The First Month at the Piano by Mana-Zucca, published in 1935, is a pioneering piano method to be taught by rote, supporting sound before sight learning theories, to the pre-school student. It differs from the Suzuki method in that The First Month at the Piano uses short, repetitive patterns, intrinsic to the Edwin Gordon Music Learning Theory. The First Month at the Piano has been compared to educational theories and has been found to follow Lev Vygotsky's theory of scaffolding and Jerome Bruner's principles of structure, readiness for learning, and motivation. The First Month at the Piano has been shown to provide a wide variety of sensory experiences for the pupil and establish a comfort and familiarity with the instrument. After completing the method, the pupil will have a solid aural foundation at the piano and will be fully prepared for primer level notation. It is a highly adaptable method and modified versions were made from the originals which would be of interest to today's teachers of pre-school piano students. Incorporation of interactive MIDI with electronic keyboards would enhance the students' learning experiences and be a direction to follow for future use of this method.

Many piano teachers agree that suitable repertoire motivates their students to learn and practice their instrument. Asking students to learn different categories of repertoire might be a good approach for piano teachers to motivate and maintain their students’ musical interests. However, how do teachers evaluate what kinds of repertoire is presented in the teaching material that is available to them? The purpose of this study is to review the pieces found in North-American piano method books in order to provide an inventory of the different categories of repertoire found in each series and to calculate the proportion of piano repertoire belonging in each category. Consequently, this research will allow piano teachers to see more clearly which kinds of repertoire are in a method book and help select the most appropriate method books for their students.

Many piano teachers agree that suitable repertoire motivates their students to learn and practice their instrument. Asking students to learn different categories of repertoire might be a good approach for piano teachers to motivate and maintain their students’ musical interests. However, how do teachers evaluate what kinds of repertoire is presented in the teaching material that is available to them? The purpose of this study is to review the pieces found in North-American piano method books in order to provide an inventory of the different categories of repertoire found in each series and to calculate the proportion of piano repertoire belonging in each category. Consequently, this research will allow piano teachers to see more clearly which kinds of repertoire are in a method book and help select the most appropriate method books for their students.

Comprehensive Musicianship (CM) is a philosophy that developed in the 1960s to encourage the study of contemporary music and student creativity. It expanded in the 1970s to describe the interdisciplinary study of music. Its goal was to encourage teachers to go beyond technical and performance aspects of music and start integrating theory, history, composition, improvisation and aural skills instruction to their curriculums. However, while CM has had a strong influence on many music programs, it is not clear whether this trend has influenced the field of private piano instruction, and whether CM elements have been included and integrated in beginner piano method books. To address this question, categories that constitute the core elements of CM were selected to conduct a content analysis of 12 piano method series. Analysis showed that the focus tends to be on aural skills (as teacher duets), and theory, with a noticeable lack of the more creative activities of improvisation and composition.

Comprehensive Musicianship (CM) is a philosophy that developed in the 1960s to encourage the study of contemporary music and student creativity. It expanded in the 1970s to describe the interdisciplinary study of music. Its goal was to encourage teachers to go beyond technical and performance aspects of music and start integrating theory, history, composition, improvisation and aural skills instruction to their curriculums. However, while CM has had a strong influence on many music programs, it is not clear whether this trend has influenced the field of private piano instruction, and whether CM elements have been included and integrated in beginner piano method books. To address this question, categories that constitute the core elements of CM were selected to conduct a content analysis of 12 piano method series. Analysis showed that the focus tends to be on aural skills (as teacher duets), and theory, with a noticeable lack of the more creative activities of improvisation and composition.

Many piano teachers agree that suitable repertoire motivates their students to learn and practice their instrument. Asking students to learn different categories of repertoire might be a good approach for piano teachers to motivate and maintain their students’ musical interests. However, how do teachers evaluate what kinds of repertoire is presented in the teaching material that is available to them? The purpose of this study is to review the pieces found in North-American piano method books in order to provide an inventory of the different categories of repertoire found in each series and to calculate the proportion of piano repertoire belonging in each category. Consequently, this research will allow piano teachers to see more clearly which kinds of repertoire are in a method book and help select the most appropriate method books for their students.

Comprehensive Musicianship (CM) is a philosophy that developed in the 1960s to encourage the study of contemporary music and student creativity. It expanded in the 1970s to describe the interdisciplinary study of music. Its goal was to encourage teachers to go beyond technical and performance aspects of music and start integrating theory, history, composition, improvisation and aural skills instruction to their curriculums. However, while CM has had a strong influence on many music programs, it is not clear whether this trend has influenced the field of private piano instruction, and whether CM elements have been included and integrated in beginner piano method books. To address this question, categories that constitute the core elements of CM were selected to conduct a content analysis of 12 piano method series. Analysis showed that the focus tends to be on aural skills (as teacher duets), and theory, with a noticeable lack of the more creative activities of improvisation and composition.

Piano teachers agree that acquiring piano technique knowledge and skills is beneficial for musical interpretation as lacking a good technique may impact on the musicality of a performance and poor technique may lead to muscular pain or injury. Many piano teachers use a series of piano method books as major teaching materials in the lesson. It is essential for teachers to understand the technical elements included in the piano method books and to investigate whether any piano technical element is missing so that they may consider using supplementary technique teaching materials. Besides, to understand how the technical elements are presented and how soon each technique element is introduced would help teachers to teach more efficiently. The purpose of this study was to review how expert pedagogues teach piano technique to establish a framework of technique elements that should be taught to young piano beginners. Based on this framework, we undertook an analysis of the technical elements found in thirteen series of piano method lesson books together with their accompanying technical books. A calculation of the proportion of each piano technique element in each series, an evaluation of the pace at which new technique elements are introduced and an analysis of how each one is presented forms the objective of this study. The results will provide piano teachers with thorough information on the technique elements found in different method books and will help piano teachers to select the most appropriate method books for their students.

Chunking is a cognitive process that re-organizes information into groupings, promoting efficient memory storage and recall. Due to the complexity of music scores, music reading requires both knowledge of the individual notes and recognition of musical chunks for rapid and accurate reading. For young piano students, it is especially important to systematically introduce and develop connections between individual notes and chunks. However, despite the importance of chunking, few studies have examined the development of chunking techniques in music reading for younger students. The objective of this thesis is to investigate how beginner piano method book and sight-reading book series for young students address chunking and provide a guide to develop chunking techniques that influence both reading and playing the piano. This study analyzes the contents of ten method book series and seven sight reading book series, examining the types and sizes of patterns introduced within the series, and the frequency of reinforcement. The study also examines pattern-related instructions, concepts and visual cues included in the series. The results reveal a lack of systemic chunking technique development, the importance of pattern recognition and the need for incorporating written instructions and visual cues to encourage chunking. Although the present study affirms the lack of development on chunking techniques in the evaluated teaching materials, the findings demonstrate the areas that could be developed to form chunking processes. Based on this research, suggestions are made to improve teaching materials to include chunking techniques and processes.

A presente tese teve como motivação inicial a confecção de um método de ensino de piano em grupo para utilização nos cursos de piano complementar das universidades brasileiras. Neste trabalho, relatam-se as etapas e processos reflexivos percorridos por este autor durante esta empreitada. Primeiramente, foi feita uma pesquisa histórica a respeito do surgimento do piano em grupo na Europa e nos Estados Unidos, chegando-se até às tecnologias utilizadas atualmente, assim como uma análise do cenário relativo ao ensino do piano em grupo e da disciplina de piano complementar nas universidades brasileiras. No segundo capítulo, apresenta-se uma análise crítica e comparativa dos mais importantes métodos de ensino em grupo existentes atualmente. O capítulo final descreve a organização do método considerada ideal para uma proposta de método de ensino de piano em grupo nas universidades brasileiras e apresenta parte dos exercícios confeccionados para o desenvolver cada uma das habilidades funcionais que são trabalhadas nos diversos capítulos do método elaborado ao longo desta pesquisa, assim como o porquê das escolhas envolvidas em sua confecção. / This thesis had as its impetus the development of a group piano method designed for college level piano classes in the universities of Brazil. The purpose of this work is to reflect upon the process used in this endeavor. The first chapter presents a historical background from the beginnings of group piano instruction in Europe and the United States until its culmination in the technological era. It also examines group piano teaching in the secondary piano courses among Brazilian universities. The second chapter is a comparative analysis of the most important group piano methods currently in use. The final chapter describes the format and function considered ideal as a basis for the method of group piano teaching in Brazilian universities. Furthermore, it presents a sample of the exercises composed to develop each of the piano skills that are presented throughout the chapters of the method produced alongside with this research, as well as the rationale involved in its creation.