Master of Music / Department of Music, Theatre, and Dance / Frederick Burrack / Prominent elementary music methods like Orff-Schulwerk, Kodaly, Suzuki, Music Learning Theory, and Dalcroze Eurhythmics share a belief in a sound-before-symbol approach: delaying notation instruction in order to first develop audiation, musical vocabularies, and concrete musical experiences. Unfortunately, piano pedagogy has not taken the same journey, with method books continuing to center on reading from the earliest. While piano pedagogy has made great strides as a professional music community, now it must adopt the same sound-before symbol approach of its general music colleagues, making room for experiential and creative activities as a core component of instruction. Through the integration of movement, exploration, and improvisation activities like the included examples, teachers can move beyond strict adherence to the method book, and change their focus from notational literacy to authentic musicianship.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oklahoma, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-131).

In Chinese musical history, piano works have played an important role in modern times. The flourishing of the instrument and its music have in fact greatly developed Chinese modern music. Zhao Zhang's masterpiece Pi Huang, with its elements of Peking Opera, is one representative of the latest Chinese classic solo piano works. By coincidence, the introduction of the first Western keyboard instrument to China and the rise of Peking Opera came almost at the same time, during the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Therefore, the incorporation of Peking Opera into Pi Huang is a reasonable and creative combination. This dissertation conducts a pedagogical analysis of Pi Huang, showing how it was influenced by elements of Peking Opera. The three main chapters discuss the background of Peking Opera, the biography of Zhao Zhang, and the musical background and performing issues of Pi Huang.

No description available.

No description available.

It is always very difficult for the piano teachers to select appropriate teaching materials from many published method series. Assigning them to meet the need of each individual student is also a challenge. From the Chinese editions of several piano teaching materials, the following three elementary piano method series with similar attributes were selected as the base of this research: David Carr Glover Piano Library, Bastien Piano Library, and Alfred's Basic Piano Library. Through systematic analysis and comparison, this research reaches certain conclusions about the similarities and differences between these method series. The outcome of this research may help piano teachers in selecting method books more objectively and in improving their teaching techniques. This research compares three selected piano method series from the following four aspects: the longitudinal connection of core courses, the latitudinal connection of core courses, the functional techniques of core courses, and the degree of applicability and compatibility of the supplementary courses. Items being analyzed for the first two aspects are basic knowledge of piano playing, reading approach (including pre- staff reading, staff recognition, recognition of intervals, scales and tonalities), rhythmic training, playing techniques, and interpretation or expression. The results of all analyses are arranged in tabulate form with necessary comments. The functional techniques of core courses are summarized in four categories: sight reading, transposition, harmonization with primary chords as the accompaniment, and playing primary chord progressions. The degree of applicability and compatibility of supplementary courses in the selected series is also determined through the consideration of same items listed above. The findings of this research are threefold which reveal the uniqueness of each piano method series: 1.The "Piano Solo" book of the David Carr Glover Piano Library works better with its core courses in the latitudinal connections than the "Piano Repertoire" book. 2. The Bastien Piano Library is the only one out of the three selected series offering the functional techniques of sight reading and emphasizing the transposition technique. 3. The Alfred's Basic Piano Library performs the best in the longitudinal and latitudinal connections within its core lessons. Its selected supplementary courses and "Piano Lessons" books have the highest degree of applicability and compatibility.

This thesis focuses on the relationship between piano performance and Schenkerian analysis. Schenkerian analysis was designed initially as a practical guide for performers. In the different levels of a Schenkerian graph, we can see “musical forces” which lead the performer to deeply understand music itself. Using Schenkerian notation to highlight certain notes helps us to recognize lines behind the surface of the music that give certain passages coherence. This study concentrates on Chopin’s mastery of counterpoint and voice leading which leads me into the relationship of analysis and performance, typically by using the Schenkerian method. My examples will include a variety of pieces by both Chopin and Mozart, to show in what ways the Schenkerian analysis both highlights similarities and makes distinctions between composers and genres.

Sofia Gubaidulina is considered one of the most important Russian composers of our time. A Moscow Conservatory student who studied with Dmitri Shostakovich’s pupil Nicolai Peiko, Gubaidulina went on to compose many pieces for orchestra, chorus, chamber instruments, and solo instruments. Her piano works include Toccata-Troncata (1971) and Invention (1974), as well as the more famous Chaconne (1962), Sonata (1965), and the concerto Introitus (1978). This essay will focus on a lesser-known piano work, Musical Toys (1969), consisting of fourteen pieces for children. Her intention in composing this collection of pieces was to present pictorial miniatures that she herself would have liked to play as a child. While these pieces create a unique sound quality with various imaginations that would be very appealing to children, my assessment of this work is that it would be quite difficult for children because of the pedal technique, frequent meter changes, accidentals, repeated notes, and irregular rhythmic subdivisions. My purpose is to examine how to help make this collection more accessible to young pianists. There are three chapters in this essay. Chapter I is an introduction to Gubaidulina and to Musical Toys. Chapter II consists of a brief biography of Gubaidulina. Finally, in Chapter III, I discuss the technical challenges, and propose a pedagogical approach to, as well as the performance practice of, Musical Toys.

As new musical styles have emerged in the twentieth century with characteristic sounds, chords, forms, meters, and intervals, teachers need to broaden and re-define the way they introduce musical concepts to beginning piano students. The purpose of this study is to offer different instructional possibilities aside from conventional methods of teaching beginning pianists. This is accomplished through a comparison of the two different approaches of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók and the American composer Ross Lee Finney. Bartók’s Mikrokosmos, a graded set of 153 pieces, and Finney's 32 Piano Games are examined through this paper.

No description available.