Piano pedagogy is the study of the teaching of piano playing. Whereas the professional field of music education pertains to the teaching of music in school classrooms or group settings, piano pedagogy focuses on the teaching of musical skills to piano students on the level of the individual. This is done most often via private or semiprivate instructions, which are most commonly referred to as piano lessons. The practitioners of piano pedagogy are called piano pedagogues, or simply, piano teachers.
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The range of professionalism among available teachers of piano is undoubtably wide. "Competent instruction is not always assured by the number of years one has taken lessons", warned piano pedagogue and writer of numerous pedagogical books, James Bastien.[1] The factors which affect the professional quality of a piano teacher include one's competence in musical performance, knowledge of musical genres, history, and piano repertoire, experience in teaching, ability to adapt one's teaching method to students of different personalities and learning styles, education level, and so on.
In the United States, piano lessons may often be found offered by teachers without higher education specifically focused in piano performance or piano pedagogy. Some teachers may hold degrees in another discipline in music, such as music education or another performance area (voice, orchestral instrument, etc). Other teachers, without higher education in music, may have studied piano playing independently or have been self-taught. For better or worse, the quality and knowledge these teachers offer can range widely.
The field of piano pedagogy may be studied through academic programs which culminates to the attainment of a bachelor, master, or doctoral degree at music colleges or conservatories. The undergraduate level may require many years of prior piano studies and previous teaching experience as prerequisites for application. At the graduate level, many schools require applicants to have some teaching experience and at least a bachelor of music or equivalent experience in piano performance and/or pedagogy.[2]
Although virtually all piano pedagogy programs include a significant portion of performance requirement, the pedagogy major may be distinct from the performance major at some schools. Some members of the latter group may have the option to take courses in the teaching of piano, but not all do.[3]
Many piano teachers hold memberships in professional organizations for professional networking. These organizations often offer teachers' workshops, conferences, mentorship programs, publications on piano pedagogy, and opportunities for scholarships, competitions, and performances for the students of members. Some prominent organizations in the United States include:
Piano pedagogy involves the study of the teaching of the motor, intellectual, problem-solving, and artistic skills involved in playing the piano effectively.[3] Citing the influence of Zoltan Kodaly, Carl Orff, Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, Russian-American piano pedagogue at Longy School of Music, Dr. Faina Bryanskaya, advocates a holistic approach which integrates as many aspects of music-making as possible at once would result in the most effective piano teaching.[4]
Dr. Bryanskaya argues that the foremost important task for piano teachers at the onset of a student's time of study is the introduction of a habit of listening to quality performances of “descriptive and strikingly expressive music”, as a means for "sensitizing [the student] to the meaning of music".[4]
Good piano playing technique involves the simultaneous understanding in both the mind and the body of the relationships between the elements of music theory, recognition of musical patterns in notation and at the fingertips, the physical landscape of the entire range of the keyboard, finger dexterity and independence, and a wide range of touch and tone production for a variety of emotional expressions. Skills in all of these areas should always be nurtured and development for the sake of expressing oneself more effectively and naturally through the sound of the piano, so that the elements of technique would sound alive with musicality.[4]
The modern trend of piano lessons tends to lean toward an overemphasis on learning notation, and neglects the nurturing needed for developing the creative spirit and sensitive ears which lead to expressive music-making. Studies point to the need for using multiple approaches in learning musical skills which engage both sides of the brain—the analytical and the intuitive—for students to master all aspects of playing.[5] Therefore, teaching improvisation skills may help students take ownership of the expressive quality of the music they make, and to keep music learning and practicing alive and interesting.[6] One way to do so is to make up stories full of different emotions through improvising, in order to reinforce concepts of music theory already introduced and to develop a wide range of touch and tone production.[4]
Effective memorization results from the “combination of visual, kinaesthetic, aural and analytical skills”.[5]
Well-known keyboard works written with special attention for pedagogical purposes in mind include:[4][7]
The teaching of piano playing most often take place in the form of weekly private lessons, in which a student and a teacher have one-on-one meetings. Instructions may sometimes be offered semi-privately (one teacher meeting with a small group of two or more students) or in classes of larger groups, in other intervals of time. Piano lessons are offered in a variety of different settings, including the following:[3]
Bryanskaya, Faina (1988). The Key to Music Making: Piano Method for Beginners, Parts I, II, & III. Providence, RI: White Lilac Press. ISBN 0929571002, ISBN 0929571010, ISBN 0929571029
Gerig, Reginald (2nd Ed. 2007). Famous Pianists and their Technique. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253348552
Magrath, Jane (1995). Pianist's Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature. Alfred Publishing Co. ISBN 0882846558
Riley, Peter Jason (2002). The New Tax Guide for Artists of Every Persuasion. Limelight Editions: New York. ISBN 0879109661