Music Pedagogy Commons^™

Bohuslav Martinů’S Eight Preludes For Piano H. 181: Style Analysis And Pedagogical Approaches In Piano Performance, Jinkyung Kim

Theses and Dissertations

This treatise delves into Bohuslav Martinů’s Eight Preludes for Piano H. 181, offering a comprehensive exploration of the twentieth-century Czech composer’s life; discussing his compositional significance; analyzing the style of his Eight Preludes using the framework of Sound, Harmony, Melody, Rhythm, and Growth (SHMRG); and suggesting pedagogical approaches for advanced piano learners. The study examines Martinů’s life and the socio-cultural influences that shaped his artistic language. His compositional journey, combining elements of Czech folk music with Parisian influences of impressionism, neoclassicism, and jazz, illustrates his versatility and ingenuity. Through the SHMRG framework by Jan LaRue, the style analysis of Eight …

Luis Abraham Delgadillo: A Rediscovery Of His Piano Music, Fanarelia Auxiliadora Guerrero López

Theses and Dissertations

Luis Abraham Delgadillo (1884–1961) is one of the most representative Nicaraguan musicians from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Works such as his Sinfonía Indígena (Indigenous Symphony), Suite Teotihuacán (Teotihuacán Suite), and Sinfonía Incaica(Incaic Symphony) positioned him as one of the most important composers and pianists from Latin America. He had great success during his career as a composer and toured North America and South America extensively during the 1930s and 1940s. During these visits, he had many of his works performed, and met other influential composers and musicians such as Carlos Chavez, Amadeo Roldán, Aaron Copland, Arthur …

The Theory Of Intonation: Boris Asafiev And The Russian Piano School Tradition, Polina Golubkova

Theses and Dissertations

Boris Asafiev was one of the leading musicologists whose Theory of Intonation is a philosophical and aesthetic study that comprehensively explains the historical and theoretical aspects of musical art. The Theory of Intonation is the methodological basis for music disciplines in Russia, including piano pedagogy. The purpose of this study is to create a source that explains Asafiev’s philosophical and aesthetic vision of the concept of intonation and to show how it can be applied to piano pedagogy. This study is also intended to translate and codify the Theory of Intonation and to provide examples of its implementation in any …

Approaches To Teaching Music Counting To Piano Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sunghun Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to interview five internationally and nationally recognized professionals currently teaching piano to students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and to explore their approaches to teaching music counting to students with ASD. The interview questionnaire contained 5 sections. Sections 1, 2, and 3 focused on teacher experience and training, studio demographics, and educational curriculum. Sections 4 and 5 of the questionnaire focused on pedagogical practices in teaching music counting to piano students with autism spectrum disorder, including questions regarding pedagogical approaches in teaching meter, rhythm, and steady pulse. Section 6 emphasized pedagogical practices to teach …

A Comparison Of Approaches To Pianoforte Technique In The Treatises Of Lhevinne, Leimer, And Neuhaus, Louis S. Hehman

Theses and Dissertations

Throughout the history of piano playing as an art form, various performers, teachers, and theorists have written treatises as a means of conveying their thoughts on interpretation, education, and technique. As the Romantic tradition of pianism peaked in the early- to mid-20th century, three particular treatises were written that continue to have a major impact upon pianistic thought. These were Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing by Josef Lhevinne, Piano Technique by Karl Leimer, and The Art of Piano Playing by Heinrich Neuhaus.

Each of these treatises was influential at the time of its publication, and each has remained in publication …

Music As Complementary And Alternative Medicine (Cam) Therapy: An Exploratory Literature Review, Amy Arlene Clary

Theses and Dissertations

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) is a broad term for treatment plans outside of conventional therapy or conventional medicine.1 The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) divides CAM therapies into three categories “Natural Products,” “Mind and Body,” and “Other Complementary Health Approaches.” The NCCIH places music in the category “Mind and Body.” This exploratory literature review provides a comprehensive review of the various ways music is being studied for its psychological, sociological, and physiological benefits.

The purpose of this study was to create a comprehensive literature review of music as a CAM therapy. The study codifies a current …

Pedagogical Solo Piano Nocturnes: A Progressive Leveling With Annotations On Stylistic, Technical, And Musical Challenges And Benefits, Michaela Anne Boros

Theses and Dissertations

Nocturnes have remained in the standard piano literature for over two hundred years. However, students may not study this genre of repertoire until the advanced level of playing, and might therefore lack the full skills or knowledge necessary for successful nocturne performance. The purpose of this study is to provide a current, comprehensive, didactic resource on Romantic-style pedagogical piano nocturne literature from early elementary to early advanced levels, to aid teachers in the education of their students.

This study comprises four chapters, a bibliography, and two appendices. Chapter 1 consists of an introduction, purpose of the study, need for the …

Ten Years Of Japanese Piano Pedagogy (2009-2018) Through A Survey Of Educational Resources, Natsumi Takai

Theses and Dissertations

Educational resources are a reflection of the field. The content of articles and presentations articulate the recent landscape of the field. The investigation of such resources often appear in the field of piano pedagogy in the United States, to observe the trends and developments of the field. With a similar purpose, the current study explores the tendency of content of ten piano-related resources in Japan including journals, seminars and conferences and the background of authors and presenters for 2009-2018. By categorizing topics into five tiers and their subcategories, the research investigates an overview of Japanese piano pedagogy .

This study …

A Stylistic And Pedagogical Analysis Of Select Classical Pieces In Alicia’S Piano Books By Ananda Sukarlan, Karen Kai Yuan Yong

Theses and Dissertations

Indonesian composer and pianist Ananda Sukarlan (b. 1968) has written a significant body of piano works which contribute to the fields of music education and piano pedagogy. Among his collections, Alicia’s Piano Books has great potential for piano teachers and students. It is a set of six books that consists of 183 piano pieces ranging from elementary to early advanced levels.

The purpose of this study is to introduce and promote Sukarlan’s Alicia’s Piano Books for educational purposes. Among the collection, this study documents 41 pieces that are based upon specific classical models. The selected models are common in Baroque, …

Survey Of Four North American And Malaysian Theory Methods For Young Pianists, Wen Bin Ong

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide a content analysis and comparison between the selected theory methods by North American and Malaysian authors for the young beginning pianists (age 4 – 6). The selected North American theory methods are Prep Course for the Young Beginner and My First Piano Adventure for the Young Beginner while the Malaysian theory methods are Music Theory Made Easy for Kids and Music Theory for Young Children.

This study is comprised of four chapters, a bibliography, and an appendix. Chapter one provides a brief overview of the study, which consists of an introduction to …

A Pedagogical Analysis Of Dvořák’S Poetic Tone Pictures, Op. 85, Nathan Macavoy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to pedagogically analyze each of Antonìn Dvořák’s (1841-1904) Poetic Tone Pictures (op. 85) for both technical and artistic challenges. Historical and theoretical analysis give context but are limited so that the pedagogical value of the set can be fully explored.

Poetic Tone Pictures is a set of thirteen programmatic character pieces that were originally popular but have been overlooked in recent history. This is largely due to Dvořák scholars’ discrediting attitude toward his solo piano writing. The recent interest in recording his piano works has brought Poetic Tone Pictures positive critical reviews. This study …

Focal Dystonia Causes And Treatments: A Guide For Pianists, Juan Nicolás Morales Espitia

Theses and Dissertations

Focal dystonia is a movement disorder that precludes the execution of fine motor skills. Although research on focal dystonia has been intensified during the last few decades, particularly because it has affected eminent musicians such as pianists Leon Fleisher and Gary Graffman, violinist Peter Oundjian, and oboist Alex Klein, there are still several answered questions, as well as numerous misconceptions, commonly associated with this disorder. This document comprehensively explores dystonia’s mechanism of action, causes, potential risks, and treatments. The publicly available statements of three prominent concert pianists who successfully recovered from focal dystonia are also included in this document. Additionally, …

An Instrumental Approach To Sight Singing: The Use Of Mock-Fingerings, Catherine E. Howland

Senior Theses

This pilot study was designed to test whether mock-fingerings could be a beneficial strategy for sight singing. The researcher hypothesized that mock-fingerings would help students to be more accurate sight singers. Participants, wind instrument players at the college level, were asked to sight read two examples, one while “fingering along” and one with their hands still. Mean scores were compared among music majors and non-majors, and it was found that the mock-fingerings did not have a significant effect on the mean scores of participants. The mean scores were often comparable between the fingering condition and the control condition, suggesting that …

A Stylistic Analysis Of Reinhold Glière’S 25 Preludes For Piano, Op. 30, Sunjoo Lee

Theses and Dissertations

Reinhold Moritsevich Glière (1875-1956) had a successful career as a conductor, educator, and composer. He is regarded as one of the immediate heirs to Tchaikovsky and those known as the “Mighty Five,” Balakirev, Mussorgsky, Borodin, Cui, and Rimsky- Korsakov. Glière has been neglected in the Western musical study although he has been popular and important in his native country and wrote more than five hundred works including music for orchestra, chamber music, voice, and ballets. Yet relatively few of his works are known and performed in the West.

The purpose of the study is to provide a stylistic analysis of …

Approaches To Teaching Music Reading To Piano Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rachel Elizabeth Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to collect information about teaching music reading to piano students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and to determine best teaching practices that may be implemented into existing curricula. The study involved interviewing six professionals who are nationally recognized for successfully teaching piano to students with ASD and analyzing the interviews to learn their procedures for teaching music reading to this population.

The interviews contain information concerning the backgrounds of the individuals being interviewed, the demographic backgrounds of students being taught, and the pedagogical process, instructional materials and technology used for teaching music reading in lessons. …

An Analysis Of Jazz Elements In The Solo And Ensemble Educational Piano Compositions By Martha Mier, Hye Jee Jang

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to analyze Martha Mier’s solo and ensemble educational repertoire that incorporates jazz, ragtime and blues elements. This document is an analysis of jazz elements from her collections: Jazz, Rag, & Blues; Classical Jazz, Rag, & Blues; Christmas Jazz, Rag, & Blues; and Jazz, Rag, & Blues for Two. The analysis includes examination of the stylistic elements, harmony, key signature, meter, and rhythmic patterns. The document includes an interview with Martha Mier regarding her work in incorporating jazz, ragtime, and blues elements in her compositions.

The dissertation contains five chapters. Chapter one consists of the …

Guia Prático, Álbuns Para Piano By Heitor Villa-Lobos: A List Of Piano Pieces By Level Of Difficulty With Stylistic Annotations, Verena Benchimol Abufaiad

Theses and Dissertations

The Guia Prático, Álbuns Para Piano is a collection of fifty-nine piano pieces distributed in eleven albums that reveals not only the active role played by Heitor Villa- Lobos in music education in Brazil during the 1930s and 1940s, but also his unique compositional style. The purpose of this study is to provide a list of the fifty-nine piano pieces of the Guia Prático, Álbuns Para Piano by level of difficulty and with stylistic annotations. This study is also intended to equip piano teachers with information so they can practice informed pedagogy with their students and to expose students to …

The Effectiveness Of Video Modeling With Video Feedback On A Given Piece For Mid-To-Late Elementary Piano Students, Huiyun Liang

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of video modeling with video feedback for developing mid-to-late elementary piano students’ motor skills in learning the piece “Polka” by Dmitri Kabalevsky. The secondary purpose was to evaluate the benefits of this method for other aspects of performance and performance retention. Five (N=5) piano students, 8 to 9 years old, at mid-to-late elementary level were selected to participate in this study. The results of the study summarized the performance progress of four participants who demonstrated similar levels of technical and reading skills and completed the test requirements.

The full-scale …

Seventeen Waltzes For Piano By Leo Ornstein: A Stylistic Analysis, Jared Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this document is to provide a stylistic analysis of Seventeen Waltzes for Piano by Leo Ornstein by examining the music in the analytical areas of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, texture, and keyboard layout–along with suggestions concerning pedal usage. These seventeen individual works were compiled and catalogued by the composer’s son, Severo Ornstein. The collection (S.400-S.416) is found to be a significant contribution to 20th-century piano literature by a lesser-known but nonetheless great Russian-Jewish-American composer and pianist, Leo Ornstein. The Seventeen Waltzes for Piano are a unique realization of the composer’s improvisatory writing style, mastery of large forms, …

A Theoretical And Stylistic Analysis Of Paul Ben-Haim’S Five Pieces For Piano, Op. 34 And Piano Sonata, Op. 49, Rachel Bletstein

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide a theoretical and stylistic analysis of Paul Ben-Haim’s Five Pieces for Piano, Op. 34 and Piano Sonata, Op. 49. The study consists of an analysis of form, meter, rhythm, harmony, melody, keyboard usage, and stylistic elements.

The study helps to educate musicians about Ben-Haim’s music and conveys how the works are representative of compositional practices that combine Middle Eastern and Western elements. This study also introduces two major works of Ben-Haim’s, including Five Pieces for Piano, Op. 34, and Piano Sonata, Op. 49. This study promotes one of the most significant Israeli …

Attitudes And Thoughts On Tone Quality In Historic Piano Teaching Treatises, Jeongsun Lim

Theses and Dissertations

Various approaches to the perception and production of tone quality on the piano have been suggested throughout the history of piano pedagogy. Tone quality differences are controversial among physicists, acoustic scientists, pianists, and piano pedagogues. Studies and research began to investigate tone quality with scientific experiments, and physicists and scientists asserted that differences in tone quality are differences in pitch, intensity, duration, and in combinations of tone and noise. They asserted that tone quality does not change with different physical touches and the pianist cannot control the quality of the tone. However, pianists and pedagogues believed that pianists have control …

An Analysis Of Akira Miyoshi’S “Miyoshi Piano Method: 12 Progressive Propositions Piano Method”, Azusa Higotani Bies

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes Miyoshi Piano Method: 12 Progressive Propositions Piano Method written by Akira Miyoshi (1933-2013), a Japanese classical music composer. The study comprises three chapters, a bibliography, and two appendices. Chapter one consists of an introduction providing a brief history of the development of piano instructional methods and their development in Japan with an emphasis on the instructional works of Akira Miyoshi. Chapter 2 consists of an analysis of Miyoshi Piano Method inclusive of all twelve volumes. Each volume is analyzed in terms of reading approach, counting approach, technique, artistry and creativity, and compositional characteristics. Chapter 3 consists of …

An Investigative Study Measuring Self-Reported Metacognitive Habits Among Collegiate Piano Majors, Steven Phillip Brundage

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate self-reported metacognitive habits among collegiate piano majors. It examined the degree to which participants comprehend and employ practice strategies, recognize their own strengths and weaknesses in learning and performing, accurately predict a performance outcome, and self-evaluate following a performance. A total of twelve (N = 12) participants, six (N = 6) undergraduate and six (N = 6) graduate piano majors, enrolled in applied lessons at the University of South Carolina School of Music volunteered to participate in this study. Participants completed a pretest questionnaire that measured their own metacognitive skills, performed and …

A Survey Of Attitudes Towards Burnout Among Music Students At The University Of South Carolina School Of Music, Philip David Castro

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to define burnout specific to musicians. The study explored the attitudes towards burnout of student musicians at the University of South Carolina School of Music. A survey was created based on models in the research literature, and was administered to music students with the permission of the School of Music administration. Internal review board approval was obtained. The survey was available via the Internet. Participation was voluntary and student anonymity guaranteed.

The population of the survey consisted of 416 undergraduate and graduate music students enrolled in the 2016 spring semester. Of the 416 total …

H. Villa-Lobos' Concerto Para Piano E Orquestra N. 4: A Stylistic Analysis, Vicente Della Tonia Junior

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to provide a stylistic analysis of Heitor Villa- Lobos’ Concerto No. 4 for piano and orchestra through investigation of its form, thematic materials, harmony, orchestration, stylistic influences and keyboard usage. The secondary purpose of this study was to offer the historical background, including the commission of the work, its première, reception and publication, which, along with the composer’s influences, will further illustrate his style and contribution to the genre. This study helps to fill a research gap by promoting and educating performers about Villa-Lobos’ writing. The ultimate goals are to encourage informed performances of …

H. Leslie Adams' Twenty-Six Etudes For Solo Piano: A Performance And Stylistic Analysis, Aaron Balthazar Mathews

Theses and Dissertations

H. Leslie Adams (b. 1932) is a prolific and well-respected American composer, performer, and educator. He currently works as a full-time composer and travels the country promoting his music. Past faculty appointments of H. Leslie Adams include serving as an Assistant Professor of Music at Stillman College, Florida A & M University, and the University of Kansas. Over the years, he has received numerous commissions, honors, and awards including the Composer Fellowship Award from the National Endowment for the Arts to study in Bellagio, Italy, the Yaddo Artists Colony fellowship, the Jennings Foundation, and grants from the Rockefeller Foundation and …

Effects Of Sight Singing Using Moveable-Do Solmization On The Transposition Performance Of Undergraduate Group Piano Students, Michelle Irene Wachter

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of sight singing, using moveable-do solmization, on the keyboard transposition performance of undergraduate group piano students. Thirty-nine (N = 39) undergraduate non-keyboard music majors enrolled in three intact sections of first-semester group piano courses participated in this quantitative study. Students completed an individual pretest and posttest consisting of a videotaped sight-reading and transposition performance and a pretest and posttest questionnaire. Throughout the six-week treatment period, all students received sight-reading and transposition instruction using identical musical examples. A control group sight read and transposed examples without singing, while students in two …