is the ultimate goal during pre-college piano study because it allows students to retain skills into one's adult years. As adults, former students are able to play the piano functionally for their own pleasure and attend concerts with an essential understanding of what they hear.2 We should acknowledge the fact that, for many of our students, the ability to perform on the piano is only one key to musical satisfaction. Many of our students may enjoy sight-reading, improvising, composing or simply harmonizing melodies much more than giving a recital performance of one or two pieces. We must also keep in mind that the sight-reading and harmonization skills the pre-college student develops are notably important since the student will probably not study formally in later years, thus relying on former training and minimal practice.3
While we would all enjoy teaching only those students who are committed to daily practice and a high level of music making, our profession would be better served to acknowledge that we must teach a curriculum designed for the general public. To most people, "music" means country and western, rock, blues, and easy listening styles of music; however, few piano teachers incorporate these non-classical styles of music into their curriculum. While few would argue that at least a small amount of attention should be paid to these forms of music within the professional music curriculum, it seems equally questionable that such music should receive no attention.4 We would be wise to redesign our curricula in order to attract the busy students of contemporary society. In order to attract more students, teachers can focus on making music fun.5 Making music fun does not mean decreasing the quality of performance or lowering one's expectations; it simply means adjusting curricular goals to include more functional skills such as harmonization and improvisation. It is these skills that allow a student to function at the piano long after performance pieces are forgotten.
Perhaps sharing my own personal story of developing of music literacy will illustrate this concept in a more poignant manner. When I first began teaching class piano as a graduate assistant at the University of Oklahoma, I was the furthest thing from being "musically literate." Oh yes,I could play my scales and repertoire. But transposing primary chords into ALL major keys and ALL minor keys?? My goodness, who would have ever thought of doing that? I had never been required to do that before. (My apologies to any former teachers who are thinking, "Of course she did that.") I spent many an hour preparing harmonizations and chord progressions in all keys so I wouldn't look like a fool in front of my group piano classes.
The church I attended at that time sang worship choruses from chord charts. As a classically trained pianist, sight-reading was a breeze, but what in the world was I supposed to do with a chord chart? All things do indeed work together for good and as a result of teaching class piano and being required to play from chord charts at church, my journey to becoming musically literate was begun. At my current stage of musical development, I wonder how I got through so many years of learning repertoire with such a minimal understanding of theory. Now I make connections between harmonic structure, phrasing, and musical line that help me perform more expressively and enjoy playing in a deeper, more personal way.
As a result of my experiences, I take to heart the challenge of developing musically literate piano students at every level of learning - from pre-college students to piano majors. One way I start my students on the path to musical literacy is to follow a strong theory curriculum. Theory curricula can be found in a multitude of instructional books. Many MTNA state affiliates have developed theory curricula which provide a foundation for teaching theory skills. However, it is the teacher's responsibility to take theory knowledge beyond paper exercises and mind-numbing repetitions of chord progressions. This knowledge must be applied to creative exercises such as improvising a melody over a chord progression, harmonizing a melody, or creating a short composition. These creative exercises allow a student to take their theory knowledge to a new level and use it in a way that is personal and meaningful. Martha Hilley hit the nail on the head, so to speak, when she wrote that "theory done for the sake of theory is soon forgotten." She continued by saying that theory concepts should be transferred to exercises in transposition, harmonization, improvisation, and analysis of repertoire. "Theory applied to the keyboard and all aspects of music study is theory that students retain and enjoy."6 Once students "own" their music, i.e. have developed a sense of being musically literate, they will be lifelong learners and participants of music.
In my experience, one of the biggest challenges for incorporating functional skills such as harmonization into the pre-college curriculum is finding appropriate materials. As the former director of Keyboard for Kids, the preparatory program at the University of Miami, I was constantly looking for simple harmonization exercises. I merely wanted our students to make the connection between theoretical head knowledge and music making. Often I found appropriate exercises, but they were couched in the middle of a large, adult-oriented piano text, or the exercises would be in the wrong key.
A new format of harmonization materials has been developed to fill this exact need. They are called Harmony Worksheets and can be found at www.harmonysheets.com. While the harmonization exercises were developed specifically for the pre-college learner, they can be used with any age student. Melodies are appropriate for students with a smaller hand or for students who have a limited note reading range. Many of the melodies used for the worksheets are familiar tunes so that harmonizing can be done by ear as well as by analysis. The greatest benefit is that the melodies have already been transposed into all major and minor keys. The teacher is free to use the melody in whatever key is needed in each individual teaching situation.
Harmonization exercises were divided into seven levels. These levels were based on those found in various State MTNA Syllabi and piano pedagogy texts.
There are five melodies, therefore five harmonization exercises, for every level. These exercises have been transposed into all major and minor keys. This gives the teacher maximum flexibility to emphasize whatever key they wish. When a level is purchased, the copyright for that level is also purchased. This means the teacher is free to print and copy exercises as much as needed.
Another benefit to this new format of worksheets is that they are completely customizable. Once a level is purchased online, the teacher is free to manipulate the worksheets using Finale 2004 or Finale notepad (visit www.codamusic.com for more details on these programs). If a teacher disagrees with the phrasing or the placement of harmonizing chords, they can easily make those changes to the worksheets. Suggested harmonizations are included for each melody.
These worksheets can be the springboard for guided experiences in composition and improvisation as well. Once the student has harmonized the melody, the melody can be deleted, leaving only the harmonizing chords. The student can then improvise or compose a new melody over the existing harmonization.
Many teachers, at this point, may be rolling their eyes, thinking that while all this sounds wonderful, there's simply no time to add more elements into an already crammed lesson time. My hope is that piano teachers will give their students the opportunity to explore the creative activities of harmonization, composition, and improvisation. Keep in mind that children do not need a 15 minute lecture every lesson until they are fluent in these skills. They do, however, benefit from a brief, guided exploration into the areas of harmonization, transposition, improvisation, and composition. Students must be given the opportunity to grasp, internalize, and reproduce music theory concepts in a way that is personal to them.
It is absolutely necessary that our students be given the chance to develop a sense of music literacy. By providing the opportunity to explore and experience music learning in a way that is uniquely personal, our job is halfway done and our long term goal of creating musically literate, lifelong lovers of music is on its way to being met.
Notes
1. Research on the Teaching of Keyboard Music, ed. Richard Colwell, Handbook of Research on Music Teaching and Learning (NY: Macmillan, 1992), xv.
2. Jane Magrath. "An Approach to the Teaching of Theory/Musicianship Classes for the Pre-College Pianist as a Supplement to Private Instruction: (DM diss., Northwestern University, 1982), iii."
3. Ibid., 4.
4. Marienne Uszler. "The Independent Music Teacher; Practice and Preparation", American Music Teacher, October/November 1996, 26.
5. Brian Chung. "Where Do We Go From Here?", American Music Teacher, June/July 2002, 26.
6. Martha Hilley. "Questions and Answers", Clavier, January 1999, 48.
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