ABSTRACT

The purpose of this research was to investigate an aural approach to improvisation in collegiate class piano. A total of 15 undergraduate students enrolled in their first year of class piano participated in the semester-long study. At the end of instruction, each student performed and improvised two tunes both vocally and instrumentally. Three independent judges rated recordings of student performances using rating scales designed to measure tonal, rhythm, expressive, and improvisation skills. Quantitative results showed that an aural approach to improvisation in collegiate class piano may have led to improved music achievement.

Keyword :

REFERENCES

1. Alexander, D. L. (2015). Intrinsic motivation in a collegiate secondary music instrument class. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music.
2. Azzara, C. D. (1992). The effect of audiation-based improvisation techniques on the music achievement of elementary instrumental music students. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music. https://doi.org/10.2307/3345508 [Crossref]
3. Azzara, C. D. (2002a). Improvisation. In R. Colwell & C. Richardson (Eds.), The new handbook of research on music teaching and learning (pp. 171-187). New York: Oxford University Press.
4. Azzara, C. D. (2002b). Making connections: Early childhood and beginning piano study. Early Childhood Connections, 8(1), 16-23.
5. Azzara, C. D., & Grunow, R. F. (2006, 2010a, 2010b). Developing musicianship through improvisation (book 1, 2, 3/cds). Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc.
6. Badura-Skoda, E. (2003). Aspects of performance practice. In R. L. Marshall (Ed.), Eighteenth-century keyboard music (pp. 33-67). New York: Routledge.Beaty, R. E. (2015). The neuroscience of musical improvisation. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 51, 108-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.01.004 [Crossref]
7. Bennett, P. D. (2005). So, why sol-mi? Music Educators Journal, 91(3), 43-49. https://doi.org/10.2307/3400075 [Crossref]
8. Campbell, P. S. (2005). Deep listening to the musical world. Music Educators Journal, 92(1), 30-36. https://doi.org/10.2307/3400224 [Crossref]
9. Consortium of National Arts Education Associations (1994). National standards for art education: What every young American should know and be able to do in the arts. Reston, VA: Music Educators National Conference.
10. Filsinger, M. H. (2012). Novice music teachers learning to improvise in an improvisation professional development workshop. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music.
11. Goertzen, V. W. (1996). By way of introduction: Preluding by 18th- and 19th-century pianists. The Journal of Musicology, 14(3), 299-337. https://doi.org/10.2307/764060 [Crossref]
12. Gordon, E. E. (1989). Advanced measures of music audiation. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc.
13. Gordon, E. E. (2012). Learning sequences in music: A contemporary music learning theory. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc.
14. Gould, C. S., & Keaton, K. (2000). The essential role of improvisation in musical performance. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, 58(2), 143-148. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-6245.jaac58.2.0143 [Crossref]
15. Grunow, R. F., Gordon, E. E., & Azzara, C. D. (2001). Jump right in: The instrumental series. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc.
16. Hart, D. E. (2011). Beginning jazz improvisation instruction at the collegiate level. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music.
17. Hart, L. J. B. (2011). Improvisation in the collegiate horn studio. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music.
18. Kataoka, H. (1985). Thoughts on the Suzuki piano school. Secaucus, NJ: Suzuki Method International.
19. Komlós, K. (2003). Mozart the performer. In S. P. Keefe (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Mozart (pp. 215-226). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521807340.018 [Crossref]
20. Levin, R. D. (2003a). Mozart's non-metrical keyboard preludes. In C. Hogwood (Ed.), The keyboard in baroque Europe (pp. 198-216). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
21. Levin, R. D. (2003b). Performance practice in the music of Mozart. In S. P. Keefe (Ed.), The Cambridge companion to Mozart (pp. 227-245). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL9780521807340.019 [Crossref]
22. Lyke, J., Caramia, T., Alexander, R., Haydon, G., & Chioldi, R. (2014). Keyboard musicianship piano for adults book one (10th ed.). Champaign, IL: Stipes Publishing, LLC.
23. Marx, S. G. (2010). Improvisation in the collegiate trumpet studio. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music.
24. Mills, E. (1973). Advice to a new mother. In E. Mills & Sr. T. C. Murthy (Eds.), The Suzuki concept: An introduction to a successful method for early music education (pp. 17-32). Berkeley, CA: Diablo Press, Inc.
25. Montano, D. R. (1983). The effect of improvisation in given rhythms on rhythmic accuracy in sight reading achievement by college elementary group piano students. Doctoral dissertation, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
26. Ruiter-Feenstra, P. (2011). Bach and the art of improvisation. Ann Arbor, MI: CHI Press.
27. Task Force on the Undergraduate Music Major (2014). Transforming music education from its foundations: A manifesto for progressive change in the undergraduate preparation of music majors. Retrieved from http://www.music.org/pdf/tfumm_report.pdf
28. Snell, A. H., II, & Azzara, C. D. (2015). Collegiate musicians learning to improvise. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 204, 63-84. https://doi.org/10.5406/bulcouresmusedu.204.0063 [Crossref]
29. State Education Agency Directors of Arts Education (2014). National core arts standards. Retrieved from http://www.nationalartsstandards.org
30. Stringham, D. A. (2010). Improvisation and composition in a high school music curriculum. Doctoral dissertation, University of Rochester, Eastman School of Music.
31. Swanwick, K. (1999). Teaching music musically. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203258156 [Crossref]