Iris Chang

Instruction

Toda            Today, more and more people consider that music is a valuable form of art. Music benefits temperaments and development of emotions. Therefore,many parents arrange for their children, especially pre-school age, like three or four years old, to take piano lessons during the establishment of intellectual development. However,learning to play the piano is a complex procedure. Particularly, child beginners need music educators to use specialized methods to guide them to recognize the basic elements of music.For very young beginners, some piano teachersadvocate that teaching pupils in one-on-one piano teaching is the best way; however, others believe in giving group lessons at first and then taking individual lessons can provide more effective results.During the first level of learning the piano, instruction may be givenindividually or in groups, but group classes demonstrate beneficial results.

Background- The Problem

Individual piano instruction is based on the traditional system. Because individual instruction is conventional, many piano teachers have been reluctant to explore other methods of teaching (Enoch, 1977, p.7). In fact, young children are in a specific stage of learning the piano.Students in this age begin to explore the potential communication with the piano. They must learn basic skills like music reading, fingering, and technique. Piano educators need valid methods to motivate very young beginners to play the piano. Private lessons can be used for individual attention to personal needs, but students lack the opportunity of cooperation with companions.Because there is no outside motivating force other than the teachers, students who are taught without any class participation after one or two years often lose curiosity (Bastien, 1988, 101). In other words, the primary purpose of teaching the youngsters is to stimulate their interests to keep playing the piano. Although one-on-one piano tutors can focus on the specific problems of each student, young children often lose interest in playing the piano. According to the individual interview and questionnaire in Music Education Research, “Innovations in Piano Teaching”, the author generalizes that because some students have not had “to perform regularly in front of their peers” (Daniel, 2004, p.36), they feel uncomfortable when transferring to the class teaching. Private instruction is capable of meeting particular needs, but it may lack opportunities to cooperate with peers and perform.

Evaluation of Alternative Solution 1- Individual Instruction

Drafting is a complex process of writing, which needs effective procedures to reveal a complete composition. In the draft process, writers proofread and modify the content by looking over coherence, unity, and emphasis to shape successful writing. In “The Maker’s Eye,” the author, Donald Murray, indicates that writers need to produce a progression of drafts. In the development of producing drafts, each draft can be changed and rearranged to be clearer. Writers have to welcome both negative feedback and compliments and be doubtful of both. Murray also stresses the importance of rewriting, which includes processes like scanning drafts and modifying problems which sentences are not relative to the thesis in order to make them readable (Murray, p.83). In addition, writers must remember to be more conscious of readers’ interests and be certain their readers want to receive the information which the authors are trying to convey accurately. In other words, writers must understand the expectations of readers and try to reply to their questions (Murray, p.84). Other characteristics of a good piece of writing, according to Murray, are 1) it has a compact structure, including logic, argument, narrative, or motivation, 2) it provides enough information to develop ideas, 3) it creates a balance and maintains proportion among its parts, 4) and it expresses content with a consistent and individual voice (Murray, p.85). Lastly, Murray mentions that writers need to edit by correct meanings of words. The revising process is a project that never ends. In this essay, three main ideas, which include criticism, audiences, and organization, are recommended to writers to help them revise in the process of writing.

First, Murray stresses the importance of peer criticism or ideas from others about writing as valuable. “Writers must accept the criticism of others and be suspicious of it” (Murray, p.82). Murray makes the point that writers must have the self-confidence necessary to determine how to respond to negative comments or compliments from other people about their writing; namely, writers cannot rely on responses of others but they can decide which are valuable to be accepted. For example, in the book Strategies for Successful Writing, the authors caution against becoming defensive about peer comments, “writers are trying to communicate with their readers, and that means taking serious the problems they identify. Of course, writers decide which responses are appropriate, but even an inappropriate criticism sometimes sets off a train of though that leads to good ideas for revision”(Reinking, 2001, p.55). Another writer describes how she utilized and incorporated a peer’s reaction to her writing, in an academic journal article “How Publishing Can Be More than Not Perishing” from Change. The author notes, “With my friend Rebekah’s comments in hand, I decided to change my writing or leave it as it was after I carefully reconsidered that segment of my work”(Theilheimer, 2003, p.52). Eventually, writers should be able to gauge their peer evaluation comments selectively, without digesting all of them. In the writing process, I used to be afraid of hearing feedback because I didn’t want to hear negative reactions and then feel depressed; however, I now realize that reflections from honest friends can provide useful feedback to improve my essay.

Second, Murray emphasizes the necessity of consideration of audience when writing. By putting themselves in the readers’ position, writers can present what readers want to read (Murray, p.84). As writers write papers, they must anticipate who their readers will be and what they need. For this reason, they certainly must try to understand their audience, maintain their interest to keep reading, stimulate their trains of thought, and persuade them to enjoy reflecting on many issues in their essay. Therefore, creating writing is not an isolated event. In the writing process, writers need to deliver messages and information which contain needs, special interests, and answers to catch audience’ expectation. There is support for this concept in the book The Essay, “Writing is frequently a lonely act because audience is not physically present. If writers create some mental picture of their readers to guide them, they can make writing less lonely and less difficult than it might be” (Goldman/Hirsch, 1986, p.4). That is, audience is important to shape writers’ essay. The same position is also stated in an academic journal article, “Tick Tock Tick Tock” from Writing, in which the author predicts that when authors become aware of their readers and determine the theses they can convey to them, their audience will receive the information that they expect (Bloom, 2005 , p.12). Deciding on writers’ audience is important especially in the step of prewriting. Often, writers ask themselves some questions to determine who they intend to talk to or what ideas they want to absorb for the readers. According to FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, “The Pen and the Sword”, the author mentions that starting typing at once when being assigned to write is amateur acting; their readers usually are confused and cannot have clear thoughts (Linkins, 2003, p.20). This support brings up the reality of how many students are rushed in the writing process. In my case, I am often in a hurry to produce my essay and careless to build up the relationship between me and my readers, so my readers may feel confused about the thesis. Through experience of writing practice, I have realized the significance of analyzing my audience. Basically, authors need to determine the readers who form the primary audience for their writing. Meanwhile, composers should anticipate that readers’ probable reactions are positive or negative. Perhaps, their readers know much or only a little about the subject, so they have to consider readers’ expectations from the essay. The target of writing is to convince and catch readers and hold their attention. In such situations, it is essential that writers should assess their audience in the writing process.

The last main idea which Murray dwells on is that well structured writing “is built on a solid framework of logic, argument, narrative, or motivation which runs through the entire piece of writing and holds it together” (Murray 84). After writers have gathered all of the information which is necessary in their papers, they need to organize all of them in the appropriate order. In other words, authors must properly arrange the order of their ideas, and connect the relationship between ideas and supporting details (Reinking, 2001, p.352). It may become hard for readers to maintain concentration if the articles which they are reading are short of logic. A lack of logical organization makes it impossible to present and convey complete details and ideas to an audience. In the book The Student’s Writing Guide, the author refers to the significance of form and structure, “A well-organized piece of writing reveals that the writer has established a pattern of relationships between the individual parts and between the parts and the whole composition” (Taylor,1989, p.18). Good writers should lead readers into their stories step by step through the processes which have been drawn up, and then the readers can imagine the features of the stories.The author in the book Writing with a Purpose describes that a paragraph that lacks orderly movement will not be coherent, because readers will not see how two sentences are related and then they cannot go easily from one to another (McCrimmon, 1984, p.209). The author of the academic journal article “Understanding University Success: Writing & Editing”, notes that successful writers interpret, compare, and contrast in order to develop logical arguments. Moreover, successful writers should know how to compound coherent paragraphs and regulate paragraphs in logical order (2003, 33). Writers have a responsibility to enable their audience to comprehend the description which has been conveyed. In other words, readers can also associate with writers’ contentions in thinking one sentence by one sentence and combine the paragraphs as coherent thinking. In personal experience of writing progress, I have found that when I am careful and pay attention to set my thoughts in order to organize sentences and paragraphs, I am clarifying my interpretation at the same time. In short, successful writers are able to determine whether their papers are well-organized or not and have the ability to fix or rearrange the content in a concise and logical way.

In the process of revising, writers not only proofread one word by one word or one sentence by one sentence but also overhaul and reedit the context. When manuscripts have almost been completed, in order to present the impersonal points of issue in writing, the authors need to have tolerance to receive different criticism to alter their contexts. Furthermore, they have judgments to choose which criticism is suitable to be adopted. Next, writers are not selfish to compose essay for themselves; however, the purpose of drafting articles is to communicate with their readers. Accordingly, successful writers are capable of thinking about the intellectual curiosity of their audience; therefore, they are able to compose essay with considering and imagining the authentic situations of their readers. Lastly, well organized construction is very important pattern to accomplish a successful paper. A piece of writing which is provided with structured arrangement can guide audience to apprehend the essentials of the subject. In many assignment of writing, it often happens that students are negligent of revising their composition. Through the experience of analyzing and researching this topic, the necessity of revising is re-demonstrated. In conclusion, researching about revising in the summary and analysis essay is not a simple procedure, but also involves with criticism, audience, and organization. Through making efforts in effective process of collation, drafts are able to be achieved to successful writing.

Piano players who have formal musical training often have problems which result in frustration. It is a possibility that players may practice for a long time but have the same troubles repeatedly. The players may query: How to memorize more easily and more completely? Which exercises yield the best results? Why are some editions of piano scores better than others? How can the fourth and fifth fingers be strengthened? These are perennial questions of practical importance to students, teachers, and performers. Therefore, piano players need effective methods to solve their problems and help them practice more efficiently. Piano pedagogy is the term that describes the method of teaching players how to play the piano with standard procedures that solve the above problems.

The simple definition of piano pedagogy is the teaching of playing the piano. When talking about teaching music, the first aspect of piano pedagogy is realizing what the goal of piano pedagogy is. Players always want to have musicianship-- the ability to play music effectively (stylistically, musically, etc.)(Zinn, 2003).Actually, musicianship is essentially the final common pathway of all of the interventions in piano pedagogy; in piano lessons, teachers continually address the issues of musicianship inherent in teaching.

Perceiving the elements of piano tones is the fundamental part of musicianship. To illustrate, pianists need to have the abilities of controlling the rhythm-tempo, the surface noise, the dynamics, the pedals, and the articulation. Teaching all five of these elements is very important to piano pedagogy. Another part of musicianship is that possessing the capability of playing by ear. The human ear is the most sensitive, perceptive, and complex sense, especially for the pianist. Therefore, players are encouraged to practice or perform with the principle of playing by ear in order to modify the sound and regulate the pedal slightly. Piano pedagogy is not only teaching students to play the piano but also guiding students to interpret the music by themselves.

In piano lessons, the basic starting point of piano pedagogy is technique. Many players often play a lot of piano. Specifically, the players think that playing the piano loudly, like using their entire energy, is good technique so that they make brightly harsh sounds although playing fast; however, it is a totally incorrect opinion. In piano pedagogy, piano teachers spend a lot of time explaining about sitting and hand positions, the use of the fingers, the hand, and the arm, combination touches, and methods of body relaxations, as all of these affect the final tones that are produced. It is not easy to strike keys whether in passages of single notes, double notes, octaves, etc. As a matter of fact, all technique may be summed up in one word─mechanism. Leopold Godowsky, a great composer and pianist in 19^th century, believes that “every pianist’s technique is as individual as his interpretation.” (Broughton, 1956). It means that the technique of each player is not the same because every player’s figure, which includes height, weight, and the size of hand, is different from other players. In some cases, even though players grab technique exercises from theory books, it is not enough; the players have to figure out which technique suits them by practicing. In addition, if finger dexterity is overstressed or wrong positions last too long, players may hurt their muscles. Consequently, piano pedagogy provides systematic procedures and methods to help students play both the correct notes and also to interpret the music.

The last part of piano pedagogy is interpretation. No performance is ever the same as any other performance. It is an interesting and stimulating experience to hear a concert by one who is a master of technique. Many audiences are amazed and satisfied by the player’s dexterity; in the meanwhile, some critics may criticize this type of performance or the style of music. In other words, interpretation is personal. After practice of technique has been done, the last stage is to play pieces with interpretation. First, players have to analyze compositions. Then, they need to search out information about the composers of the pieces in order to understand the era of the composers and comprehend why the composers wrote the pieces. Each era has its own stylistic distinctions, such as ornamentation and tempo. In fact, the process of the studying is to link the motives of the composers and the players’ own feelings. Moreover, the process can help players easily imagine what the composers want to express. In playing classical music, one has to observe and respect the style of musical eras. As long as players perform music according to correct musical style, the players can play with their unique technique and imagination. The music which has been created is interpretation. In Piano pedagogy, it is important for teachers to suggest and correct the personal music concepts of the students; even more so, piano pedagogy is to encourage students to play music in their own style.

When talking about stress, we know that everybody has a varying amount of stress. For example, people often feel stressed from their job, schoolwork, or relationship in the society. In my case, I am an international student at UNC. Because my English still needs improvement, I have to take some ESL classes. Meanwhile, I am taking some graduate classes. That means (that) I need to handle a lot of homework and find time to practice the piano as well. Furthermore, when I am studying with my American classmates, I usually worry about how to communicate with them easily. All of these are sources of pressure. Therefore, I need some effective methods to reduce or release my pressure.

My major is piano performance. Actually, the musical field which I am working in can provide me many ways to release my stress, and it does work. First of all, listening to music is a great method to relax my tension. In fact, it is magical that music has strong power. To illustrate, if I feel depressed or tired, I will listen to soft music with slow tempo. Classical music may be a good choice. However, if I choose sorrowful songs to listen to, I might feel more deeply sad. On the other hand, when I am excited or cheerful, I will listen to the music with strong rhythms and fast tempo. Popular music may be a good choice because the accent and the speed can strengthen my joyful feeling. When I am reading or doing homework that requires much concentration, I won’t listen to noisy music like heavy metal or songs which have lyrics because this music will break my attention. Listening to my favorite music can help me to release emotions, but I had better use proper music to listen to.

The second method to reduce stress for me is playing the piano. When I am playing the piano, I can focus on the music which I have created. Every time when I play the music, I don’t have time to think or worry about something that may bother me. When I am practicing the piano, I have to keep my mind in the music and use my ear to modify the melody or adjust the pedal flexibly and slightly. Furthermore, the process of practicing the piano is a challenge; if I can use different and effective ways to play the piano easier, I will create a beautiful melody and then feel satisfied.

The last method to reduce stress for me is watching a movie. Movies are an art that combines music and drama. When I am watching a movie, I am easily attracted to the story of the movie. Because the sound track enhances the plot of a movie, I can enjoy feelings of comfort and being at ease.

In conclusion, music provides great methods to comfort my emotions and release my pressure. The most important reason is that the vibration of music influences human blood pressure and brain state. In the medical field, music therapy is a kind of remedy; therefore, I believe music has a great ability to reduce stress.

Holding a recital is a good opportunity for a performer who has

received music formal training. I generalize six stages that players can earn experience from the process of preparing a recital. By accumulating the experience through multiple recitals, a player will create music as much as she likes no matter on which occasions.

The first stage of preparing a recital, StageⅠ- , selects recital pieces. A complete recital has programs which includes at least one piece from each of the four musical periods: Baroque, The Classical Era, The Romantic Era, and The Contemporary Era. I believe that you are already nervous enough about the idea of playing in public, so you should select a recital piece that you are already learned and which you enjoy playing. Also, you would generally feel comfortable with the piece and because you like it you will be willing to perfect it so that you can play with confidence. In addition, don’t choose too long pieces to play; forty-five minutes to one hour is about maximum for everyone.

Next, the player enters StageⅡ- music preparation and practice. During

practice processes at home before the recital, it must have plenty of possibilities of making errors. These are opportunities to gain experience in working yourself out of problems. There are different methods in practice below. First, you had better use a metronome to play sections only up to performance tempo for tempo stability. Then, use various rhythms to play on problem spots repeatedly. Next, you should emphasis on playing the first few measures in your head before beginning. Furthermore, you would emphasis on transition sections. Specifically, you familiar with key, tempo, and meter changes, introduction of second theme, and one movement into another. Moreover, you also emphasis on other potentially weak spots like page turns, da capos, etc.

The invention of the piano was a turning point in history. The piano changed the face of Europe’s music. Over the past 300 years, if there were not the piano, great composers didn’t wrote well-known piano works.

Keyboard instruments have existed since the middle ages. The earliest pianos were designed in the tradition of harpsichords and clavichord. During the baroque period, keyboard instruments were used to accompany singers or other instruments. However, the harpsichord and the clavichord are very quiet instruments, and are not useful for performance in large room. Around the turn of 18^th century, composers and musicians need a keyboard with a large dynamic range that could play very loud or very soft, and that could change the dynamics smoothly and subtly. After that we named the keyboard instrument “pianoforte,” (soft-loud).

In the classical period, the piano became very popular as both a household and concert instrument. Some famous composers like Mozart and Beethoven do special works for the piano. They could feature the piano as a solo instrument with a symphony orchestra. The pianos of the 19^th century did have a common positive factor. They were louder, more expressive and responsive to the touch than any other instrument of the era. After 19^th century the specialist in teaching was more common. In 20^th century, some compositions require players to use new and complex techniques such as pedaling (half or quarter), and various methods of producing tones by reaching inside or underneath the piano to pluck or strike the strings.

Today, people often ask which the best piano. History tells us that it depends on which type of music I am playing. Piano playing technique has changed through the years with changes in piano types and musical styles. Piano players have to appropriately adjust the factors of touch, fingering, phrasing, and interpretation when playing music of 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th Centuries on the modern piano. In addition, the pianists should use relaxant techniques in controlling the physical motions instead of harming their bodies. Therefore, the piano performance for me is the specialized field worthy to study.

August 31, 2002, was the day that I held my first piano recital. The dream of students who learn musical instruments is to hold a recital. I am glad that I had this experience because it has changed my life.

I have played the piano for 19 years. I began playing the piano when I was five years old. Unlike most people though, learning the piano was a difficult process for me. Luckily, my mother has given me powerful resources; she has encouraged me to study music until now.

Before deciding to hold this recital, I didn’t have enough confidence. I didn’t dare to stand up on the stage of a performing hall. When I played the piano in a practice room, I always cared about the opinions of other people. I usually thought the technique of the player who played in the practice-room beside me was better than mine. I worried that I would possibly make mistakes when I was playing. I even had the terrible idea to give up playing the piano. However, I have stood by my decision to learn music diligently.

When I graduated from the university, my piano professor suggested that I hold a piano recital. At first, I didn’t consider this carefully, but I decided that I should challenge myself before starting a new job. Then, I decided to hold my recital in a hall which contained one thousand people in the audience. I spent only two months in preparation. I chose one piece from each of the four musical periods: Baroque, The Classical Era, The Romantic Era, and The Contemporary Era.

During these two months, I concentrated on practicing and rehearsing. I felt strong pressure. Fortunately, the members of my family shared responsibility for the details of preparation. One of my friends designed the poster for me. My piano professor advised me on the details of programs. My father consulted with printing offices. My mother reserved the performing hall. My older brother communicated with the sound and video recording company. My parents advertised the concert by visiting, telephoning friends, and posting everywhere. My close aunty came back from Vancouver to support me.

                                                        Should we ban the use of animals for scientific testing?                                                   Live animals, used to test product safety, have long played a fundamental role in the medicine, cosmetic, and household product. Some animal testing is unavoidable and necessary for public health and safety, but more needs to be done to develop and promote alternative methods.

Animal experimentation has been used on three main aspects and around a long time. First, some of animal testing is in biomedical research. For example, animal testing is an essential part of the process, providing vital information that scientists and doctors need to decide whether a medicine should be use in people, or development of vaccines for man and animals, repair surgery, organ transplantation, and evidence in cancers. Second, many people use animal models to test cosmetic and household product in order to prove no side effect, allergic, or toxic reactions, and they could protect consumers. It is difficult to know the number of animals involved with the greater use of transgenic mice.

A lot of drugs have tested safe in animals but were disastrous in humans. If we have a model that looks like a human condition, but it has a different underlying cause, there is no reason to expect that changing any attribute of that model will tell us what is going to happen in humans. Furthermore, animal models almost have profound differences in the underlying disease mechanism. After all, animal tests are not going to give an answer on whether something is going to be risky for human being.

The use of animals in the research is a moral issue with no exact answer. Most of us want to do the best for people but few animals should possibly be used and they should be treated unnecessary distress. For instance, there are tests are reported to treat painful and stressful to the test animals. Looking at the innocent victims, most of them are bred in captivity, such as guinea pigs, monkeys, rabbits, etc. Animal experiments are still needed, but more could be done to find new method of research and testing which don’t involve animals.

Inevitably, laboratory animals are used in research as part of the drug process from which we hope to find the treatment or cure for specific diseases. However, it is clear that researchers must act ethically and responsibly and treat the animals with moral. I hope scientists keep developing better alternative methods that reduce number of animals used to develop new medicines; finally, the number of animal studies has been declining.

Autumn is a season of falling leaves and is also a sentimental season. In autumn, the temperature becomes cooler. People who are on the street dress differently. When I become aware of the change of weather, I am affected and am very sensitive. Autumn is my favorite season, the scenery of autumn always appeals to me.

During September, October, and November, the once green leaves of spring and summer alter their appearance, displaying such colors as brilliant yellow, glowing orange, fiery red, and rich brown. I can tell that autumn is coming because the leaves have turned colors. In the middle of autumn, the leaves of trees fall gradually, some of which eventually drop in front of my home. All of the streets which are close to my house are full of the fallen leaves of warm color. When I stroll on campus, I can hear the leaves crunch underfoot. They seem fragile and delicate. The mild wind usually gathers the leaves together, as if they become used to lying on the ground and enjoying sun bathing rather than being swept up. Therefore, the leaves change their appearance a lot in autumn.

The temperature in autumn is different from other seasons. The weather is sunny, cool, and dry. The sunlight is warm and gentle. The wind is not strong and cold like in winter. In autumn, the air is fresh to breathe. The moisture in the air decreases, so I need to drink a lot of water and apply lotion to my skin. When the autumn equinox comes, shorter days and longer nights are coming. Thus, the temperature changes its character.

Autumn not only changes the weather but also changes my feeling and the dress of people.Whenever I leave home for school in the early morning, I take a deep breath first and look at the cloudless blue sky, and then I feel refreshed and energetic. On my way to study, the soft cool breeze is blowing through my hair as though it is whispering in my ear. I always wish that I have a cup of latte in my hand at that moment. Furthermore, when I walk across the grass at night, my feet step on the soft soil. I realize that the bottom of my pants gets wet, but I don’t mind. In addition, autumn brings cooler temperatures, but it’s not freezing. As it progresses, people begin to put away their summer clothes and short sleeves and bring out their warm sweaters, including me. People have chosen to wear warm colors and are ready to buy knitting caps, scarves, and gloves in order to prepare for the winter’s coming. These changes of the autumn weather alter my emotions.

All in all, autumn brings lots of changes. The temperature of autumn is not hot like summer, nor is it chilly like winter. The attractive scenery of autumn makes me feel refreshed and renews my spirit. Therefore, I can enjoy life in autumn. Autumn is my favorite season.

     The influence my mother has had on me is the primary reason I am striving for more advanced, modern piano training. My mother is an elementary school music teacher and a piano teacher. Through her efforts she gave me an auditory gift and helped develop my music faculty. In my childhood I learned to play both the piano and the violin, but I prefer the piano. The piano is my favorite instrument.

My piano training was not always smooth. Though I often encountered extreme difficulties and felt depressed, I never gave up and constantly endeavored to push forward. I told myself that learning to deal constructively with frustration is the best present God could give me.

Upon entering National Chiayi University my piano professor used The Alexander Technique to help me improve all areas of my playing including physical relaxation, sitting posture, and hand position. I profited greatly from this and regard these improvements as a learning process miracle. As a result I can now concentrate more on musical interpretation when performing.

In August 2002 I graduated from university and held a piano recital at the Taichung County Center. Although a challenge, I was very happy to put to use all I had learned the previous four years. For the first time I was not afraid of the audience and could wholly concentrate on the music and the joy of performing. Overcoming this challenge confirmed my thinking that as long as I do not fear failure and difficulty I can realize my goals.

After graduating from the university, I taught music at an elementary school for one year. I continued though to be interested in performance and was eager to acquire more knowledge and skills in performance and pedagogy. My university piano professor, a Doctor of Arts alumnus of The University of Northern Colorado, recommended I attend UNC.