From the beginning of this undertaking, its aims were related to certain weaknesses which many college students had displayed as they undertook to learn to play the piano. Starting from the assumption that most, if not all students would encounter such in the mastery of the piano, the study proceeded to identify several psychological concepts deemed necessary to an intelligent grasp of the problems confronting students of the piano. These concepts were set forth as: Listening, Touch, Relaxation, Power and Strength, Rhythm and Time, Principles of Learning and Practicing, Individuality of Technique, and Pleasure From Music.
From years of observation, it had seemed that most students of piano had never been taught to study that instrument by thinking through problems related to it before attempting to practice; that most of them appeared to try learning to play almost entirely by physical effort and by countless repetitions of whatever passages they might desire to learn. In consequence, this study was directed towards evolving a way of attacking certain problems in piano playing which would put emphasis on thinking out the things to be accomplished;. on wisely selecting the means and manner of achieving these ends; and on making constructive evaluations of the final results.
Pertinent to the over-all picture of present-day piano playing were the background of the instrument and the various schools of playing from which modern piano technique had originated and developed. The piano and its mechanism were found to be comparatively new in music, since the piano had been invented fewer than 150 years ago. Although the piano was a keyboard instrument, it had been determined, shortly after its.invention, that a different and suitable technique would have to be developed in order to play this instrument adequately, if its fullest possibilities were to be realized. Consideration was then given to various schools of piano playing, which had sprung up to meet the demands made by each advancing composer: from Haydn and Mozart, through Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms, and on into the realms of the modern composers like Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofieff. These various schools had culminated in the efforts of Matthay in London, Breithaupt in Berlin, and Philipp in Paris, all of whom had succeeded Leschetizky in Vienna.
The approach, or method which evolved from a study of learners' and performers' difficulties, on the one hand, and of the writings of musical authorities, on the other, was concerned mainly with conceiving mentally the problems to be worked out within the scope of piano technique. That approach was analyzed and found to include eight aspects, each of which was discussed and evaluated in the light of the writings of various authorities in this field. They were further tested by observing the effects of applying them in actual teaching situations, the outcomes of which were, in turn, reported in the form of case studies.
The case studies, presented in this writing, were considered to embrace several different types of individuals. That differences existed was shown by variations in the results of using the approach of intelligent foresight in the several cases. However, the testing process did seem to produce in each instance greater understanding of the piano as an instrument and, within the range of each student's capability, some definite progress toward more intelligent performance. Just as everyone who attempts to write a poem does not aspire to the crown of poet laureate, so everyone who studies the piano does not hope to become a famous professional pianist. Thus, the students who became the subjects of observation and testing derived satisfaction from the knowledge that they had made marked progress; that they had done so without strain and in a manner that revealed possibilities for further growth and achievement. The teacher, in turn, was rewarded by the realization that every student who had given serious consideration to the approach described in this study showed evidence of having increased his pleasure in playing as well as of having gained considerable skill as a performer. Some had progressed more rapidly, some more slowly; but it was felt that, without exception, all has attained a greater appreciation of music and of the piano.
Thus, as the study was concluded, it seemed that whatever merit it might have lay in its possibility of provoking a more intelligent approach to the study of the piano; of guiding students of that instrument to skill in playing it in somewhat the same manner as other skills are learned, i.e., by careful and thoughtful analysis of the problems to be overcome. In undertaking any task greater interest seems to be aroused through simple explanations of its nature, of how it may be performed, and of what results may flow from its successful execution. Merely to tell a student to do something because this is the right way, without due analysis and explanation, can hardly hope to kindle inspiration and zeal enough to conquer its difficulties.
Fundamentally, it is hoped that this study has lent support to the view that the piano does not necessarily belong exclusively to those with marked talent; that the joy of reproducing music may be made accessible to anyone with average mental and physical endowments. / M.S.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/110265 |
| Date | January 1953 |
| Creators | Medford, Benjamin Savage |
| Contributors | Education |
| Publisher | Virginia Polytechnic Institute |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Text |
| Format | 65 leaves, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | OCLC# 28945369 |
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