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 19th 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.
In conclusion, unlike the space arts, painting, sculpture, and architecture, music is an art of the moment of time. Players cannot grab the substance of music but can create a beautiful melody. However, it is impossible to perform great pieces without the foundation of diligent practice. Mary Baker Eddy, American musical educator in 19th century, said,“ Is a musician made by his teacher? No, he makes himself a musician by practicing what he was taught. The conscientious are successful.”(Broughton, 1956). In short, teachers continually strive to create meaningful ways to help students better comprehend and communicate the music they perform. The goal of piano pedagogy is to help students discover that the concepts they are learning in practicing or theory books relate to the fundamental expressive choices they will make in interpreting a new piece of music.
References
Broughton, J. (1956). Success in piano teaching. Reprint. New York: Vantage Press, Inc.
Cisler, V. (January 1, 2005). Piano pedagogy forum, v.8, No.1. Retrieved April 3, 2005, from http://www.music.sc.edu/ea/Keyboard/PPF/PPFcisler.html
Lewise, B. M. (2005, January 19). Martha Bath Lewis’s homepage. Retrieved April 3, 2005, from http://www.serve.com/marbeth/index.html
Newman, W. S., Loesser. A,& Allcott, V. J. (1984). The pianist’s problems. Reprint. New York: Da Capo Press, Inc.
Zinn Marcie. (September 8, 2003). Evidence-based solutions for pianists and teachers. Retrieved April 3, 2005, from http://www.pianoweb.net/index.shtml
Rubinstein, B. (1973,June 14). Outline of piano pedagogy. Reprint. New York: Carl Fischer, Inc.
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