Piano Lessons Research Articles

Four-year-old students’ cognitive development in music through piano lessons

Four-year-old students’ cognitive development in music through piano lessons

Pitter Pattern by Joyce Hesselberth

Reviewed by: Pitter Pattern by Joyce Hesselberth Elizabeth Bush Hesselberth, Joyce Pitter Pattern; written and illus. by Joyce Hesselberth. Greenwillow, 2020 [34p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-274123-3 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R 3-7 yrs Hesselberth follows her engaging concept book Mapping Sam (BCCB 10/18) with an exploration of patterns that are easily observable in the natural and manmade world—if you know how to spot them. The book follows a week in little Lu's life, from the boot, boot, puddle line of drippy footwear her buddies make on a rainy-day playdate at her house, to their milk, apple, cracker, cheese snacks and the blue, yellow, red flowers in the vase. At Monday's soccer practice Lu and teammates kick the hexagonally patterned ball "in, out. In, out. In, out" of the triangular cones; Tuesday's piano lesson features repeating patterns of black and white keys and clapped rhythms for her song; at Wednesday's dance class Lu repeats a jump, hop, kick, and twirl routine. Hesselberth explicitly notes many of the patterns but also encourages children to find more on their own, providing a range of challenge in her examples that will satisfy many ages at once. A closing note defines types of patterns, particularly "repeating" and "growing," and encourages kids to look closely and make predictions. This is a strong concept title that introduces early computational thinking based in everyday elements, making it accessible to kids of all stripes (and other patterns). The clear crisp-edged figures in the multimedia illustrations make this a strong choice for group sharing, but even young lapsitters will enjoy one-on-one time figuring out "what comes next." [End Page 210] Copyright © 2020 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Peculiarities of interaction between a teacher and a student musician in online education

The article is devoted to the problem of interaction between a teacher and a student of musical education in the process of distance learning. The main tasks facing each teacher during the quarantine period are outlined, and the preference is given to the ability to master the techniques of conducting online music lessons using various Internet resources or platforms for maintaining feedback. The author gives examples of online piano lessons, which took place individually with each student in a convenient mode for them. Attention is drawn to the problems that arose during the implementation of team tasks. Particular attention is paid to the research work of applicants, which ensured their continuous participation in scientific activities throughout the distance learning. The result was the performance of a first-year student at an online conference of the piano department with a report on the peculiarities of the reproduction of the artistic image in a musical work, which ended with the performance of an instrumental lyric piece. The research work provides an opportunity to show analytical abilities, observation, concentration, flexibility of thinking, which helps student musicians to acquire skills of independent work for future professional activity, promotes the development and formation of their personal qualities. The proposed study focuses on the peculiarities of interaction between the subjects of distance education who took an active part in prestigious international competitions and festivals in the category of instrumental art, which were held online. The specifics of work on musical pieces are revealed, the main difficulty of which is the true reproduction of artistic images.

Crooked River City: The Musical Life of Nashville's William Pursell by Terry Wait Klefsted

Reviewed by: Crooked River City: The Musical Life of Nashville's William Pursell by Terry Wait Klefsted Christopher M. Reali Crooked River City: The Musical Life of Nashville's William Pursell. By Terry Wait Klefsted. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2018. [xx, 248 p. ISBN 9781496818638 (hardcover), $90; ISBN 9781496818645 (paperback), $25; also available as e-book, ISBN and price varies.] Music examples, illustrations, composition list, discography, notes, bibliography, index. Unless you're a dedicated fan of the "Nashville sound" albums Columbia Records issued in the 1960s, you probably have never heard of Bill Pursell. Pursell (b. 1926), who has worn many musical hats during his long career, made his way to Nashville in the 1960s and began work as a session pianist. Indeed, author Terry Wait Klefsted notes that "the story of Pursell's life is the story of a musical life lived in America during the rise of popular music in both radio and recordings. It is the story of many choices made, and the crooked, winding path that a musical life can take, given the skills and musicianship that Pursell had worked so hard to develop" (p. xv). Forming part of frequent references to a winding river as a metaphor for Pursell's life, the title of the biography comes from Pursell's 2016 opera based on the life of Andrew Jackson. Sources for construction of the narrative are heavily indebted to Pursell's personal archive, housed at Belmont University in Nashville, as well as interviews with the subject. While this book has several shortcomings, Klefsted shines a light onto a [End Page 138] figure who has made a living since the 1940s as a working musician. Pursell grew up in Tulare, California, about sixty miles north of Bakersfield. Chapter 1 describes Pursell's childhood adventures camping and hiking in the Sierra Nevada foothills with his adoptive parents, listening to recordings of the "Russian orchestral greats" (p. 4), and developing an interest in piano playing at an early age. After receiving an ovation for playing Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Rondo alla turca at a talent show during a family vacation, Pursell was hooked. Pursell's parents did not discourage his musical interests. The family moved to Berkeley for a summer so that Pursell could pursue more serious musical study with Elizabeth Simpson (p. 13). At the age of sixteen, Pursell moved by himself to Berkeley in order to continue his piano studies as well as lessons in composition and harmony. The young pianist also began to concertize. Although the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore did not accept him as a performance major, Pursell earned a scholarship as a composition student there in 1944. Chapter 2 provides details of Pursell's relationship with his adoptive and biological fathers, two very different individuals whose personalities left a mark on the pianist's future. "Everywhere [Pursell] went, he both belonged and didn't belong, and was always aware that he had been relinquished at birth, but embraced wholeheartedly by a family who loved and wanted him" (p. 38). Pursell's studies at Peabody included piano lessons with Alexander Sklarevski and composition lessons with Nicolas Nabokov. "Eighteen-year-old Pursell finally knew he was in the right place and had the right teachers and was finding success, not only as a composer, but as a pianist" (p. 41). Pursell enlisted in the military (1946–49), where he wrote musical arrangements for the Air Force Orchestra's Radio Hour broadcasts. After meeting in 1949 with Howard Hanson at the Eastman School of Music, Pursell was accepted as a composition student, with a minor in piano. Pursell studied with numerous teachers while at Eastman, including piano with Cecile Genhart and Orazio Frugoni and composition with Herbert Elwell, Wayne Barlow, and Hanson, ultimately earning both a BM and an MM. "Pursell composed some of his most important classical works ["Felis Domesticus" (1950) for piano and Three Biblical Scenes for Orchestra (1953)] while a student at Eastman" (p. 63). While pursuing a DMA, Pursell married, and his wife gave birth to a son. Now faced with "adult responsibilities" (p. 66), the pianist joined a rhythm-and-blues trio because he needed the money. "Not...

Osvrt na prve instruktivne publikacije na srpskom jeziku namenjene početnoj nastavi klavira

This paper discusses the didactic-methodological content of the first instructional publications in the Serbian language, which were intended for the initial teaching of piano. The publications in question are: a collection of piano compositions by Robert Tolinger Pictures and Opportunities from Children's Life and Youth Joy (1886), a manual by Isidor Bajić Piano and Piano Learning (1903) and a textbook by Danica Krstić Piano School (1911). The mentioned publications are not on the list of the current Curriculum for initial piano lessons. They are not even mentioned as proposed literature for the subject Methodology of piano teaching, which is attended by students of basic academic studies in the field - piano. The aim of this paper is to emphasize the value of the mentioned teaching literature which belongs to the historical and pedagogical heritage of the Serbian people. In addition, the intention is to determine the specific didactic-methodological elements in these publications, which could be applicable in modern music and educational trends.

Effects of Deciphering in Piano Education Based on Work Analysis

In this study “Piano Lesson Analysis Form” was developed and intended to provide a thorough analysis in the work of a piano piece, at the time of the study or before playing it. This developed form allowed us to determine what is effecting the skills of the students in sight reading. In this study, which has pre-test and post-test control group design, the assessments were made with between-groups and within-groups comparisons. In the study, results in the first period of both groups were obtained and sight reading study was made. After these implementations, the other piano pieces that were deciphered by the experimental group and the homework assignments of the piano lessons studied throughout the semester and examined with “Piano Piece Analysis Form for the Piano Lessons”. Based on the results of pre-test and post-test comparisons, it is observed that there was a significant difference in terms of the sight reading skills.
 Key words: Piano Education, Work Analysis Form, Deciphering, Deciphering in Piano Education, Work Analysis in Piano Education.

The Pedagogical Use of Visual Feedback for Enhancing Dynamics in Higher Education Piano Learning and Performance

Research on technology-based learning and teaching has demonstrated evidence of its relevant role in music education. However, the application of technology to studio-based instrumental learning and teaching remains a relatively under-researched area. The article draws on findings from a recent exploratory study (HAMOND, 2017) which included fieldwork in Brazil. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature and potential pedagogical use of technology-mediated feedback in a higher education piano studio. Participants were one student-teacher dyad plus the researcher (the first author) with the dyad working on a memorised movement of a classical sonata of the student’s current repertoire. The technology system involved a digital piano connected to a laptop computer running Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) software via Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) interface, and an additional computer screen. Three data sets were collected: videoed piano lessons (n = 2), semi-structured interviews with participants after each piano lesson (n = 4) and technology-generated MIDI data through the use of DAW software. Qualitative data analysis (QDA) involved a multi-methods approach. Research outcomes demonstrated how new digital technology can improve accessibility to aspects of advanced musical behaviour and learning that are often outside the individual’s conscious awareness. The use of new digital technology can also optimise traditional pedagogical approaches in one-to-one piano studios, since it is likely to make the lesson foci clearer and the learning process more efficient.

ATTITUDES AND PREFERENCES FOR ROBOT-LED PIANO COGNITIVE TRAINING: FEASIBILITY IN MILD COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT

Cognitive training has been shown to improve neural plasticity, increase cognitive reserve and reduce the risk of dementia in older adults. Specifically, learning to play the piano has been shown to be an engaging, multimodal form of cognitive training. However, accessing this form of cognitive training can pose a challenge for older adults. Socially assistive robots present a unique opportunity to increase access to user-tailored piano learning cognitive training. The present study utilized a robot-led four-week piano lesson feasibility intervention for older adults with mild cognitive impairment (N = 11; M= 74.64 ± 6.02 years of age; 72.72% female; 90.1% White/Caucasian). Cognitive Status was assessed during screening via the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status, and after screening via the Mini-Mental State Exam and the CNS Vital Signs computerized test suite to measure cognitive domain-specific functioning. Perceptions and acceptance of the robot were measured using the Robotic Social Attributes Scale (RoSAS) and Technology Acceptance Scale. Cognitive function improved after four weeks of training in the verbal memory, executive function, reaction time and cognitive flexibility domains, and in the computed neurocognitive index score (p<0.05). Survey data and qualitative interviews show that participants perceived the robot instructor as socially engaging, competent, useful, and easy to use. These results provide insight into the potential of SARs to facilitate cognitive training in the form of piano lessons, as well as recommendations for creating a suitable robot instructor for this application.

J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel’s works performed by the choir of the Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts students

J. S. Bach and G. F. Handel’s works performed by the choir of the Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts students

Desirable Difficulty

When my daughter Amanda was young and still taking piano lessons, I'd half-listen from the second floor while she practiced down below. Typically, she'd get pretty good at the opening measures of a new piece. But eventually she'd get to a part she didn't know as well. At that point, music became noise. Involuntarily, as Amanda clawed her way through the rough bits, I winced and cringed. And I bet she did, too, particularly because trying things we can't yet do is especially effortful. Very soon, there would be a pause. And then Amanda would begin again at the beginning—where she felt comfortable, where it was easy, where the touch of her fingers generated music instead of noise. If I noticed that Amanda spent too much time repeating the fluid measures and not enough on what was obviously difficult for her, I'd come downstairs and, as gently as I could, prompt her to get back to the hard stuff. Why do kids need grownups who love them to encourage them through what cognitive scientists call “desirable difficulty”?

On-site and distance piano teaching: An analysis of verbal and physical behaviours in a teacher, student and parent

This study was designed to examine how distance piano teaching might affect the verbal behaviours and physical actions of a teacher, a student and a parent. Weekly 30-minute piano lessons over a year-long period were taught to a 5-and-a-half-year-old on-site student and a 6-year-old distance student. All lessons were delivered by the same teacher who followed the Suzuki programme. All sessions were recorded and then analysed using Simple Computer Recording Interface Behaviour Evaluation (SCRIBE), a video analysis software that provides frequencies and durations of pre-coded events. The observation of recorded lessons showed that distance teaching did not slow down student progress. In addition, behavioural analysis revealed that in most aspects, distance and on-site delivery were remarkably similar. The most striking difference was the interaction between the teacher and the parent. During on-site teaching, most of the teacher’s instructions were directed to the student while the parent was listening and observing attentively; during distance teaching, half of the teacher’s instructions were addressed to the student and the other half to the parent. The distance student also tended to relate more to the parent than to the teacher. In the distance environment, when interacting with a young beginner student, the role of the parent becomes very central to the success of the lessons.

FUN PIANO LESSON FOR YOUNG BEGINNERS STUDENTS IN SURABAYA INDONESIA

Learning piano is not an easy thing, moreover for young beginner learners. The teacher of course not only giving materials to students but also considering the approach given to the young beginner students. The teacher is also needed to be creative, and always developing the ability in techniques and approach to children. This study tried to discuss how to make piano lessons fun. This research method uses grounded research with a focus on theoretical studies on piano learning through the views of piano experts, including Dalcroze, Suzuki, Schulwerk, and Kodaly. After that, the data is analyzed using content analysis. The results of the study showed that by exploring the viewpoint of Dalcroze, Suzuki, Schulwerk, and Kodaly piano learning, art learning must be set pleasantly by the teacher. The role of the teacher and student must also have a good relationship because, in pleasant learning, an effective correlation between learning materials, teachers, and students is needed.DOI: doi.org/10.24071/ijiet.2019.030204

English

This research is aimed to determine the effects of piano education on the attention skills of 7-12-year-old children. In the research, pretest-posttest control group design is used, and attention skills of both of the groups are measured before and after the experiment. Unlike the control group (n=53), the experimental group (n=46) had private piano education an hour a week for 14 weeks with a tutor, and as a result of the cooperation with the parents, the students practised the piano on their own at home. For collecting data, 4 stage Stroop Colour-Word Test is used. In analysing the data, SPSS 23.0 packaged software and 2x2 mixed ANOVA’s are used. Independent factors are determined as group (piano lesson group and control group) and time (pretest-posttest). Dependent variables are reading black and white (RBW), name the colour of the square patches (NCS), reading the coloured words (RCW) and saying the colours of the coloured words (SCCW). Different ANOVA’s are used for each dependent variable. In the study, in all the applied sections, it was seen that the reading time of the children who have been having piano education has shortened and their attention skills have been improved. Nevertheless, especially in ‘Name the Colour of Square Patches’ and ‘Reading the Coloured Word’ tests results it was seen that, children having piano education have improved their attention skills statistically more than the children who are not having piano education. Children having piano education are considered to be more careful about the aliasing effect and their perception to be improved. Key words: Piano education, attention skills, Stroop colour-word test.

How I Might Have Become a Composer

Brian Cherney reflects on his childhood and youth in Peterborough, Ontario, in the 1940s and 1950s and his musical studies at the University of Toronto. He considers the varied influence that family, recordings, CBC broadcasts, attending live concerts, piano lessons, reading about music, and spending time in Europe in the late 1960s had in shaping his emerging interest in becoming a composer. Cherney considers that it was only in the mid-1970s, after his appointment to McGill in 1972, that he developed the self-awareness, critical insight, and confidence to become a mature composer … someone who dared, in T.S. Eliot’s words, to “disturb the universe.”

Towards an integrated method for practicing: internalizing the composer’s language.

Name Pim Witvrouw Main Subject Music Theory Supervisors Paul Scheepers / David Kuijken Title of Research Towards an integrated method for practicing: internalizing the composer’s language Research Question In which ways can we use the outcome of an analysis to develop a practice method focused on learning the general musical language of a score, instead of just memorizing the right notes? Summary of Results Musicians who could very well play, improvise and compose wrote down the majority of repertoire, which we encounter as Western classical musicians. In conservatories and music schools often an attitude towards classical music is developed from a narrower point of view: learning and performing a score. There are extra classes in solfeggio, harmony, improvisation, analysis and counterpoint. However, the reality is that, for most students these subjects are not connected to their practice as instrumentalists. As a pianist, I don’t use all the resources I have as a theorist, and there seems to be a separation between these two practices. Might there be a different way to start practicing a classical work? For the purposes of my research I have chosen one piece as a case study: the first movement of Beethoven's piano sonata n. 31 (op. 110, in A flat major). First I analysed the movement and then I looked at what I can do with the data generated from the analysis. I developed some exercises in order to prepare one for studying the actual work. These exercises could bring theoretical knowledge and improvisation skills into the instrumental lessons and give the player a deeper insight into Beethoven’s harmonic language and use of formal structures. Further research is necessary in order to work out these exercises for more repertoire of all levels, styles and even instruments. It is my intention with this research and future work to bring music theory and activities in the practice rooms of musicians closer together. Biography Pim Witvrouw began his professional music studies at the Young Talent Department of the Lemmensinstituut in Leuven (Belgium) where he studied piano with Stefan Celen. He continued to study in the Netherlands at the Utrecht Conservatory, where he studied with Paolo Giacometti. In addition to this he studied musicology at the University of Utrecht. Pim is currently engaged giving piano lessons and music theory classes at the CKV-Almere. Since September 2018 he also teaches music theory at the Conservatory of Zwolle. In recent years he performed a solo program devoted to works of J.S. Bach.

Attitudes of Pre-service Music Teachers Studying in Undergraduate Programs in Turkey Towards Piano Courses

Attitude, which is one of the important topics of social psychology, is defined in the literature as a psychological element that can direct the behavior of individuals (Özmenteş and Özmenteş, 2009). According to Tolan, the attitude “in its broadest sense is the way in which the individual is standing up against the objects or subjects that contain a psychological value” (Gömleksiz, 2003). It has been proved by many research findings that attitudes developed as a natural result of interaction, greatly affect the success of the individual (Canakay, 2006). The effects starting from childhood, the experiences gained in later years and the fields related to the interests, desires and aims of the personality play the most decisive and effective role in the formation of attitudes. These features, which are valid in music education, are also very important in the piano education of the student. From all these definitions, it can be concluded that students' attitudes to the piano have important effects on their education and their use of the piano in the future (Bakıoğlu, 2012).The main purpose of this research is to reveal the attitudes of pre-service teachers who take Piano courses in Music Education Departments of Faculty of Education. In this study, whether the scores obtained from the Piano lesson attitude scale showed significant difference according to some variables is also examined. The research was conducted on the students of Marmara University, Ataturk Faculty of Education, Music Education Department (N = 30) in 2017-2018 academic year. The data of the study was collected by using the “Personal Information Form” prepared by the researcher and “Piano Lesson Attitude Scale” which was prepared to learn the pre-service teachers' thoughts about Piano Lesson. As a result of the study, it was found that there were statistically significant differences between the attitude levels of students and some variables (p &lt;.05).

Performing Ancestry: Reading August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson as a Performative Neo-Slave Narrative

Performing Ancestry: Reading August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson as a Performative Neo-Slave Narrative

PİYANO EĞİTİMİNDE ÖRGÜTLEME STRATEJİLERİNE YÖNELİK İKİ FARKLI UYGULAMANIN DENENMESİ

Two different practice patterns were created in this study, where organizational strategies were tried in piano education. Three groups, one control group and two experimental groups were formed for the study. Two different organizational strategies were planned and implemented with groups of 5 people each. The students selected for the study were students whose ages ranged from 13 to 15, when some of the researchers did piano lessons on a special course. Two different piano pieces were written by the researchers, one for the pre-test and the other for the post-test. Student performances evaluated with the help of piano exam evaluation scale (Kurtuldu, 2010) were measured by statistical procedures. Kruskal Wallis H test was preferred because the data did not meet the normal distribution assumption in statistical procedures. As a result of the measurements, it was observed that both experimental groups were partially successful than the control group. In the experimental groups, the experimental 1 group was found to be more successful.

Развитие сосредоточенности будущего музыканта-педагога в классе сольного музыкально-инструментального исполнительства

The article examines the basic characteristics of concentration as most important property of attention of future teachers-musicians and the methods which help its effective formation during piano lessons. Studying of scientific approaches to this concept of a context of physiology, the general psychology, pedagogy showed that concentration acts as the most important psychological condition of deeper understanding of objects and the phenomena, optimum course of cognitive and practical activities of the person, especially in the course of the learning and creativity. A person activity, enthusiasm and continuing interest in a concentration subject help increase of attention concentration. The success of development of this property of attention in many respects depends on application by the teacher of special receptions for the organization of activity with an object, allocations in new aspects, their analysis and comparison, search for new properties of an object, ways and opportunities of its application or improvement. Special focus is placed on characteristics of the conceptual ideas of music pedagogy for development of attention concentration of students. The carried-out analysis of positions of authoritative representatives of performing art and music pedagogy showed that concentration is a starting point of musical and performing creativity and an important condition of efficiency of pianist work. Summarize experience of outstanding representatives of piano performance and theatrical pedagogy allowed to suggest the effective approaches to development of concentration as the significant quality in no small measure influencing disclosure of creative potential of future musician-teacher and defining a possibility of his productive self-realization in an instrumental and performing activity. The author comes to a conclusion that the ability to concentrate can be developed under the leadership of the teacher during training in a class, on rehearsals and also in homework when performing specially organized exercises. The persistence in mastering the concentration equipment by performance of specially organized exercises will allow the musician to operate consciously process of attention, it is essential to increase concentration time on the solution of a creative task.

Playing Super Mario increases oculomotor inhibition and frontal eye field grey matter in older adults.

Aging is associated with cognitive decline and decreased capacity to inhibit distracting information. Video game training holds promise to increase inhibitory mechanisms in older adults. In the current study, we tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training on performance in an antisaccade task and on related changes in grey matter within the frontal eye fields (FEFs) of older adults. An experimental group (VID group) engaged in 3D-platform video game training over a period of 6months, while an active control group was trained on piano lessons (MUS group), and a no-contact control group did not participate in any intervention (CON group). Increased performance in oculomotor inhibition, as measured by the antisaccade task, and increased grey matter in the right FEF was observed uniquely in the VID group. These results demonstrate that 3D-platform video game training can improve inhibitory control known to decline with age.