Abstract
Musical performers have typically been categorized as either “classical” (reading music), or “playing by ear,” (usually popular or folk music). The two groups of musicians were seen at polar opposite ends of a spectrum. The intent of this study was to explore a comparison between traditional teaching from notation (reading group), and another method that focused on ear playing, and imitation of a model (hearing/modeling group), with an intact class of music education majors learning to play the guitar (N=22). A panel four of judges who evaluated each student’s final performance of a mandatory prepared piece without knowledge of their treatment group, scored each individual in five categories: note correctness, rhythmic precision, confidence, expression, relaxation and posture, tone quality, and synchronization between the hands. There was a significant difference in the final performance assessment between the hearing/modeling and reading groups. The hearing/modeling group had higher average scores (M=3.07) than the reading group (M=2.50), as well as higher scores on the specific sub-categories. Training “by ear” seems to have positive effects for accuracy and fluency of performance in beginning guitarists. Keywords: Guitar pedagogy, Guitar teaching methodology, Playing by ear, Reading music.
Highlights
La enseñanza de la guitarra: una comparación de dos métodos Resumen: Ejecutantes musicales típicamente se han clasificado como “clásicos”, o “músicos de oído”
Ear based musicianship is often seen as a sign of extraordinary talent or giftedness, and can be seen as a twostep process: 1) remembering the music, 2) performing it by physical means (WOODY & LEHMAN, 2010)
The intent of this study was to explore a comparison between traditional teaching from notation, and another method that focused on ear playing, and imitation of a model, with a group of music majors learning to play the guitar
Summary
While there is prior research regarding playing by ear, there are even more studies about rote teaching (with visual and/or verbal cues) (MUSCO, 2010). Ten students had aural/modeling emphasis (singing and fingering, playing by ear, playing by sight), and the other ten only used printed music. The aural/modeling group scored the highest on a performance task (playing a prepared piece and sight-reading), though the difference was not statistically significant (HASTON, 2010). Another researcher explored the long-term effects of tonal training on ear playing. The intent of this study was to explore a comparison between traditional teaching from notation, and another method that focused on ear playing, and imitation of a model, with a group of music majors (future music teachers) learning to play the guitar
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