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 teachers advocate 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 given individually 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

Some piano educators recommend that private lessons are especially effective for very young beginners because they emphasize the diversity of each student and individual needs. In other words, individual piano lessons supply time for the relationship between one teacher and one student, so the instructor can focus on “the student’s single needs, especially his personal technical development” (Clark, 1992, p.184). Because every child “differs from the other both mentally and physically”, the same strategy in two pupils becomes invalid (Carrè, 1957, p.28). Therefore, the one-on-one programs “can be tailored specifically for each student’s interests, abilities, and preferred learning method” (Lewis, 2003). For these reasons, the piano teachers who advocate one-on-one instruction believe that the success of teaching is based on personal contact.

However, in private lessons, children lack circumstances of working with companions, so they lose advantages of cooperating activities. As an example, some timid children may be disinclined to speak up “without benefit of peer support” (Enoch, 1977, p.9). Specifically, when young students are accompanied and are not afraid to ask questions, their learning efficiency is raised. In addition, private lesson students do not have lively environment for playing percussion instruments with classmates to train rhythmic feeling and listening abilities. In individual lessons, private teachers do not spend as much time as group teachers reinforcing “fundamentals of reading and writing musical notation, ear training, and theory”, and “these drills may take the form of games with various ‘fun’ approaches” in group lessons (Robinson, 1967, p.11). Though individual instruction contains a combination of singing, listening, and counting training, pupils receive less “additional activities such as creating work and ensemble playing” which are included in group instruction (Bastien, 1988, p.83). Last, the one-on-one instruction has “only teachers as models”, and performance experiences and facing peer audience do not exist in them (Skaggs, 1981, p.267). Because private lessons do not provide many chances to practice performance, private students are not used to managing nervousness. As a result, students cannot learn challenging stage phobia from performance experience. While individual instruction is practical and effective for meeting individual needs, it has both short-term and long-term problems.

Discussion of Primary Solution – Group Instruction

For very young pupils, group piano instruction supplies an environment for children to work together in a variety of activities and learn more effectively. First, healthy competition urges students to study with friendship and rivalry, if the teachers provide good guidance (Enoch, 1977, p.8). Indeed, children like to work together, and positive competition often urges them to study actively. For example, when one group of pupils sing or play a main melody, another group can listen carefully and clap the counterpoint. In this situation, children do not feel alone and may gain confidence. Through the cooperating experience, children’s hearing abilities can be trained naturally.

Second, students are not only entertained in group atmosphere but have chances to share the communicative art of music. To illustrate, when children study with companions, they are capable of enjoying performing for peer audience, they expect “the learning games, they make new friends, and they learn from each other” (Skaggs, 1981, p.267). Similarly, in performance situations, children are taught to appreciate and make constructive criticisms about the music, and discuss together what effective practice will improve the music (Lyke, 1987, p.13). This is beneficial experience in performing for small groups because it can help the young children to avoid stage fright when they perform in public and learn to accept criticism and welcome solutions of problems. When the times of performing are accumulative, children will gain much self-confidence, more than they imagine.

In addition, when there is more than one pupil in a studio, verbal and ensemble trainings are possible. That is, “individual repertory enables group members to become familiar with a much great portion of the piano literature than private students can” (Skaggs, 1981, p.267). In other words, viewing and emulating are valuable exercises to learn from each other. However, when students need to have series of private advice like correcting mistakes in group instruction, the uninvolved students may seem bored and neglected because the pupils do not participate in the private study (Skaggs, 1981, p.267). On the other hand, in “Forum on Group Piano from”Piano Pedagogy Forum, qualified group teachers are successful and well-organized to give each pupil something to do at the same time (Lyman, 1999).

What is more, some music educators are against group teaching because arranging students into an incorrect group often happens with inexperienced teachers, and it can result in inappropriate strategies (Hartman, 1977, p.32). That is why interviewing and evaluating students before starting courses is the primary stage for grouping children. As a matter of fact, considering “special planning and techniques” in preparation is the foundation of group lessons (Robison, 1967, p.13).

    Briefly, group instruction “provides a general music background and prepares children for private lessons on piano” (Schaum, 1991, p.125). In addition, there are more and more private teachers to teach group lessons because “students who beginning in a class usually continue to study privately after completing the available class work, and eventually study longer than students who begin their study privately” (Robinson, 1967, p. 14). In conclusion, group instruction is more socially beneficial, creative, and feasible than individual instruction.

Final Comparison/Contrast of Both Solutions

Teaching “young children requires a “heaping cup of patience”” whether teachers favor one-on-one instruction or group teaching. Because young pupils cannot pay attention for too long, teachers of both types of instruction must prepare activities to “cope with very short attention spans” during piano lessons (Schaum, 1991, p.110). In practical aspects, both approaches have advantages; however, these advantages are different in many ways. In the first instance, group instructors “facilitate” rhythmic appreciation and hearing development (Enoch, 1977, pp.8-9). On the other hand, private lessons provide “the most appropriate setting for students” who are preparing for professional piano players (Skaggs, 1981, 267). During one-on-one independent lessons, teachers can aim at personal pedagogy to train talented students; likewise, group instructors can also spend time to give individual guidance (Skaggs, 1981, p.267). Therefore, individual and group instructions are practical, yet favorable learning climate fosters creativity and makes class teaching more feasible. Beside this, to compare with private instruction, group teaching has dual economic effectiveness: “to the teacher, group work is a time-saver; to the parent it is a money-saver” (Diller, 1957, p.25). For instance, teachers do not feel tired from saying the same program over and over again to each student, and can reduce teaching hours after children finish school. Beside this, teaching a group lesson is as one private class; when several pupils share the fee, some families are able to afford the tuition which is considerably lower than private lessons (Skaggs, 1981, p.267). Consequently, group instruction can be available to all students, not only to students who can afford private lessons. It is clearly evident that group teaching is more cost-effective than private lessons. Last, though both of the teaching approaches are valuable to motivate children to like the instrument and keep playing the piano, the students who are in individual teaching risk losing interest in playing the piano. In conclusion, in the early stage of learning the piano, group instruction appears to be more beneficial than individual instruction.

Conclusion

        Piano teaching is an art that requires specific procedure, especially for beginners. In the very beginning of learning the piano, students must learn basic skill, musicianship, and theory to enable them to have a musical foundation. After these drills of music background, youngsters can advance to intermediate stage easily to learn music in private lessons. However, it is a debatable issue whether teachers should teach the piano in private instruction or group instruction. As a matter of fact, youngsters can be taught and the results are more effective in group instruction according to evidence which has been proven. Nevertheless, the beneficial effect of individual teaching cannot be disregarded. Therefore, the piano teaching which combines both private and group teaching may produce double effective results. To conclude, the purpose of piano teaching is that children are able to like music and keep playing the piano and then enjoy music in their life.

References

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