Instrumental Teaching

The present work aims to verify the Fingers Patterns System functionality as a strategy to optimize the left hand violin technique. In order to achieve this, characteristic elements of three different approaches were applied in a case study on an academic context. The three selected authors, which use this strategy as a methodological tool for teaching and practice were Primrose (1960), Gerle (1983) and Barber (2008). As 95% of the students had a positive result, it was concluded that the relation of the pattern and fingers combinations on the fingerboard may contribute strategically to the teaching and study of violin technique, thus intervening in the optimization of violinist musical performance.

Piano teaching in Japan: a survey of piano methods for beginners is a research about piano method books, methodologies and practices used in Japan for teaching children and adult beginners. The study was done in Japan from 1984 to 1987. It is important since it is the first research study done by a Colombian researcher in the field of piano teaching. By those years, arts education research in Colombia was incipient. Now that arts education research has started in Colombia, it deserves to publish it as part of related piano literature studies, for all those interested in this important research field.

Research into pedagogy in the context of instrumental and vocal tuition is, by its nature, limitless, as teachers constantly seek improved ways to support and develop their students’ learning. Drawing on the literature as well as qualitative and quantitative data from a project underway at one Australian tertiary music institution, this paper challenges some common existing approaches to one-to-one tuition, prompting a rethink of the fundamental role of the instrumental and vocal teacher. The authors contrast the traditional, didactic, teacher-oriented transfer pedagogy with a student-oriented, explorative, context-rich approach to learning. This transformative pedagogy is characterised by greater student engagement in learning, stronger conceptual understanding, and improved learning outcomes overall. Implications of the study include the imperative for teachers to engage in ongoing critical reflection of their pedagogical approach in the one-to-one context; for students to be made aware of the benefits that eventuate when they take ownership of and responsibility for their learning; and for institutions to explore broadening the scope and nature of instrumental and vocal tuition, and to support collaborative and reflective learning strategies among and between both students and teachers.

Studio music teachers in Australia are generally highly skilled musicians who learn to teach from experience due to a lack of formal accreditation opportunities for music teachers working in a one-to-one or studio context (Gaunt, 2009). Research continues to raise concerns with informal pedagogical learning because it can mean that standards of teaching " across and even within institutions may be erratic " (Carey & Grant, 2015, p. 63). There has, however, been relatively little research to date that investigates what informal learning experiences entail and how expertise is acquired in this context. This situation makes it important to investigate the kinds of experiences that go into the creation of an expert studio music teacher and to discover the lessons learnt along the way. This study aims to describe the teaching concerns of 22 instrumental teachers of successive life stages by analysing their differences according to three levels of teaching experience. Data included in-depth and semi-structured interviews as well as a focus group discussion collected from novice, experienced and expert teacher groups. The study saw three distinct profiles of teacher experience and, in contrast to previous research, saw a student-centred and creative approach taken by both the novice and expert groups. The novice group focused on creative practices such as composition with an overarching philosophy that learning must be fun whereas the experienced group focused on building efficient and broadly transferable systems to build effective technique. The expert group was the least generalizable. However, this group's individually distinct approaches were designed to unite both a student-centred and creative approach with a systematic and technique building approach and these two prongs informed a distinctly individual teaching philosophy. The acquisition of expertise for participants at all levels of experience depended on reflecting on heightened experiences that involved an element of risk serving as a trigger for transformative learning. Conclusions drawn have implications for the studio teaching profession because they highlight the ways that teachers acquire expertise informally by way of reflection on experience and deep and surface approaches to a variety of learning situations.

U 21. stoljeću informacijsko-komunikacijska tehnologija postala je sastavnim dijelom ljudske svakodnevice. S razvojem važnosti tehnologije porastao je i broj znanstvenih istraživanja u okviru kojih su se znanstvenici bavili mogućnostima primjene tehnologije u odgoju i obrazovanju. Rezultati tih istraživanja pokazali su da je primjena tehnologije u nastavi moguća, no ona je još uvijek u svojoj razvojnoj fazi, pogotovo kad je riječ o izvođenju nastave na daljinu. Za glazbeno su obrazovanje rezultati pokazali da informacijsko-komunikacijska tehnologija može biti relevantna za usvajanje potrebnih znanja i vještina te da motivacija učenika za rad tijekom nastave na daljinu ovisi o razvijenosti digitalnih kompetencija učitelja. Budući da je tijekom pandemije uzrokovane bolešću COVID-19 nastava u svim hrvatskim glazbenim školama bila na nekoliko mjeseci potpuno preseljena u online-okruženje, ukazala se prilika za provjeru mogućnosti primjene informacijsko- komunikacijske tehnologije u okviru instrumentalne glazbene nastave. Provedeno je stoga empirijsko istraživanje u kojemu su sudjelovali učitelji instrumentalne nastave (N = 300). Rezultati su pokazali da se učitelji dobro snalaze u nastavi na daljinu, posebice oni najmlađi. Od proteškoća s kojima se susreću učitelji najčešće izdvajaju one tehničke prirode (problem loših internetskih veza, lošu kvaliteta zvuka, usporenu komunikaciju) te nemogućnost kvalitetnoga rada na interpretaciji (izrađivanje detalja u skladbama, izrađivanje dinamike, rad na fraziranju i sl.). U svojemu bi budućem radu učitelji zadržali audio- i videosnimanje učenikova sviranja, prosljeđivanje različitih audio- i videomaterijala te vlastitih snimki određenoga dijela skladbe ili cjelovite skladbe učenicima, kao i održavanje nastave na daljinu u situacijama kad su učenici bolesni ili su iz nekoga drugog razloga izostali s nastave.

Good morning! This presentation is the product of personal observations and research that I have been conducting as part of my teaching at the University of Macedonia and at the State Conservatory of Thessaloniki. The lessons taught are instrumental and involve one-toone tuition on the oboe and related subjects such as cor anglais, orchestral excerpts, chamber music and instrument didactics, as well as sessions on wind ensemble coaching;

Obwohl in der instrumentalpädagogischen Literatur immer wieder ein entsprechender Forschungsbedarf festgestellt wurde, sind Forschungsansätze zum Abbruch von Instrumentalunterricht rar. Der Schwerpunkt musikpädagogischer Forschung lag bisher vorrangig auf der Untersuchung erfolgreicher instrumentaler Lernwege. Musikpädagogisch bedeutsame Erkenntnisse sind allerdings möglicherweise auch aus der Diskrepanz zwischen gelungenen und weniger gelungenen Lernbiographien zu erlangen. Ziel der vorliegenden Untersuchung war es zu erfahren, welche Faktoren, insbesondere im Jugendalter, zu einem Abbruch des Instrumentalunterrichts führen und wie diese zusammenhängen. In einem zweiten Schritt sollte untersucht werden, welche Konsequenzen der Unterrichtsabbruch hat. Da als ein Schwerpunkt der Studie untersucht werden sollte, wie sich das Verhältnis zu Musik und zum Instrumentalspiel nach Unterrichtsende weiterentwickelt, lag es nahe, Personen zu befragen, deren Abbruch schon etwas länger zurückliegt, weswegen Studierende als Stichprobe ausgewählt wurden. Als wesentliches Ergebnis lässt sich hervorheben, dass der Motivationsmangel bzw. -verlust an erster Stelle der Abbruchsgründe steht und von der Hälfte aller Befragten genannt wird, was am häufigsten mit einer Kritik am Unterricht, einer Interessensverlagerung sowie einem negativen Selbstkonzept einhergeht. Ebenfalls bedeutsam waren kritische Lebensereignisse, wie auch die Pubertät, was damit zusammenpasst, dass der Unterricht im Durchschnitt mit 16 Jahren abgebrochen wird. Zusätzlich musizieren 88 Prozent derjenigen, die ihren Unterricht abgebrochen haben, nur noch selten bis gar nicht mehr. Angesichts der grundlegenden Bedeutung der Motivation erscheint es notwendig, die Individualität eines jeden Schülers zu berücksichtigen, seine Lerngeschichte ebenso wie die persönlichen Erwartungen, Bedürfnisse und Interessen, die sich im Laufe der Unterrichtszeit auch ändern können.

This paper focuses upon the issue of the instruction of traditional musical instruments and is structured around the following three axes: (a) musical instruments; their particularities and the difficulties occurring during the learning process, (b) the so called "traditional" music, and (c) the instruction process in the context of secondary and higher education. Based on these axes we approach issues of particular interest, such as the first steps in the instruction process, and students' motivation, home-training, music preferences, the specificities involved in teaching traditional music, as well as the variety of possible activities designed in the context of instructing students to particular musical instruments. The examination of the fields defined by the above axes is completed with concrete propositions that could be applied in secondary and, partly, in higher education, making the teaching process more interesting and efficient. Such an approach is partly embedded within the more general issue of what happens when a kind of music that mainly was orally transmitted, enters a more literate environment. The needs and the context of the instruction process term what could and should be taught, simultaneously bringing out some elements of orality as significant assets to the instruction process.

Individual instrumental tuition has been the focus of some new research in musical scholarship during the last two decades. The main conclusions that appear to be shared by scholars in this field such as Gerald Jones, Knud Illeris, John Heron, Andrea Creech and Helena Gaunt is that a combination of modern social circumstances together with rapidly advancing technological innovations have considerably widened accessibility to music experience of different kinds and as a consequence has affected individual instrumental tuition. Based on a considerable analysis of new teaching approaches to individual tuition on a conservatoire level, this paper will endeavor to suggest that the traditional mode of instrumental tuition, which encompasses a hierarchy and mostly directive mode of teaching, has shifted significantly towards a responsive mode of teaching and a more autonomous, selfdirected mode of learning. This paper will conclude with a consensus that one-toone instrumental tuition is shifting dramatically and new approaches whose aim is to facilitate the best possible learning outcomes need to be taken into consideration by music instrumental tutors.

The use of technology in teaching traditional musical instruments

Against the background of the teaching of traditional musical instruments in the context  of institutionalized education, the issue of the medium used in transmitting musical knowledge and skills gains a mere prominence. In such a literate environment the teacher comes to convey a tradition that was transmitted through the means of a primary or secondary orality from one generation to the next. Yet, such a course requires methodical organization, covering aspects of literacy but also meeting the needs of the new environment and of the contemporary student.

Apart from the appropriate organization of the course syllabus particular reference should be made to the audio-recording, audio-playing, as well as audiovisual material, which can be of significant importance. Building upon Ong’s idea of «secondary orality» the paper explores how in using these media some elements of orality can be variously incorporated into the process of learning. Moreover, and this is important, the use of these media has been crucial for the way popular musicians learnt themselves throughout the last century.

The paper makes specific suggestions about how these media could be better utilised in the context of teaching traditional musical instruments. However, it is important to be noted that orality is not merely characterized by the absence of writing, but it is related to a series of other features, codes and conducts, which neither can nor should be fully included in the area of formal education. This demonstrates not only the possibilities, but also the limits of secondary orality.

The aim of the present study was to identify teaching cues and it’s use in use in one-to-one violin lessons.
The exploratory study presented here is part of a PhD project, which is looking for an answer to the following question: How can the use of teaching cues be explored in one-to-one instrumental lessons as a teaching/learning tool?!
This research topic emerged from my experience as a violin teacher when I asked myself: Why should I repeat many times some instructions for some students? Why sometimes he/ she doesn’t remember the information in the following lesson? This and others questions taken me for a detailed observation of teacher and student communication behind of the classroom doors.
The results of this study highlighted the importance and the need to sistematize a way to explore the use of teaching cues as a teaching tool.