Piano pedagogy
"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.
The field of piano pedagogy may be studied through academic programs culminating in 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.
[3] Many piano teachers hold memberships in professional organizations, to maintain their commitment to pedagogy and to network with peers and others in music.
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.
Advanced piano pedagogy is known as "ARCT" (Associate of Royal Conservatory of Toronto), which enables teachers to teach up to grade 10.
The "intervocalic method", developed by Frances Clark with her Time to Begin (1955) curriculum, teaches recognition of patterns, and adds "landmark notes".
The "multi-key method", developed by Robert Pace and published in 1954, teaches students all major and minor keys fairly quickly.
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.
[4] Modern piano lessons tend to emphasize learning notation, and may neglect 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.
[6] One way to do so is to make up stories full of different emotions through improvising, in order to reinforce music theory concepts already introduced and to develop a wide range of touch and tone production.
The ability to have strong knowledge of different major and minor key signatures can also help students anticipate the accidentals they should expect when sight reading.
[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.
