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Master of Music / Department of Music, Theater, and Dance / Virginia Houser / Folk songs are songs of unknown authorship passed down orally generation to generation, and often found in variants of words and tunes in different parts of a country or in different countries. They often represent the culture, the tradition, the life style and the music style in their era. Although there are many folk songs are still popular, they are rarely played during the piano lessons in Taiwan. In today’s piano lessons, the teaching mainly focuses on Western music and theory, like the major-minor system. The student begins to learn piano by the methods such as John Thompson or Nancy & Faber Piano Adventures. These methods build the foundation of their playing technique and the music theory. As their level goes up, they might have some opportunities to play the folk songs that are sung in different countries, such as the Hungarian folk music arranged by Bela Bartok. In the meantime, the piano teacher in Taiwan should not forget that they may have the responsibility to help the next generation to preserve the folk songs which present their culture. My research consists of an examination and performance of sixteen Chinese and Taiwanese folk songs in two collections: Piano Pieces on Chinese Folk Tunes for Children by Shui-Long Ma and Piano Pieces on Taiwanese Folk Tunes by Ching-Yi Lin. Each piece will be carefully graded into five levels: Elementary; Late Elementary/Early Intermediate; Intermediate; Upper-Intermediate; and Advanced. The features of each level will be discussed as well as the historical background and pedagogical aspects in particular piece of each level.

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This document is a pedagogical guide for Tchaikovsky’s Album for the Young, Op. 39, which is regarded as valid pedagogical material for teachers interested in incorporating this repertoire into their studios. This document contains brief bibliographical information of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky and a concise background of Album for the Young, Op. 39, and then presents a comprehensive pedagogical analysis of each piece, which includes teaching methods, technical approaches and practice suggestions. In addition, this document assigns a level for each piece of this collection. Tchaikovsky’s Album for the Young, Op. 39 may be employed by teachers for elementary and intermediate students. This pedagogical guide is written as a reference for the teachers who will enable students to better understand Tchaikovsky’s piano music. Studying this repertoire allows students to be better prepared to study Tchaikovsky’s other more advanced works.

Master of Music / School of Music, Theatre and Dance / Augustin Muriago / This lecture-recital presents five pieces from the first two books of Elisenda Fabregas’ Album for the Young. These intermediate-level pieces are written in styles ranging from Renaissance to Modern periods. The goal in presenting these works is to analyze what technical and musical skills they develop, suggest ways to teach these pieces, and to explore their interaction with more traditional teaching repertoire. The lecture-recital presents—pedagogical exercises developed to target specific skills needed to play these pieces; performance practice for each genre represented; and finally, pairs each piece with pieces by Bartok, Bach, Czerny, Kahlua, Clementi, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Debussy. The works of Fabregas were chosen to promote the work of women composers and to expand the teaching repertoire that students and teachers are exposed to.

Body Mapping has emerged among movement education techniques as one of the only somatic methods to focus specifically on musicians. Little research has been conducted to determine what changes, if any, participants in Body Mapping workshops experience. This study used MIDI to examine pitch, tone, tempo, and articulation of scale and arpeggio piano performance one day before and after a Body Mapping workshop. Participants were found to exhibit few measurable changes in these aspects of scale and arpeggio. A series of exploratory analyses were then conducted, which found greater changes in the visually observable aspects of piano performance than in aurally perceptible ones. The results suggest that immediately following a Body Mapping workshop, piano performance may improve in visually observable measures, but not in the aurally perceptible measures of scale and arpeggio performance.

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Friedrich Daniel Rudolf Kuhlau (1786–1832), was a German-Danish composer and pianist best known for his flute and opera works. His piano sonatinas have historically been overlooked for sonatinas of more popular composers such as Clementi, Mozart, and Beethoven. This research evaluates the technical and musical elements in Kuhlau's sonatinas and asserts that studying these works benefits intermediate level piano students, particularly in their musical and technical development. This document also provides performance practice and pedagogical discussion. Chapter 1 outlines the purpose of the dissertation and presents a brief biography of Kuhlau. Chapter 2 details the general expected achievements of the early intermediate, intermediate, and late intermediate piano levels. Chapter 3 focuses on specific Kuhlau sonatinas for each level, building on elements discussed from the previous chapter. Chapter 4 compares and contrasts the similarities and uniqueness between Kuhlau's sonatinas and those of Clementi (Op. 36, No. 3) and Beethoven (E-flat Major Sonatina). Chapter 5 discusses performance practices and related pedagogical concerns for students and teachers. Chapter 6 concludes the paper.

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