Florida State University Libraries

2016

Perceptions of Collegiate and Early-Career

Piano Teachers Regarding Master's Piano
Pedagogy Degree Program
Xiaoke Cheng

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 FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF MUSIC

PERCEPTIONS OF COLLEGIATE AND EARLY-CAREER PIANO TEACHERS

REGARDING MASTER’S PIANO PEDAGOGY DEGREE PROGRAM

By

XIAOKE CHENG

A Dissertation submitted to the

College of Music
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy

2016
Xiaoke Cheng defended this dissertation on April 13, 2016.
The members of the supervisory committee were:

William Fredrickson
Professor Directing Dissertation

Joe Kraus
University Representative

Alice-Ann Darrow
Committee Member

Kimberly VanWeelden
Committee Member

The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and
certifies that the dissertation has been approved in accordance with university requirements.

ii
 Dedication

To my parents, Liuyan Yang and Laixing Cheng

To my husband, Jeff Zhang

感谢你们!

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My most heartfelt appreciation is dedicated to my advisor, Dr. William Fredrickson, for your

invaluable scholarly knowledge and for your support in encouraging me throughout the journey

of writing this dissertation. I am indebted for your patience and editorial counsel. From the first

year of my doctoral study, you have endlessly shared your invaluable knowledge and wisdom. I

feel incredibly fortunate to have you as my mentor.

Thank you to Dr. Alice-Ann Darrow, Dr. Kimberly VanWeelden and Dr. Joe Kraus for serving

on my committees throughout my doctoral studies. Thank you for guiding my research and

helping me to develop my background in music education, music research and music theory.

To Dr. Joel Hastings, my piano professor, thank you for your extraordinary musicianship and

insightful wisdom. You will forever be an inspiration to me.

A special thank is given to Dr. Diana Dumlavwalla. I appreciate your input and encouragement

in this process.

My deep appreciation goes out to the piano teachers and piano pedagogy faculty members who

took the time to provide the information that made this study possible.

I am forever grateful to my parents for their support for my education and professional pursuits.

I never would have made it this far without their love and sacrifices. Finally, I would like to

thank my husband, my love, my best friend, Jeff Zhang for providing me with unfailing support

and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of

researching and writing this dissertation. Thank you!

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ vii

Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ix

1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1
Scholarly Contributions ..............................................................................................................3
Problem Statement ......................................................................................................................4
Rationale .....................................................................................................................................4
Procedure of the Study ................................................................................................................6
Desired Outcomes of the Study...................................................................................................7
Limitations ..................................................................................................................................7
Definition of Terms .....................................................................................................................8
Overview of the Dissertation ......................................................................................................8

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...................................................................................................10

Historical Developments in Piano Pedagogy ............................................................................10
Recent Developments in Piano Pedagogy Courses ...................................................................13
NASM Piano Pedagogy Guidelines ...................................................................................13
College Piano Pedagogy Courses ......................................................................................14
Teacher Preparation and Training ......................................................................................15
Recent Trends in the Piano Pedagogy Field .............................................................................18
New Technology ................................................................................................................18
Career Choice.....................................................................................................................22
Recent Research in Piano Pedagogy .........................................................................................25
Technical Training .............................................................................................................26
Musicianship ......................................................................................................................27
Significant Pedagogues ......................................................................................................28
Books and Teaching Materials...........................................................................................29

3. METHODS AND PROCEDURES ...........................................................................................30

Purpose of Study .......................................................................................................................30
Research Design ........................................................................................................................31
Setting and Participants .............................................................................................................33
Instrumentation .........................................................................................................................33
Online Survey ....................................................................................................................34
Interview ...........................................................................................................................35
Interview guide ..................................................................................................................37
IRB approval ......................................................................................................................39
Summary ...................................................................................................................................39

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4. RESULTS .................................................................................................................................40
Data Collection and Analysis ....................................................................................................40
Initial Survey Findings ..............................................................................................................42

5. FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................60
Online Survey ...........................................................................................................................65
Master’s Piano Pedagogy Degree Curriculum ...................................................................60
Graduate Piano Pedagogy Course Topics ..........................................................................61
Textbooks and Supplemental Printed Materials ................................................................62
Teaching Experience ..........................................................................................................62
Present Job Market for Novice Piano Teachers .................................................................63
Career Planning ..................................................................................................................64
Professional Development .................................................................................................64
Interviews ..................................................................................................................................65
Collegiate and Early-career Piano Teachers ......................................................................65
Faculty in Piano Pedagogy.................................................................................................70

6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................75

Conclusions ...............................................................................................................................75
Considerations ...........................................................................................................................79
Recommendations for Further Research ...................................................................................79

APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................81

A. SURVEY QUESTIONS ...........................................................................................................81

B. INTERVIEW GUIDE ...............................................................................................................96
C. LIST OF TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCE BOOKS ...........................................................98
D. LIST OF 62 UNIVERSITY NAMES .....................................................................................100
E. EMAIL LETTERS TO PIANO PEDAGOGY FACULTY ....................................................104
F. IRB APPROVALS ..................................................................................................................107
G. CONSENT FORM ..................................................................................................................109
H. INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS ...............................................................................................110

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................163

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .......................................................................................................174

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 LIST OF TABLES

4.1 Qualities of a good piano teacher.......................................................................................43

4.2 Ideal courses.......................................................................................................................44

4.3 Required courses ................................................................................................................44

4.4 Other ideal courses .............................................................................................................45

4.5 Other required course .........................................................................................................45

4.6 Textbooks in piano pedagogy courses ...............................................................................46

4.7 Reference books .................................................................................................................47

4.8 Additional printed materials ..............................................................................................48

4.9 Topics included in graduate piano pedagogy courses........................................................49

4.10 The importance of academic courses for piano teachers ...................................................49

4.11 Likert ratings for each course ............................................................................................50

4.12 Student teaching resources .................................................................................................50

4.13 Previous teaching experience .............................................................................................51

4.14 Length of collegiate respondents’ previous teaching experience ......................................51

4.15 Former students’ teaching experience ...............................................................................51

4.16 Teaching experience requirements for applicants..............................................................52

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4.17 Present job market for piano pedagogy students ...............................................................52

4.18 Ideal jobs ............................................................................................................................53

4.19 Earning a doctoral degree ..................................................................................................53

4.20 Current profession (part I) .................................................................................................54

4.21 Current profession (part II) ................................................................................................54

4.22 Earning a doctoral degree ..................................................................................................55

4.23 When did former students receive their master’s degrees? ...............................................55

4.24 The number of students in master’s piano pedagogy programs ........................................55

4.25 Education profile (part I) ...................................................................................................56

4.26 Education profile (part II) ..................................................................................................56

4.27 Professional development ..................................................................................................57

4.28 Professional development activities ...................................................................................57

4.29 Residence ...........................................................................................................................58

4.30 Age .....................................................................................................................................58

4.31 Gender ................................................................................................................................59

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 ABSTRACT

For pianists considering teaching as a career, progress has been made in the preparation

of piano teachers in American colleges and universities beginning in the early twentieth century.

These developments impacted the education of the piano teacher in colleges/universities as well

as the added focus of piano-related journals and publications, professional organizations, and the

piano teaching profession. According to the newest edition of Directory of Music Faculties in

Colleges and Universities, U.S. and Canada (2015-2016), there are 62 American institutions

offering master’s degrees in piano pedagogy or master’s degrees with an emphasis in piano

pedagogy, and 1091 faculty reported an interest in teaching piano pedagogy courses.

The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of how current and future

piano teachers perceive the design and function of master’s piano pedagogy degree programs in

the United States. This descriptive research, bridging collegiate master’s students and early-

career piano teachers’ perceptions, explores the perceived benefits, value, or shortcomings of

graduate-level piano teacher education/pedagogy programs. The researcher principally utilized

the following techniques for this study: (1) review of related literature and documents; (2) online

survey questionnaire design; (3) interviews with novice piano teachers and piano pedagogy

faculty members; and (4) analysis of quantitative and qualitative data. The information obtained

through online surveys and real-time interviews comprise the foundation for the findings of this

study.

Most of the collegiate and early-career piano teachers in this study indicated positive

attitudes toward the “hands-on” internship experience and learning experience with piano

pedagogy instructors. The most valuable aspects of the master’s piano pedagogy programs noted

ix
by participants were faculty members directly sharing their professional knowledge and years of

experience to students in class.

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 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

For pianists considering teaching as a career, progress has been made in the preparation

of piano teachers in American colleges and universities beginning in the early twentieth century.

These developments impacted the education of the piano teacher in colleges/universities as well

as the added focus of piano-related journals and publications, professional organizations, and the

piano teaching profession (Sturm, 2000). From early in the nineteenth century schools that

specialized in training teachers began to add piano teaching courses to their music teacher

training curricula. In the first decades of the twentieth century, a greater number of these schools

began to include courses that focused on the pedagogy of teaching music, and specifically the

pedagogy of teaching students to play the piano (Uszler & Larimer, 1984). In the 1920s and

1930s, piano and music education faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,

Northwestern University, and Columbia University began to infuse piano performance curricula

with stronger piano pedagogy components (Uszler & Larimer, 1984).

It is difficult to document exactly when and where the first piano pedagogy course was

offered. The piano pedagogy field began to receive more attention as the demand increased for

more and higher quality piano teachers. Pedagogy courses became a part of degree requirements

for pianists in music education and/or applied music (performance). The number of

conservatories and universities offering piano pedagogy courses increased from 43 to over 150

between 1929 and 1931 (Sturm, 2000). By the 1970s some universities and colleges were

offering majors in piano pedagogy at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Harrison (1986)

reported that the University of Illinois of Urbana-Champaign added two semesters of piano

1
pedagogy courses to the curriculum in 1949; observations and student teaching demonstrations

were added during the next three decades. A few studies of piano pedagogy major curricula

have shown that a two-semester piano pedagogy course is the most common design in

universities in the United States. Usually, the first semester covers teaching strategies and

repertoire for beginning through intermediate-level students, and the second semester covers

materials for late-intermediate through advanced-level students (Meyers, 2014; Schons, 2005;

Walker, 2008).

In the 1980s, Marienne Uszler and Frances Larimer published two volumes of The Piano

Pedagogy Major in the College Curriculum: A Handbook of Information and Guideli nes,

which contained guidelines and supportive information regarding the piano pedagogy major

(Uszler & Larimer, 1984). Piano pedagogy degree programs aim to equip prospective piano

teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach piano. To respond to the trend of an increasing

number of independent studio piano teachers, who depend on their craft for their livelihood,

course offerings in today’s piano pedagogy programs are varied and continue to produce

graduates who will become capable of meeting future challenges (Sturm, 2000). James Lyke

stated that:

To prepare for a career as an independent music teacher, one should consider

pursuing a bachelor’s degree in piano pedagogy (or in performance with strong pedagogy

training.) This entails the following: (1) acceptance to a four-year college by audition

and examinations; (2) completion of broad liberal arts requirements; (3) completing core

courses in music theory and music history; (4) piano performance and study throughout

four years with an artist teacher. In conjunction with the piano study, the usual exams

2
 and recital requirements would need to be passed. And, of course, piano pedagogy

classes. (p.3)

The most prevalent degrees today include the Bachelor of Music (B.M.) in piano

pedagogy, the Master of Music (M.M.) in piano pedagogy, the M.M. and Doctoral of Music Arts

(D.M.A.) in piano performance and pedagogy, and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) in music

education with an emphasis in piano pedagogy. The varied degree titles were influenced by the

different philosophies of individual institutions (Uszler & Larimer, 1984). Results of previous

piano pedagogy research studies revealed the core required courses of current master’s piano

pedagogy degree program curricula are generally: applied piano, piano pedagogy, keyboard

literature, music theory, music history, and student teaching (Meyers, 2014; Schons, 2005;

Sturm, 2000); as well as courses in educational psychology and learning styles (Sturm, 2000).

Additionally, Uszler and Larimer recommended that coursework and student teaching

experiences at the master’s level should focus more on the teaching of teenagers and college

students as well as materials and techniques appropriate for higher levels of performance (Uszler

& Larimer, 1984).

Scholarly Contributions

In the past thirty years, a number of research studies have focused on the following topics

in the piano pedagogy field: piano pedagogy course content at undergraduate and/or graduate

levels (Fu, 2007; Grausam, 2005; Johnson, 2002; Meyers, 2014; Milliman, 1992; Rushing, 2010;

Schons, 2005); piano pedagogy courses in other countries than the United States

(Charoenwongse, 1998, Chiang, 2009); student teaching/practicum (Lyman, 1991; Slawsky,

2011); piano pedagogy course instructors (Kowalchyk, 1989; Shook, 1993); and significant

piano pedagogues (Bere, 2003; Choi, 2012; Ernst, 2012; Forester, 1997; Lane, 2003; Jain, 2012;

3
Kern, 1984). Numerous researchers have investigated the perceptions of music students

majoring in music education, which are used in this study to design an effective and strong

survey/interview questionnaire (Ballantyne & Packer, 2004; Conway, 2002; Hourigan, 2009;

Kelly, 2015).

Problem Statement

Many research studies and professional articles have presented a general view of the

status and influence of piano pedagogy programs in the United States. Studies have been

conducted to examine the important components that should be included in the piano pedagogy

curricula. In general, some of studies contain information on piano pedagogy instructors’

attitudes toward course content, but only a few have information about both currently enrolled

and graduated piano pedagogy students’ opinions regarding the course content. In 2010, Lin

conducted a study to provide a comprehensive view of research directly related to piano

pedagogy written from 1950 to 2008. According to the results there are considerable doctoral

dissertations and master’s theses with information on what students should have in their curricula

based on instructors’ and experienced teachers’ opinions rather than students’ preferences or less

experienced teachers’ observations. The results in Lin’s study also suggested that the “teacher-

centered” approach still dominated in doctoral and masters’ piano pedagogy research studies.

Rationale

To provide a clearer view of university piano programs in the United States, a number of

researchers have evaluated the basic status of current piano pedagogy programs. The current

descriptive research study, bridging collegiate and early-career piano teachers’ perceptions of

4
curricula in master’s piano pedagogy degree programs, explores the perceived benefits, value, or

shortcomings of graduate-level piano teaching training programs.

The focus of this descriptive/qualitative research study was two-fold: (1) to analyze how

the design of master’s piano pedagogy degree programs are perceived by novice piano teachers

who were currently in or had graduated from those programs; (2) to discover the influence of

piano pedagogy and other coursework on novice piano teachers’ perception of teaching and

preparation to teach. To accomplish this purpose, the following questions were addressed:

1. What are the similarities and differences among master’s piano pedagogy programs in

the United States?

2. How did piano pedagogy courses affect current students’ and graduated students’

perception of piano teaching?

3. How do piano pedagogy instructors assess teaching qualification?

4. What are the concepts in piano teaching that novice piano teachers perceive as the

most valuable from their education experience in master’s piano pedagogy programs?

5. What are early-career piano teachers’ career satisfaction, attitudes, and expectations?

6. Is there a difference in perception regarding master’s piano pedagogy degree

curriculum between current and former piano pedagogy students?

7. What factors influence career satisfaction?

8. Is there a difference in career expectation between novice piano teachers and piano

pedagogy instructors?

5
 Procedure of the Study

The researcher principally utilized the following techniques for this study: (1) review of

related literature and documents; (2) online survey questionnaire design; (3) interviews with

novice piano teachers and piano pedagogy faculty members; and (4) analysis of quantitative and

qualitative data. The information obtained through online surveys and real-time interviews will

comprise the foundation for the findings of this study.

With the approval of the university’s institutional review board, the researcher developed

a survey questionnaire and interview guide to gather information. Based on the reading of

related literature, the survey contained mostly questions dealing with aspects of the master’s

piano pedagogy training. The primary setting of survey questions was multiple (forced) choice.

A limited number of open-ended questions also were included to allow for possibilities not

anticipated by the researcher.

The real-time interview was the other primary method of data collection. While survey

questionnaires obtained some information, the interviews allowed participants to express more

details on certain aspects important to them and the researcher to develop larger themes and a

more precise level of detail that enhance the data collected in the survey. The information

obtained through the online survey instrument and real-time interviews with members of the

three target groups, collegiate, early-career piano teachers, and piano pedagogy faculty members,

allow the researcher the opportunity to achieve triangulation of data.

6
 Desired Outcomes of the Study

The study was designed to:

o Provide information on the perceptions of collegiate and early-career piano teachers

regarding their educational experience.

o Provide information regarding piano pedagogy faculty members’ expectations for their

students.

o Provide a reference regarding developing an effective master’s piano pedagogy program.

o Provide information regarding contents of graduate-level piano pedagogy courses.

o Provide a useful reference regarding textbooks and other teaching materials for graduate-

level piano pedagogy courses.

o Provide a useful guide for novice piano teachers regarding the career choice.

Limitations

This study was focused on collecting information regarding master’s piano pedagogy

degree programs in three regions in the United States: Midwest, South, and West. Due to the

limited response, programs in the Northeast region were not included. Thus, the study was

limited to programs and interview participants from only three regions in the United States.

Therefore, the findings of the study and suggestions should be viewed with caution and may not

generalize. Most of the novice piano teachers in this study were contacted by their piano

pedagogy instructors, so it was possible that some of the students expressed thoughts with

hesitation due to the perceived connection to their teachers. In addition to the opinions of

students not contacted by university faculty, for reasons known only to those faculty, are not

included in the study.

7
 Definition of Terms

For the purpose of communicating contents clearly, the important terms used in this study

have been defined. The following terms are:

o Piano pedagogy. A teacher education (teacher preparation, training) in the area of piano.

Piano pedagogy is defined as “the art of teaching piano” (Milliman, 1992).

o Master’s piano pedagogy degree programs. In order to make a consistent concept of the

two-year based master degree program, schools offering master’s degree with a piano

pedagogy certificate were not evaluated in this study.

o Collegiate. Currently enrolled students in master’s piano pedagogy degree programs.

o Early-career piano teachers. Graduated master’s degree piano pedagogy students, as well

as piano teachers who received a master’s in piano performance with an emphasis in

piano pedagogy.

o Novice/beginning piano teachers. Refers to both collegiate and early-career piano

teachers.

o Piano pedagogy instructors. Faculty members currently teaching or administering

graduate-level piano pedagogy programs in colleges or universities.

o Student teaching. Also known as practicum and internship. Refers to preservice

fieldwork which allows students to practice teaching skills with some supervision.

Overview of the Dissertation

Chapter II provides a review of related literature, including sources related to the history

of piano teaching in the United States, the development of graduate-level piano pedagogy

programs, recent trends in technology, and the teaching profession in the twenty-first century. In

8
addition studies pertaining to students’ perceptions about educational training in the music

education field are reviewed. Chapter III discusses the methods and procedures in this study.

Chapter IV presents the data gathered from the survey questionnaire. Data gathered from the

survey were reported in the form of percentages. Chapter V discusses findings in the survey, as

well as the content in interviews and relation to the survey responses. The study concludes in

Chapter VI with a summary, conclusions, and recommendations for further research. The survey

questionnaire, interview guides, written interview transcripts, and research invitation letters were

included in Appendixes. A research reference list was placed at the end of the dissertation.

9
 CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter presents a review of literature related to piano teaching and music teacher

preservice education in the United States. Subsequent topics include a brief history of piano

pedagogy, developments in piano pedagogy programs and courses, and a summary of recent

trends in the piano pedagogy field.

Historical Developments in Piano Pedagogy

Piano pedagogy coursework was first introduced in public schools in the 1920s, and it

has developed from a course to a series of courses to a degree program (Montandon, 1998). In

the 1920s and 1930s college faculty members at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,

Northwestern University, and Columbia University were active in developing piano pedagogy

courses (Milliman, 1992). The number of higher education institutions offering piano pedagogy

courses increased from 43 to more than 150 by 1931 in the United States (Urzler, 1982;

Milliman, 1992). Since 1950, piano pedagogy development in higher education has

characteristically been diverse (Sturm & James, 2001). In 1953, at the suggestion of the National

Association of Schools of Music (NASM), the NASM committee agreed to prepare a two-

volume handbook as a resource document for use by the National Conference on Piano

Pedagogy (NCPP) as a position statement on the piano pedagogy major and curricular

guidelines. The guidelines suggested that graduate level piano pedagogy programs should

include information on teaching students beyond the elementary level, one-year long supervised

teaching experiences, a wide range of knowledge of standard piano literature, observations of

experienced teachers, and the development of managerial skills (Uszler, 1984). In 1979 Richard

10
Chronister and James Lyke founded the National Conference on Piano Pedagogy (NCPP), an

organization devoted exclusively to piano teacher training (Uszler, 1984; Goss, 1990). The

following year the NCPP held its conference at the University of Illinois to discuss “Building a

Piano Pedagogy Curriculum” (Rushing, 2010).

In the 1980s graduates with college majors in piano performance were struggling to find

college teaching positions, and they also lacked information and experience in teaching children

as an alternative to college teaching. As Goss (1990) noted:

Small colleges and large universities, in every part of the country, are beginning

to think more seriously about what happens to their piano majors after graduation. The

tragedy of our profession has been that hundreds of recent graduates with majors in piano

performance stand in line for each college teaching position that becomes available,

while parents all over the country search frantically for qualified studio piano teachers for

their children. (p. 26)

In order to improve teachers’ pedagogical skills an increasing number of colleges and

universities began offering piano teacher education courses in the 1980s. The two-year based

non-degree program of piano pedagogy was very popular during that time. Students in these

programs received coursework related to private and group teaching, performance practice,

observation of teaching, teaching practicum, reviews of teaching materials, the business of

running a piano studio, use of technology, etc. These teacher education programs illustrate the

early forms of piano pedagogy courses currently providing instruction in the twenty-first century.

As many piano teachers benefited from these teacher preparation programs, higher education

institutions and professional organizations saw the necessity of continuing to strengthen and

11
diversify the training for these teachers, therefore support developed for a standard curriculum in

piano pedagogy (Sturm & James, 2001).

Under the suggestion of the NCPP committee, Marienne Uszler and Frances Larimer

developed two volumes of The Piano Pedagogy Major in the College Curriculum: A

Handbook of Information and Guidelines for the undergraduate level (1984) and the graduate

level (1986). Several studies noted the components of programs contributing to the piano

pedagogy field to be: piano performance, course work, student teaching/practice teaching,

teacher training, piano methods and materials, class piano teaching, collegiate piano pedagogy

programs and degrees, as well as workshops and clinics (Uszler, 1984; Goss, 1990; Mantando,

1992).

One of the earlier research studies that focused on graduate piano pedagogy courses is

that of Milliman (1992), who examined 128 American institutions offering graduate-level

courses in piano pedagogy. Milliman investigated specific core course content, including the

topics addressed in the course and the type of teaching and observation experiences encountered

by the pedagogy student. Milliman’s survey instrument was divided into four sections:

institutional information, the graduate piano pedagogy core courses, pedagogy core course

topics, and pedagogy core course content experiences. The results of the survey showed that 42

responding institutions offered a Master of Music degree with an emphasis in piano pedagogy,

while 32 institutions did not offer any degree with an emphasis in piano pedagogy. Over 40

responding institutions offered no degrees with a major in piano pedagogy. Today piano

pedagogy is a growing field, particularly in the United States, where many piano pedagogy

degree programs have been developed as part of university music school piano curricula

(Meyers, 2014).

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 The most common degrees today include Bachelor of Music in piano performance with a

certificate in piano pedagogy, the Master of Music in piano pedagogy, the Master of Music and

Doctor of Musical Arts in piano performance and pedagogy, and the Ph. D. in music education

with an emphasis in piano pedagogy. According to the newest edition of Directory of Music

Faculties in Colleges and Universities, U.S. and Canada (2015-2016), there are 62 American

institutions offering master’s degrees in piano pedagogy or master’s degrees with an emphasis in

piano pedagogy, and 1091 faculty reported an interest in teaching in the piano pedagogy area

(The College of Music Society, 2015).

Recent Developments in Piano Pedagogy Courses

NASM Piano Pedagogy Guidelines

Every academic year, the National Association of Schools of Music (NASM) publishes a

handbook that provides curricular guidelines for undergraduate and graduate music degree

programs. Guidelines for the Master of Music in Pedagogy degrees first appeared in the 1985

NASM Handbook (Milliman, 1992). NASM recognized the need for teacher preparation in all

graduate degree curricula in the newest edition of guidelines (2015-2016):

Most of those who are in graduate degrees in music are or will be engaged in

music teaching of some type during the course of their professional careers. Institutions

are therefore strongly encouraged to give attention to the preparation of graduate students

as teachers. Whenever possible, experiences should include teaching music to both

music majors and non-music majors.

Specific requirements for a music pedagogy degree at the master’s level are provided by

NASM (2015):

13
 o At least 30 semester hours or 45 quarter hours are required for master’s degrees.

o Comprehensive reviews. At the master’s level, successful completion of this review is a

requirement for graduation.

o Students demonstrate advanced competencies in pedagogy of a specific performance area

and its repertory. Studies in these areas comprise as much as two-thirds or at least one-

third of the curriculum.

o Students gain knowledge and skills in one or more fields of music outside the major such

as theory, history, musicology, ethnomusicology, and performance. Such supportive

studies in music that broaden and deepen musical competence comprise at least one-third

of the curriculum.

o As a culminating demonstration of professional capability in the major field, the student

must present a final project, research paper, and/or recital.

College Piano Pedagogy Courses

Piano pedagogy programs show different emphases within their curricula, but they all

aim to educate students with the goal of teaching piano successfully (Uszler, 1984; Bastien,

1988; Fu, 2007; Meyers, 2014). Three principal components contribute to a standard master’s

piano pedagogy degree program:

1. Piano Performance. All pedagogy students should demonstrate performance skills in

a variety of prepared repertory. Sight-reading skill is also required. Courses such as

applied piano lessons, recital, chamber music, and accompanying provide students

opportunities to enhance their performing skills.

2. Course Work. An ideal master’s piano pedagogy curriculum would include the

following courses: music theory, music history, keyboard literature, and piano

14
 pedagogy (Goss, 1990; Lyke, 2011). Piano pedagogy courses would cover such

topics as teaching strategies for several levels and classifications of students (pre-

college, college, adult, and senior), learning theories, communication skills, lesson

planning, fundamentals of piano technique, individual and class teaching skills,

materials for piano teaching, using technology, and business of operating a studio.

3. Practice Teaching. This is the most important component in the piano pedagogy

curriculum. As Lyke (2011) stated: Beware of programs that do not provide “hands

on” teaching experience. A pragmatic program far outweighs esoteric courses that

primarily consist of lectures only. An ideal practice teaching (also known as

“practicum/internship/student teaching”) should include three emphases: (1)

observing the teaching of experienced teachers; (2) teaching under the supervision of

a piano pedagogy instructor; and (3) receiving regular evaluation of the pedagogy

student's practice teaching from a pedagogy instructor (Uszler, 1984; Bastien, 1988;

Goss, 1990; Milliman, 1992).

Teacher Preparation and Training

Mastering the art of piano teaching is a lifelong process (Lyke, 2011). Piano teacher

education in universities and colleges throughout the United States gives piano students

opportunities to explore and develop individual teaching abilities. Piano pedagogy degree

programs aim to equip prospective piano teachers with the knowledge and skills to teach piano.

In Lyke’s Creative Piano Teaching (2011), he described how a series of piano pedagogy courses

prepares the future piano teacher through reading literature in the piano teaching field, gaining

teaching experience, being acquainted with teaching methods, keyboard repertoire, and using

new technology. Lyke emphasized that “hands-on” experience is a major prerequisite in piano

15
pedagogy programs. The conceptual orientation of any teacher education program reflects

specific views of teaching, learning, and learning to teach (Campbell, Thompson, & Barrett,

2010). Some studies showed that many music students indicated “student teaching” was the

most valuable experience during their education in school. The student teaching experience had

prepared them to develop as successful and confident music teachers (Conway, 2002; Hourigan

&Scheib, 2009).

Prior to student teaching, piano pedagogy students most often observe other teachers

teaching. In Milliman’s study (1991), results indicated that the majority of institutions required

observation of teaching and specific teaching assignments as part of graduate piano pedagogy

core courses. The amount of observation time ranged from zero to thirty hours, depending in

some cases on studen’s prior experience and piano pedagogy instructor’s preference. Several

settings were often available for observation of teaching: (1) college/university laboratory

programs, (2) local independent piano teachers, (3) group piano classes and individual lessons in

the college/university, and (4) public school general music classes. Results indicated that

applied piano faculty and independent piano teachers were most often observed by graduate

piano pedagogy students.

One related study was conducted by Schons (2005). To investigate piano teachers’

attitudes about piano course topics, Schons surveyed piano teachers and asked them to rate

various piano pedagogy course topics as they related to the relevance to participants’ careers and

importance to the preparation of new teachers. Results indicated that the majority of participants

found piano pedagogy courses important for teacher preparation. Among other courses, teaching

and observation experience were valuable and most important for the preparation of new

teachers.

16
 One of the avenues for piano pedagogy students to get teaching experience is teaching in

a piano preparatory department, sometimes also known as piano laboratory program. A piano

laboratory program will prepare not only piano pedagogy majors, but also piano performance

majors for an occupation in music upon graduation. Louise Bianchi (1973) stated that a majority

of the graduates will make their livings from teaching in venues such as teach-at-home studios,

public and private schools, or local music stores. The college piano preparatory department is an

ideal training center for future teachers (Bastien et al., 1973, p.340). E. Gregory Nagode noted:

With the advent of more extensive piano pedagogy course offerings and the

proliferation of undergraduate and graduate piano pedagogy degrees, the preparatory

department can fulfill an added dimension in its scope and function as a resource center

for teacher training. As an integral part of the preparatory department, piano laboratory

programs provide a unique model of piano instruction for college students to observe and

teach within a well-supervised teaching environment (Bastien et al., 1988, pp.210).

One study by Reid Alexander (1997) investigated the relationship between community

music programs and their affiliated collegiate music schools. Many community music programs

throughout the United States provide musical training to community members outside the public

school curriculum. Alexander (1997) noted that in a college or university environment an

adjunct preparatory program can serve as a laboratory or practicum experience for students

studying to become music teachers and performers as well as act as a feeder system for the music

department and college as a whole.

Piano preparatory departments offer piano instruction for all ages and levels from

elementary school through senior adults. Group piano classes might also be available depending

on the budgets and/or facility setting at the college or university. With these teaching resources

17
piano pedagogy students may have the opportunity to observe other teachers as well as to

participate many teaching activities. Meyers (2014) reported that an internship with supervised

teaching is one of the common requirements for a master’s degree in piano pedagogy, other

common requirements including pedagogy courses, recital, keyboard literature, and courses from

musicology, theory, or history.

Besides teaching in a piano laboratory program, attending conferences is an effective way

to experience and gather information useful for future piano teachers. There are currently

several well-organized national organizations for piano teachers: (1) The National Conference on

Keyboard Pedagogy, (2) Music Teachers National Association, (3) College Music Society, and

(4) National Association for Music Education. These organizations regularly host conferences

that allow piano pedagogy instructors and piano teachers to share their teaching experience. The

purpose of these conferences is for those in the piano teaching profession, regardless of their

level of teaching experience, to gather together and become more informed, more efficient, and

more successful (Bastien, 1988, p. 242).

Recent Trends in the Piano Pedagogy Field

New Technology

In recent years, teaching of music has been increasingly influenced by the development

and use of technology. Although many teachers are still hesitant to use technology in teaching, it

cannot be denied that technology is playing an important role in our daily lives. The best

evidence of this would be the increasing use of the cellular phone or “smartphone”.

Online teaching. Online video real-time lessons, also called SkypeTM lessons, and E-

lessons, are becoming more popular today. Ajero published a series of articles about the use of

18
technology in piano teaching, and noted three scenarios where the online piano lesson may have

more advantages than a traditional lesson: (1) It helps a teacher avoid the hassle of scheduling

make-up lessons; (2) It keeps the teacher away from the risk of getting sick from coming in

direct contact with their students while allowing students to still make progress at home; (3) It

allows students to continue taking piano lessons when either the teacher or students relocate to

another place which is deemed too far to have in-person lessons (Ajero, 2010; Kirk, 2014).

There are two primary factors that can ensure a piano teacher is offering a good quality

online lesson: a reliable high speed internet connection in both teacher’s and student’s locations,

and a high-tech piano. In the 21st century, the Yamaha Company is one of the pioneers in

developing high-tech piano models. A good example is Yamaha’s Disklavier piano, which is an

acoustic keyboard instrument, but with many of the technological functions formerly only

available on a digital piano. Additionally, Yamaha has developed a piano model with “sync”

data functions, which purport to allow pianists from all over the world to participate in

masterclasses, competitions, auditions, and competitions from long-distance locations (Ajero,

2013; Kirk, 2011). Online teaching does have some challenges: (1) proper maintenance and

regular updating of software; (2) potential barriers to building meaningful connections with

students; (3) potential to utilize the same amount of time as the in-person lesson but with the

possibility of time lost to unpredictable technical issues; (4) concerns about students/families not

taking the online lesson as seriously as the traditional lesson (Thickstun, 2014).

Real-time performance. Piano students often want to share their recital with family and

friends, but many supporters may not be able to travel to the recital location. A new technology

called “the real-time performance,” also known as “live stream performance,” can help share

performances with family and friend.

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 Along with social media like FacebookTM and the studio website, real-time performances

can be used as a career promotion tool for both the student and the teacher. Musicians in the 21st

century often take advantage of online marketing resources (Brundage, 2011). To set up a real-

time performance, a performer needs a reliable internet connection, laptop or smartphone, a high-

quality webcam, and a video streaming account (Ajero, 2015; Litterst, 2011). There are a

number of free video services to consider. Examples include:

o www.youtube.com

o www.livestream.com

o www.ustream.tv

o www.vimeo.com

o www.veoh.com

Teachers have indicated mixed feelings regarding the quick rise and development of

technology (Dorfman & Dammers, 2015; Price, 1999; Uszler, Gordon & Smith, 2000). Previous

studies have found that many teachers show evidence of anxiety about the use of technology, and

the influence of anxiety and personal characteristics on technology integration should not be

underestimated (Dorfman & Dammers, 2015). Teachers felt that their authority as teachers was

threatened when their students “played/operate” better when using technology than they

themselves did (Kirk, 2012). They fear that technology is taking their authority as the primary

source of information when the new generation of students utilize electronic resources to search

for information (Ajero & Crappell, 2014). Clavier Companion journal (2014) published a series

of articles written by twelve piano pedagogues from around the country to share their thoughts

on the future of piano teaching. Following are quotes from several pedagogues:

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 Andrea McAlister (2014) Technology is here to stay, and it is capable of engaging

our students in electrifying ways. Research tells us that both music learning and

educational technology can have remarkable, positive impacts on neural development.

(p.22)

Alejandro Cremaschi (2014) Piano teaching will become a more varied and

diverse affair, and teachers will find themselves adapting more frequently to meet

students’ needs. (p.22)

Leila Viss (2014) Today’s students live in a world embedded with smart-phones,

tablets, and instant connectivity. This world begs for a relevant, indoor-plumbing

approach. (p.22)

Courtney Crappell (2014) In the future, we will have to adapt technology in ways

that allow our true value to shine and thereby improve our students’ learning experience.

(p.24)

In the future it is likely that teachers will serve more as guides to help assist students to

filter information on the internet instead of as the sole source of information (Ajero & Crappell,

2014). Although the music classroom setting today is quite different from that of the 20th

century, many aspects of music and teaching have not changed. The e-reader device has not

replaced our music libraries and the “piano practice app” has not replaced acoustic pianos. Most

important of all, the role of piano teachers has not been replaced in this technologically enhanced

studio (Uszler et al. 2000). As educators we can incorporate technology as a supplement or

enhancement to improve students’ learning experience, as well as to give students opportunities

21
to explore, create, and enjoy the experience of music learning (McAlister, Cremaschi & Theisen,

2014).

Career Choice

Many music scholars have written about music teaching careers in order to determine the

current status of the music teaching field. Typical places offering piano lessons are independent

piano studios, community music schools, colleges and universities.

Independent piano studio. Independent music teachers play a role in our society

because a wide range of students participate in and benefit from home studio teaching settings,

especially young beginners. However many graduating piano students are afraid it will be

difficult to find enough students to make a sufficient income (Bastien, 1988, p. 239). Twenty-

seven years ago, a national survey of piano teachers found average fees for hour-long private

piano lessons to be $20, and for hour-long group lessons only $8. The low wages resulted in

many piano teachers holding additional job(s) to make a living (Uszler et al., 2000). Another

factor stopping college piano majors from pursuing an independent teaching career is the

existence of many untrained music teachers who are offering piano lessons at “below market”

rates to attract students. In some cases these untrained teachers can make as much money as

professionally trained piano teachers, especially if students/parents are not aware of the

educational qualifications of the teachers they engage.

An independent piano teacher in Texas shared her experiences building a successful

piano studio (Thickstun, 2011). First choose a good geographical location to set up a music

studio. By using (www.census.gov) as a resource music teachers can find information on

average income, median age, various ages of children/adults in the local population, and cost of

22
living in specific locations. Marketing is considered essential to attracting potential

students/parents. Professionalism is an important aspect of community perception of teachers.

An appropriate tuition rate is also important. “Before setting fees, she researched what other

teachers in the area were charging. She made sure she wasn’t too high because she wanted to

build numbers and not too low, to ensure she was taken seriously”. (p.43)

Community music programs. Community music programs fall into two main

categories: (1) for-profit (such as a music academy, private music school, and retail music store)

and (2) non-profit (such as community music program at a university and after school programs

in a church). These organizations hire music teachers either as employees or independent

contractors (Thickstun, 2015). There are many benefits of teaching at a community music

program:

o A regularly maintained facility that was not the responsibility of the teacher

o Perception of professional learning environment by parents

o Administrative support to deal with payments and scheduling so piano teachers can

focus on teaching

o Being inspired by other experienced colleagues (Crappell, 2011; Katayama, 2015;

Thickstun, 2015).

However, any community music program is a business, and the music school will always

take a portion of the tuition payment to pay for the services they provide. The teacher does not

receive 100% of the student payment (Katayama, 2015).

There is a trend among independent music teachers to partner with other independent

music teachers to run a music academy in a cooperative manner (Crappell, 2011). Emily

McGree, a DMA degree candidate who runs a music academy, described a few advantages of

23
music academies in an interview with Courtney Crappell. These include professionalism of

environment, student motivation, and scheduling ease. She also indicated that for her working in

a music academy was more rewarding than working at a higher education institution (Crappell,

2011). On the other hand Crappell (2011), a piano pedagogy professor at a university, published

another article which indicated that a strong desire for job security (a university faculty position

with salary and benefits) was a major factor for pursuing a doctoral degree.

Universities/colleges. Many music teachers taught younger students for a time, but then

wanted to go on to get a more secure or prestigious position teaching in a college or university

(Uszler et al., 2000, p.178). The saturation of the academic job market caused faculty salaries to

decline 4.4 percent in the period from 1971-1998. It is predicted that educational salaries will

continue to lag dramatically behind the earnings of other learned professions. Additionally, due

to an education financial crises, numerous university music programs, particularly smaller music

departments, started to cut down the number of full-time positions in order to keep the program

running (Crappell, 2011; Uszler et al., 2000). Hiring more adjunct faculty members (often titled

instructor, lecturer, artist, and visiting professor) became a solution for many university/college

music programs (Russell, 2009). An article written by Melinda Russell (2009) revealed the

reality of adjunct faculty positions:

The use, overuse, and abuse of adjunct positions, and the abuse of those holding

them, has justifiably become a sore topic in academia generally, but it is difficult to

imagine how many music departments, especially comparatively small ones, could offer

applied study without such positions. In our case at Carleton College, we could hardly

find a way to instruct our small handfuls of harp, trumpet, banjo, sitar, and our large

truckloads of voice and piano, students without such a model. (p. 93)

24
 There are good things about being an adjunct faculty member. Some examples include

teaching college students who are likely more serious about learning music; more opportunities

working with professionally trained colleagues on researches and performance; easy access to a

large library system: and having the potential to become a full-time faculty member if positions

become available. However, adjunct positions often have no benefits, adjunct faculty may be

assigned to teach courses outside their area of comfort of expertise, and often teach lower-level

undergraduate students rather than upper division undergraduates and graduate students (Uszler

et al., 2000, p. 178).

Recent Research in Piano Pedagogy

Living as we are in an information age, the internet provides teachers a data warehouse

with easy access to much information. Three primary online databases for piano teachers to

learn about the professional research in piano pedagogy are ProQuest, EBSCO, and JSTOR.

With these databases piano teachers are able to access a tremendous “library.” This “library”

presents research articles, articles in professional journals, master’s theses and doctoral

dissertations with information related to piano pedagogy representing some of the best thought

from the past two centuries. More than a thousand doctoral dissertations, master’s theses, and

journal research articles dealing with piano teaching and learning were completed from 1950 to

2010 (Lin, 2010). Lin (2010) conducted a study to analyze 457 dissertations and theses related

to piano pedagogy. Through this study, Lin (2010) found that the three most consistently

addressed research topics are “Repertoire,” “Teaching Methods/Theories,” and

“Curriculum/Program.” In contrast, researchers have shown less interest in topics such as

“Evaluation and Assessment,” “Practice Behaviors,” and “Cultural Influence in Students’

25
Learning Behaviors.” Lin (2010) also concluded that the “teacher-centered” approach has

dominated in doctoral and master’s piano pedagogy researches from 1950 to 2008.

Technical Training

Among many piano teaching topics, technical training has been one of the prevalent

pedagogical topics since the 1920s (Uszler et al., 2000; Knerr, 2006; Chon, 2012). As Lyke

(2011) described in the book Creative Piano Teaching:

Another gift passed along to a student involves technical skill. The teacher takes

great pleasure in shaping a hand and showing a student how to use body parts (wrist,

forearm, upper arm, elbows, shoulder etc.) always with a view toward avoiding tension.

Technical training should be fun, not just boring exercises. (p. 6)

Toward the beginning of the twenty-first century, piano pedagogues were being

encouraged to develop effective ways to teach piano techniques (Knerr, 2006; Lin, 2010; Chon,

2012). Chon (2012) examined a new methodology founded upon the principle of teaching not

only the physical, but also the sensory aspects of piano playing. Chon (2012) concluded that an

effective method should emphasize the three pillars of piano playing: posture, legato playing,

and staccato playing. Several years prior to Chon’s (2012) research, Knerr (2006) also focused

on piano technique development. Her research was centered on providing a study of strategies in

the formation of piano technique in the elementary-level piano students from 1920s to 2006.

Through the review of writings of fifteen influential authors, interviews and observations with

four experienced piano teachers in the United States (Marvin Blickenstaff, Ted Cooper, Mary

Craig Powell, and Carolyn Shaak) Knerr (2006) provided 107 technical principles for teaching

elementary level piano technique to children.

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 During the past sixty years many composers featured extremely complicated piano

techniques in their piano works, such as Henry Cowell’s The Banshee (1925), Bela Bartók's

Piano Sonata (1926) and Suite “Out of Doors” (1926), George Crumb’s Makrokosmos (1972),

György Ligeti’s and Piano Etudes (1985), and Dianne Rahbee’s Piano Sonata no. 1 op.25

(1986). The technical training for contemporary piano music has gained increasing emphases,

particularly in the last seven years. Many studies have presented pedagogical approaches of

extended piano techniques (also known as “non-mainstream” and “non-traditional” techniques),

such as clusters, glissandos, pizzicatos, mutes, and harmonics (Proulx, 2009; Wang, 2010; Deng,

2011; Pace, 2012; Lawrence, 2014).

Musicianship

In the past fifteen years dissertations and theses related to “musicianship” have been

getting attention in piano pedagogy research, and many of these studies were focused on

examining the meanings and importance of musicianship in piano teaching and learning. In one

instance Christensen (2000) explored which functional piano skills public school teachers

consider being of greatest value for their music teaching in public schools. Her work showed the

necessity of proficiency in functional piano skills, particularly accompanying, score reading,

harmonization, technique, and sight-reading (Christensen, 2000; Lin, 2010). Wachter (2014) too

examined the effects of applying sight-singing moveable-do solmization on the piano to

transposing/playing in undergraduate group piano courses. Results in her study suggested that

the use of singing had some level of positive effect on student’s achievement in piano

transposition playing.

In early in the twentieth century American beginner piano method books began to

provide more materials for teaching note reading and rhythmic skills. The authors of piano

27
method books began to direct attention to a more systematic way of teaching beginner

fundamental musicianship. However, because students learn differently, how to choose an

appropriate method book from a large number of piano method books became a new challenge

for novice piano teachers (Uszler et al.2000; Muck, 2009). In recent years several researchers

conducted studies on American beginner piano method books which have been published in the

twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Results from these studies created a valuable resource for

both experienced and novice piano teachers (Ballard, 2007; Huang, 2007; Muck, 2009; Sundell,

2012).

Significant Pedagogues

Numerous respectable piano pedagogues made contributions to the development of the

piano pedagogy field. Based on a search of ProQuest databases more than thirty piano pedagogy

related dissertations, presenting individuals or organizations’ contributions to piano pedagogy,

were written from 1984-2015. Among these dissertations seventeen were directly related to

individual significant piano pedagogues using descriptive and narrative design. A list of

pedagogues examined by authors include: Frances Clark (Kern, 1984), Willard Palmer

(Schubert, 1992), Boris Berlin (Beauchamp, 1994), Celia Mae Bryant (Baskins, 1994), Lynn

Freeman Olson (Betts, 1995), Louise Wadley Bianchi (Holland, 1996), Maurice Hinson

(Cherrix, 1997), Robert Pace (Forester, 1997), Marguerite Miller (Fast, 1997), Clarence Burg

(Owen, 1997), Jon George (Garvin, 1998), Louise Marienne Uszler (Beres, 2003), Howard

Ferguson (Biggs, 2011), Jane Smisor Bastien (Burns, 2011), James Lyke, (Choi, 2012), Marvin

Blickenstaff (Ernst, 2012), and Louise Goss (Jain, 2012).

28
Books and Teaching Materials

Numerous books have been written about piano teaching. Since each book tends to focus

on particular aspects of piano teaching, in order to provide a more comprehensive training for

novice piano teachers piano pedagogy instructors often select more than one book for their

courses (Milliman, 1992). The following textbooks and reference books are commonly used for

graduate-level piano pedagogy courses:

- The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Uszler, Gordon, and McBride

- How to Teach Piano Successfully by Bastien

- Creative Piano Teaching by Lyke, Haydon, and Rollin

- Guide to The Pianist’s Repertoire by Hinson

- The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching & Performance Literature by Magrath

29
 CHAPTER 3

METHODS AND PROCEDURES

This methodology is designed to account for: (1) how collegiate and early-career piano

teachers view their master’s piano pedagogy study experience; (2) how piano pedagogy faculty

members view their program curricula and their interactions with novice piano teachers; and (3)

how master’s piano pedagogy degree programs curricula are structured. The research design,

setting and participants, online survey, and interviews will be described in this chapter.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of how the design of master’s

piano pedagogy degree programs in the United States are perceived by current and future piano

teachers. With this study, the researcher hopes to address the following eight questions:

1. What are the similarities and differences among master’s piano pedagogy

programs in the United States?

2. How did the piano pedagogy courses affect current students and graduated

students’ perception of piano teaching?

3. How do piano pedagogy instructors assess teaching qualification?

4. What are the concepts in piano teaching that novice piano teachers perceive as the

most valuable from their education experience in master’s piano pedagogy

programs?

5. What are early-career piano teachers’ career satisfaction, attitudes, and

expectations?

30
 6. Is there a difference in perception regarding master’s piano pedagogy degree

curriculum between current and former piano pedagogy students?

7. What factors influence career satisfaction?

8. Is there a difference in career expectation between the novice piano teachers and

piano pedagogy instructors?

Research Design

To better understand the master’s piano pedagogy program setting across the nation

subjects were chosen from four regions: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. In order to create

a consistent concept of the two-year based master’s degree program, schools offering master’s

degrees in piano performance with a piano pedagogy certificate were not evaluated in this study.

The researcher utilized the following techniques in this study: (1) Evaluation of documents

regarding degree admission requirements, course curricula, and student teacher resources; (2)

online survey design and analysis; and (3) telephone interviews with piano faculty members as

well as their current and former master’s piano pedagogy students. The information obtained

through online surveys and interviews will form a large foundation for the findings of this study.

The following list provides the steps used to conduct data collection:

1. Literature review. A selected literature review including dissertations, books,

professional publications (American Music Teacher and Clavier Companion), and

research articles.

2. Program evaluation. Prior to the developing a questionnaire, the researcher examined

curricular and extracurricular offerings sponsored by numerous master’s piano pedagogy

degree programs in the United States.

31
3. Formatting questionnaire. After consulting with the advisor, the researcher developed a

list of survey questions concerning the area of piano pedagogy based on research

questions.

4. Proposal defense. The researcher developed and defended a research proposal including

a historical overview of piano pedagogy in the United States, need for the study, purpose

statement, methodology approaches, survey questionnaire, interview guide, and annotated

bibliography.

5. Pilot-test. Prior to sending the online survey out to the target population the survey

questions were pilot-tested by several teachers and students of piano pedagogy. The

purpose of this pilot-test was to ask for comments regarding survey items which seem

unnecessary, or confusing.

6. IRB Approval. The researcher submitted an application to the Human Subjects

Institutional Review Board and the study was approved.

7. Initial invitation letter. Piano pedagogy faculty members in 62 universities were

contacted through a research project invitation email.

8. Second email. The researcher sent another invitation email to piano pedagogy faculty

who have not responded the first invitation letter.

9. Survey. Only faculty members who indicated interest in participating in this study

received a formal email from the researcher, which included a survey link and a message

asking that they forward the email and link to their current and former students. At the

end of the survey each participant was asked if he/she would like to share more thoughts

regarding the master’s piano pedagogy program and piano pedagogy field. Because the

survey must be anonymous the researcher created two separate surveys-one primary

32
 survey and another survey to collect contact information only from those who indicated

they were interested in doing a telephone interview.

10. Interviews. The semi-structured interviewing method was used in this study. Prior to the

interview a consent form was signed and returned by every interviewee. All interview

conversations were conducted and audio recorded by the researcher. The interview

recording was transcribed by the researcher and an assistant.

Setting and Participants

This demographic and qualitative study focused on piano teachers who have experience

teaching in master’s piano pedagogy degree programs. An initial invitation letter was sent to 62

faculty members who were either instructor of graduate-level piano pedagogy courses and/or the

person who administers the master’s piano pedagogy degree program in the United States. The

letter asked each faculty member to respond if they were interested in participating in this study

that included completing an online survey and forwarding the survey link to their students. By

replying to the initial letter only faculty members who indicated they were interested in

participating in the study would receive a second email with a survey link from the researcher.

Instrumentation

This research project was conducted by means of an online survey and interviews in

order to obtain an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon in the piano pedagogy field. An

online survey has several advantages in regard to the data collecting process: (1) accuracy, ease,

and speed of data entry; (2) immediate results feedback; (3) ease of access to data and results; (4)

numerous questions can be asked about a subject, and survey questions can be divided into

33
branches for various focus groups; and (5) with today’s survey software, such as Qualtrics and

Survey Monkey, advanced statistical techniques can be utilized to analyze data (Topp &

Pawloski, 2002; Wyse, 2012). However, collecting data online also has some challenges and

barriers. For instance, with an online survey it is possible that a responder completed the survey

more than once. All the respondents are anonymous, and the researcher does not collect any

personal information, such as name, email or IP address, therefore, the researcher cannot identify

the multiple data entry by same responders. Additionally the survey questionnaires were

formatted, so it might have some limitations if the responders have more information to provide

on certain topics. Therefore the use of interviews was also selected as a method of data

collection in this research. The interview method gives participants opportunities to provide

additional information, and it also allows the researcher to obtain more in-depth answers and

gain more accurate answers (Fu, 2007).

Online Survey

The survey contained questions dealing with aspects of master’s piano pedagogy degree

curricula such as course topics, teacher preparation, professional development opportunities, and

career expectation. Qualtrics (http://www.qualtrics.com) is an online service that allows

researchers to create surveys and then collects, tracks, and analyzes data received from

respondents. A ten-point Likert-type rating scale was used to indicate the amount of emphasis

given to specific aspects of the curriculum. The survey was available online for 37 days. Of the

62 piano pedagogy faculty members who were invited, 29 indicated their interest in participating

in the study. The researcher created a master survey with three branches of questions for

different subgroup populations. The benefit of this method was that the researcher could easily

access the data and compare data from different groups; additionally creating one master survey

34
with multiple branches can avoid unnecessary communication hassles. For example, rather than

sending three different survey links to faculty members and expecting them to forward correct

links to their current students and former students a single survey link can make it easier for

piano pedagogy faculty to participate.

This survey divided into three parts for three target populations: 1. piano pedagogy

faculty members, 2. current master’s piano pedagogy students, and 3. former master’s piano

pedagogy students. The format of the questions included multiple choice and ranking questions.

Each part of the survey questionnaire included five (students) or six (faculty) main aspects:

1. Degree curriculum

2. Books and supplemental materials in piano pedagogy courses

3. Teaching experience

4. Career planning (current and former students)

5. Student teaching assessment (faculty)

6. Demographic information

Interview

This study used a collective case-study method for interviews. According to Aldridge

(2004), the collective case study describes several participants who have an aspect in common,

where the commonalities between the participants are noted and identified. However, each case

is examined descriptively without comparison to the other cases (Froehlich & Frierson-

Campbell, 2013, p. 154). In this study all interviewees have experience relating to master’s

piano pedagogy degree programs. The researcher wanted to probe more deeply for information

from individual interviews than was possible with survey questionnaires, therefore the semi-

structured interview was utilized. Even with predetermined questions semi-structured interviews

35
allow latitude for probing and following the interviewee’s sense of what is important (Colwell &

MENC, 1992, p. 85). The researcher developed and used an interview guide that included a list

of questions and topics that needed to be covered during the interview sessions. Benefits of

using an interview guide include: (1) It allows the interviewer to be prepared and appear

competent during the interview; (2) The researcher is able to follow a topical track in the

conversation that may sometimes diverge from the guide; and (3) It provides the researcher a

reliable, comparable qualitative data (RWJF, 2008).

Both face-to-face and telephone interviews were utilized in this study. The use of

telephone interview method solved some traveling and scheduling issues because many

interviewees in this study were residents in different regions in the United States. Due to lack of

reliable technology to record conversations on a landline or cellphone, the researcher decided to

use Skype software for telephone interviews. By using Skype the researcher was able to record

every interview session for later data analysis. There were two computer apps used to record

interviews: MP3 Skype recorder (http://voipcallrecording.com) for Skype interviews, and

Audacity (http://www.audacityteam.org) for face-to-face interviews. All interview sessions were

conducted in a sound proof research lab in the College of Music at Florida State University.

Process of Making Interview Questions:

1. Reviewed literature including following:

o Richard Colwell & Music Educators National Conference, Handbook of Research on

Music Teaching and Learning: A Project of The Music Educators National

Conference. (2010, pp. 282-287);

o Hui-Ju Fu, A Status and Vision Investigation of United States University Piano

Pedagogy Programs. (2007);

36
 o Angela Meyers, The Master’s Piano Pedagogy Degree Program: Leading to Future

Teacher Success. (2014, pp.193-206);

2. Reviewed selected schools’ official websites regarding the following information:

o Student teaching resources, piano pedagogy library, and teaching facility.

o Master’s in piano pedagogy degree admission requirements, curricula, and graduation

requirements.

3. Reviewed interviewee’s publications including books, articles, blogs, and teaching

philosophy.

4. Based on an initial analysis of online survey data information was collected on the following

categories: average length of the teaching experience, opinions about the job market, course

curriculum, and master’s degree study experience.

Interview Guide

Current students

o What part of your experience in the MM piano pedagogy program stands out as the most

valuable?

o What is your overall perception regarding the curriculum in your program?

o How do various piano pedagogy courses affect your teaching?

o What are your career goals?

-Will you continue to teach piano after you graduate?

o If not, why?

-Will you pursue a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy?

o If yes, why?

37
 o How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?

o Do you have any improvement suggestions for master’s piano pedagogy programs?

o Do you have any suggestions for incoming new piano pedagogy students?

Former students

o What part of your experience in the MM piano pedagogy program stands out as the most

valuable?

o What is your overall perception regarding the teacher preparation / education provided by

your school?

o How did various piano pedagogy courses affect your teaching?

o What are your career goals?

o Is your current profession related to piano teaching?

o How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?

o Career satisfaction. Are you happy with your job?

o Expectations. What are your career expectations?

o Do you have any improvement suggestions for master’s piano pedagogy programs?

o Do you have any suggestions for future piano teachers?

Faculty members

o What do you hope your piano pedagogy students accomplish during their master’s study?

o How do you assess your students’ teaching potential?

o Compared to undergraduate piano pedagogy courses, what elements/topics/components

should be required/emphasized in graduate piano pedagogy classes?

o How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?

o Do you have any suggestions for early-career piano teachers?

38
IRB Approval

This study has received approval from the IRB (Institutional Review Board-The Human

Subjects Committee) at Florida State University (see IRB Approval in Appendix G).

Summary

This study was designed to develop an overview of the early-career piano teachers’

perceptions regarding their experience of master’s piano pedagogy programs. This was

accomplished through the administration of an online survey questionnaire and series of

interviews with piano pedagogy professors as well as current and graduated master’s piano

pedagogy students. Through this study the researcher hoped the information regarding early-

career piano teachers’ career satisfaction, attitudes and expectations would be of value to faculty

members and administrators of piano pedagogy programs in the development of piano teacher

preparation and education.

39
 CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

Data Collection and Analysis

The purpose of this study was to understand how the design of the master’s piano

pedagogy degree program is perceived by collegiate and early-career piano teachers, and

additionally to understand the extent of how various academic courses influence novice piano

teachers’ perception of teaching and their career.

Faculty members in piano pedagogy were contacted from universities throughout the

United States. Faculty participants’ name and email address were obtained through the school

websites, and the rest of participants were contacted directly by faculty who chose to participate.

Data were collected by means of an online survey instrument and series of telephone

interview/in-person interviews (data from interviews are presented in Chapter V). The online

survey questionnaire was divided into three subgroups for three target populations: piano

pedagogy faculty members, current master’s piano pedagogy students, and former master’s piano

pedagogy students. Each subgroup was questioned on five (students) or six (faculty) main

aspects (see Appendix A for the survey questionnaire):

1. Degree curriculum

2. Books and supplemental materials in piano pedagogy courses

3. Teaching experience

4. Career planning (current and former students)

5. Student teaching assessment (faculty)

6. Demographic information

40
 Aspect one, degree curriculum, included nine questions. Participants were asked to

provide information regarding the curriculum of the master’s piano pedagogy degree programs

with which they had been involved. Aspect two, books and materials, included three questions.

The data obtained for this aspect provided information about perceptions of participants

regarding the usefulness of teaching materials in piano pedagogy courses. Aspect three, teaching

experience, consisted of three questions. It pertained to student’s teaching experience prior to

and/or after master’s piano pedagogy degree study; additionally it also obtained information

from faculty members about admission requirements for this degree program. Aspect four,

career planning, included four questions. These questions were designed to obtain information

from novice piano teachers and current faculty concerning career expectations, professional

satisfaction, and involvement in professional activity. Aspect five, Student teaching assessment,

included two questions. The data obtained in this aspect provided information about how piano

pedagogy instructors evaluate their students’ teaching potential and qualification. Aspect six,

demographic information, included four questions. Participants were asked to provide

information concerning region of the United States in which they lived, gender, age ranges, and

if their current professions related to piano teaching.

The survey was available online for 37 days receiving a total of 63 valid responses. Of

the 63 surveys, 20 were completed by faculty members, 14 by currently enrolled master’s piano

pedagogy students, and 29 by students who graduated from a program within the most recent

five years (2010-2015). Since respondents in this study were allowed to skip the question or

questions to which they did not want to respond the number of responses to several questions is

less than 63 or less than the number of a sub-group. Of the 29 faculty members who were sent

survey invitation emails, 20 began and completed the survey. The response rate of the faculty

41
group is 68.9 %. Fourteen current piano pedagogy students and 29 former students began and

completed the survey after being sent the email and link by a piano pedagogy faculty participant.

The response rate of current and former student groups is unknown because the current faculty

were not asked to report the number of survey invitations they forwarded to students and former

students.

Data were analyzed/reported using means and standard deviations with the exception of

several open-ended responses. These open-ended questions were analyzed using qualitative

methodology by coding responses for emerging themes. More details about each research

question will be discussed in the Chapter VI “Conclusions and Recommendations”. Note:

Abbreviations of target groups are used as following: C refers to current piano pedagogy

students/collegiate respondents, F refers to former piano pedagogy student respondents, and P

refers to professor/faculty respondents. Additionally, MPP refers to master’s piano pedagogy.

Initial Survey Findings

Qualities that make a great piano teacher. Participants were asked what qualities

make a great piano teacher. Based on the 63 responses, knowledgeable at teaching, enjoy piano

teaching, and talented at piano playing were most frequently selected by participants. Following

are responses included in the open-ended part in this question:

o Written by current students. An interest and concern for the student, be patient, finds

ways to motivate students, and understand how each student learns best.

42
 o Written by faculty members. Understanding of how people learn, coupled with a

thorough understanding of how technique is built and works in performance, flexibility,

patience, resourcefulness, creativity, and an imagination.

TABLE 4.1
Qualities of a good piano teacher
Qualities C F P Respondents Percentage
(N=63) %
Knowledgeable at teaching 5 13 12 30 47.6
Talented at piano playing 3 7 12 22 34.9
Has good interpersonal skills 4 12 12 28 44.4
Works to improve the teaching of piano 4 10 10 24 38
Enjoy piano teaching 4 13 10 27 42.8
Other 2 0 4 6 9.5
All of the above 11 22 15 48 76.1

Ideal courses for master’s piano pedagogy (MPP) students. Participants were asked

to select the courses that are ideal for MPP students. Among all listed courses, applied piano

lesson, piano pedagogy literature, and keyboard literature were selected most by participants.

As shown in Table 4.2, while 62 out of 63 respondents (98.4%) selected applied piano lesson,

only one currently enrolled student did not select this course. Following courses were suggested

by participants:

o Written by current students. The business side of running a studio.

o Written by former students. Community engagement mentorship with community

teachers, and early childhood education.

o Written by faculty members. Seminar discussing pedagogical issues, psychology courses,

applied piano pedagogy, and internship/practicum.

43
 TABLE 4.2
Ideal courses
Ideal courses C F P (N=63) %
Applied piano lesson 13 29 20 62 98.4
Keyboard literature 13 26 19 58 92
Piano pedagogy literature 13 28 19 60 95.2
Accompanying 7 17 13 37 58.7
Chamber 6 16 12 34 53.9
Piano ensemble 6 18 13 37 58.7
Other 2 4 6 12 19

Required courses for MPP students. Participants were asked to select the courses that

should be required for MPP students. Applied piano lesson, piano pedagogy literature, and

keyboard literature were selected most often by respondents. As shown in Table 4.3, while 61

out of 63 respondents (96.8%) selected piano pedagogy literature, one current student and one

former student did not select this course. Following courses were suggested by respondents:

o Written by former students. Piano pedagogy courses, studio management/business, and

an “organization and materials” course to cover many piano pedagogy topics from

methods to policies.

o Written by faculty members. Piano pedagogy courses, seminar discussing pedagogical

issues, practicum/internship to gain teaching experience, and child development classes.

TABLE 4.3
Required courses
Required courses C F P (N=63) %
Applied piano lesson 13 29 20 62 98.4
Keyboard literature 14 25 18 57 90.4
Piano pedagogy literature 13 28 20 61 96.8
Accompanying 3 9 5 17 26.9
Chamber 3 6 8 17 26.9
Piano ensemble 2 6 9 17 26.9
Other 1 3 7 11 17.4

44
 Other courses for master’s piano pedagogy students. In questions three and four,

respondents were asked to provide opinions about the other courses for MPP curriculum. As

shown in Table 4.4, a majority of respondents (96.8%) believed that music theory and music

history (93.6%) were ideal courses for MPP students. More than half of the responses (69.8%)

indicated a music technology course can be included in MPP curriculum. Additionally, music

arranging was suggested by a former student, and music education was suggested by a faculty

member.

TABLE 4.4
Other ideal courses
Ideal courses C F P (N=63) %
Composition 6 15 10 31 49.2
Music theory 13 28 20 61 96.8
Music history 12 28 19 59 93.6
Music bibliography/music research 12 18 18 48 76.1
Jazz improvisation 8 20 10 38 60.3
New music ensemble 4 9 7 20 31.7
Music technology 10 19 15 44 69.8
Other 0 1 1 2 3.1

As shown in Table 4.5, many responses (95.2%) reported that MPP students should take

music theory and music history courses. Few responses (11.1%) indicated the necessity of a new

music ensemble course.

TABLE 4.5
Other required courses
Required courses C F P (N=63) %
Composition 4 8 1 13 20.6
Music theory 12 28 20 60 95.2
Music history 13 27 20 60 95.2
Music bibliography/music research 10 18 16 44 69.8
Jazz improvisation 3 5 4 12 19
New music ensemble 1 4 2 7 11.1
Music technology 4 17 11 32 50.7
Other 0 0 0 0 0

45
 Textbooks. Information regarding the textbook used in pedagogy course(s) were

obtained in question six. 62 participants answered this question. Of the 62 respondents listing

textbooks for piano pedagogy course(s), 74.1% (N = 46) used Marienne Uszler’s The Well-

tempered Keyboard Teacher, while 48.3% (N=30) used Professional Piano Teaching (vol. 1

& 2) by Jeanine Jacobson. Additionally textbooks reported by participants were Teaching Piano

in Group by Christopher Fisher, The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook by Beth

Klingenstein, and The Practice Revolution by Philip Johnston (see Appendix C for a list of

textbooks).

Note: This question received 62 responses. One former student did not complete this

question.

TABLE 4.6
Textbooks in piano pedagogy courses
Textbooks C F P (N=62) %
o Creative Piano Teaching by James 5 10 10 25 40.3
Lyke
o How to Teach Piano Successfully by 4 8 8 20 32.2
James Bastien et al.
o Questions and Answers: Practice Advice 7 7 10 24 38.7
for Piano Teachers by Frances Clarke
o Professional Piano Teaching by Jeanine 7 12 11 30 48.3
Jacobson
o The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher 11 19 16 46 74.1
by Marienne Uszler et al.
o Practical Piano Pedagogy: The 3 10 7 20 32.2
Definitive Text for Piano Teachers &
Pedagogy Students by Martha Baker-
Jordan
o The Success Factor in Piano Teaching: 1 3 2 6 9.6
Making Practice Perfect by Elvina T.
Pearce
o Other 3 2 10 15 24.1

46
 Reference books. Information regarding the reference books used in pedagogy course(s)

were obtained in question 7. One participant in the current student group did not answer this

question, so there were 62 responses for this question. As shown in Table 4.7, of the 62

respondents listing reference books for piano pedagogy course(s) and/or piano teaching, 83.8%

(N = 52) used Jane Magrath’s The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching & Performance

Literature, while 59.6% (N=37) used Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire by Maurice Hinson.

Additionally reference books listed by participants were Royal Conservatory Syllabus, Music for

the Piano by James Friskin, The Pianist’s Dictionary by Maurice Hinson, and Piano Duet

Repertoire by Christopher Fisher et al. (see Appendix C for a list of reference books).

TABLE 4.7
Reference books
Textbooks C F P (N=62) %
o Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire by 4 18 15 37 59.6
Maurice Hinson
o Pianist’s Guide to Transcriptions, 1 1 8 10 16.1
Arrangements, and Paraphrases by
Maurice Hinson
o The Pianists Guide to Standard Teaching 11 25 16 52 83.8
& Performance Literature by Jane
Magrath
o Piano Repertoire Guide by Albergo & 1 7 12 20 32.2
Alexander
o Other 0 4 1 5 8

Additional printed materials. 54 participants answered this question. As shown in

Table 4.8, of the 54 respondents listing additional printed materials for piano pedagogy course(s)

and/or piano teaching, 53.7% (N=29) used Christopher Fisher’s Teaching Piano in Groups,

while 50% (N=27) used The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook by Beth

Klingenstein. Five current students (n=5, 9.2%) reporting using the Thinking as You Play:

47
Teaching Piano in Individual & Group Lesson by Sylvia Coats. Note: This question received

only 54 responses. Current students (n=13), former students (n=25), and faculty (n=16).

TABLE 4.8
Additional printed materials
Textbooks C F P Respondents %
(N=54)
o Teaching Piano in Groups by 8 10 11 29 53.7
Christopher Fisher
o The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio 3 12 12 27 50
Handbook by Beth Klingenstein
o Thinking as You Play: Teaching Piano in 5 7 9 21 38.8
Individual & Group Lesson by Sylvia
Coats
o Etudes for Piano Teachers: Reflections 0 5 6 11 20.3
on the Teachers’ Art by Steward Gordon
o Other 1 3 4 8 14.8

Topics included in the graduate piano pedagogy course(s). Novice piano teachers,

both current students and former students (N = 43), identified topics included in graduate-level

piano pedagogy course(s) which were beneficial to their teaching. Data for each topic are

presented in Table 4.9. Topics receiving over 80% responses included teaching strategies for

varies levels and ages of students (90.6%), repertoire (88.3%), observation of other teachers’

teaching (88.3%), and teaching techniques (81.3%). Topics receiving the least amount of

responses included review journal and article (37.2%) and learning disabled & physically

impaired students (32.5%).

48
 TABLE 4.9
Topics included in graduate piano pedagogy courses
Topics C F (N=43) %
o Teaching strategies for varies levels & 12 27 39 90.6
ages of students
o Learning disabled & physically 4 10 14 32.5
impaired students
o Teaching techniques 11 24 35 81.3
o Repertoire 12 26 38 88.3
o Observation of other teachers’ 11 27 38 88.3
teaching
o Student teaching in class 10 18 28 65.1
o Review journal and article 6 10 16 37.2
o Career advice from faculty 8 20 28 65.1
o Other 0 0 0 0

The importance of academic courses. Respondents were asked to indicate how

important each course was on a 10-point Likert-type rating scale (1 = not at all, 10 = extremely

important). All of the faculty respondents (100%) indicated that the internship/practicum was

extremely important for piano teachers. Data for each course are presented in Table 4.10 and

4.11.

TABLE 4.10
The importance of academic courses for piano teachers
Music education Educational psychology Music theory Internship/practicum
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
C 8 2.51 6.93 2.40 8.64 1.78 9.14 1.23
F 7.45 2.56 7.93 1.53 8.38 1.66 9.24 1.24
P 7 3.06 7.70 2.56 9.05 1.23 10 0
Note: 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

49
 TABLE 4.11
Likert ratings for each course
Music education Educational psychology Music theory Internship/practicum
Not EI Not EI Not EI Not EI
% % % % % % % %
C 0 42.8 0 21.4 0 57.1 0 57.1
F 6.8 24.1 0 24.1 0 37.9 0 65.5
P 10 30 0 40 0 55 0 100
Respondents (N= 63)
Note: Not = not at all, EI = extremely important

Student teaching resources. This question asked respondents to supply information

about student teaching experience during study in MPP programs. A majority of current students

(85.7%) and former students (82.7%) indicated that they gained teaching experience at a local

music store/academy. Most of the faculty respondents (95%) indicated their students gained

teaching experience by observing teaching of piano faculty members and/or local piano

teachers. Other teaching resources mentioned by former student respondents were being a

teaching assistant at university and/or local community arts school. Data for this question is

presented in Table 4.12.

TABLE 4.12
Student teaching resources
Teaching resources C F P Respondents Percentage
(N=63) %
Preparatory music program at university 6 12 14 32 50.7
A university piano laboratory program 10 15 13 38 60.3
Local music store 3 1 4 8 12.6
Private students 12 24 13 49 77.7
Observation of other piano teachers 8 19 19 46 73
Other 1 2 0 3 4.7
Note: The item “other” was listed “not sure” for faculty respondents.

50
 Teaching experience. Collegiate respondents were asked about their teaching

experience prior to their study in MPP programs. Data for this question is presented in Table

4.13. Twelve out of fourteen collegiate respondents had previous teaching experience.

Additionally, these twelve respondents answered a follow-up question examined the length of

their previous teaching experience (see Table 4.14).

TABLE 4.13
Previous teaching experience
Current students Respondents (N=14) %
Yes 12 85.7
No 2 14.2

TABLE 4.14
Length of collegiate respondents’ previous teaching experience
Current students Respondents (N=12) %
Less than 6 months 1 8.3
1-2 years 3 25
3-4 years 5 41.6
5 years or more 3 25

Table 4.15 presents the data for length of former student respondents’ teaching

experience. While less than half of the respondents (44.8%) reported that the lengths of their

teaching experience were between six to nine years, some respondents (24%) have less than five

years of teaching experience.

TABLE 4.15
Former students’ teaching experience
Former students Respondents (N=29) %
1 year 1 3.4
2-5 years 6 20.6
6-9 years 13 44.8
10 years or more 9 31

51
 Teaching experience requirement of MPP programs. Of the nineteen faculty

respondents reporting the teaching experience requirement for MPP applicants, four respondents

(21%) required teaching experience to enter the program. Fifteen respondents who reported no

teaching experience requirement for applicants answered a follow-up survey question concerning

how they determine the applicants’ interest in piano teaching. Six respondents reported using an

interview to evaluate applicants’ potential for piano teaching success.

TABLE 4.16
Teaching experience requirements for applicants
Professor/faculty Respondents (N=19) %
Yes 4 21
No 15 78.9

Present job market for piano pedagogy students. All respondents (N = 63) reported

their opinions concerning present job market for piano pedagogy students on a Likert-type rating

scale (1 = not very optimistic, 10 = very optimistic). With a mean Likert rating of 7.70, faculty

respondents indicated a more optimistic attitude. The ratings of collegiate respondents was 7.00,

and former students was 6.38. Data for this question are presented in Table 4.17. While twenty-

eight respondents from three subgroups (44.4%), rated “optimistic” (Likert rating = 8 to 10), five

respondents (7.9%) rated “not optimistic” (Likert rating = 1 to 3).

TABLE 4.17
Present job market for piano pedagogy students
Likert ratings
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mean SD
C 7.00 2.22 0 1 0 0 1 5 1 3 0 3
F 6.38 2.38 1 1 1 3 4 6 2 5 3 3
P 7.70 2.15 1 0 0 0 1 1 6 4 2 5
N=63 n=2 n=2 n=1 n=3 n=6 n=12 n=9 n=12 n=5 n=11
% 3.1 3.1 1.5 4.7 9.5 19 14.2 19 7.9 17.4

52
 Ideal job. Collegiate respondents were asked to indicate their ideal jobs. Those items

indicated that the most often chosen responses were being an independent piano studio teacher

(50%) and being a university/college piano faculty (42.8%). There was no response on

following items: being a music store/company piano teacher, public school system piano

teacher, and a profession unrelated to piano teaching. Additionally, one respondent stated, “I

want to teach piano privately someday, not on a college level. I am likely going to pursue a

different career for several years after finishing my master’s degree.”

TABLE 4.18
Ideal jobs
Current students Respondents (N=14) %
University/college piano faculty 6 42.8
Independent piano studio teacher 7 50
Music store/company piano teacher 0 0
Public school system piano teacher 0 0
Something unrelated to piano teaching 0 0
Other 1 7.1

To pursue a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy. This question was designed for

current master’s piano pedagogy students. Many collegiate respondents (n = 8, 64.2%) were

considering to going on for a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy while only one seemed certain

that they would.

TABLE 4.19
Earning a doctoral degree
Current students Respondents (N=14) %
Yes 1 7.1
Maybe 8 57.1
No 5 35.7

Former piano pedagogy students’ professions. Former student respondents were asked

to define whether their current profession related to piano teaching. Twenty-seven out of

53
twenty-nine respondents’ (93.1%) professions were related to piano teaching. Additionally,

these 27 respondents answered a follow-up question “if your current profession is related to

piano teaching, what is your profession?” While more than half of the respondents (63%) stated

their professions were independent piano studio teachers, several respondents worked at

university/college as piano faculty members. Other professions listed included: DMA student,

community music school/academy piano teacher, and church staff accompanist.

TABLE 4.20
Current profession (part I)
Former students Respondents (N=29) %
Yes 27 93.1
No 2 6.8

TABLE 4.21
Current professions (part II)
Former students Respondents (N=27) %
University/college piano faculty 5 18.5
Independent piano studio teacher 17 62.9
Music store/company piano teacher 2 7.4
Public school system piano teacher 0 0
Other 3 11.1

To pursue a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy. Table 4.22 presents the data of the 29

former students’ interest in pursuing a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy. Many respondents

(66%) indicated they were not interested in getting a doctoral degree. Three respondents were

currently enrolled in doctoral degree in piano pedagogy.

54
 TABLE 4.22
Earning a doctoral degree
Former students Respondents (N=29) %
Yes 1 3.4
No 19 65.5
Maybe 6 20.6
Currently pursuing 3 10.3

Education experience. Table 4.23 represents the data for the question “when did you

receive your master’s degree in piano pedagogy”. A majority of former student respondents

(82.6%) received their master’s degrees within five years (2012-2016). One respondent received

her/his master’s degrees ten years ago.

TABLE 4.23
When did former students receive their master’s degrees?
Former students Respondents (N=29) %
Less than 1 year 10 34.4
1-4 years ago 14 48.2
5-9 years ago 4 13.7
10-14 years ago 1 3.4
More than 15 years 0 0

Master’s piano pedagogy degree program status. This question examined the number
of current enrolled students in MPP degree programs. Seventeen institutions (85%) of those in
the study indicated the number of MPP students from 1 to 9, and two institutions had zero
students enrolled in the programs. Data of this question are presented in Table 4.24.
TABLE 4.24
The number of students in master’s piano pedagogy programs
Professor/faculty Respondents (N=20) %
0 2 10
1-9 17 85
10-19 1 5
20-29 0 0
30-49 0 0
50 or more 0 0

55
 Education profile of faculty. Faculty respondents were asked to identify the highest

degree they have completed. Fifteen respondents (75%) have completed a doctoral degree, and

five respondents have completed a master’s degree (see Table 4. 25).

Additionally, sixteen faculty respondents (N = 16) answered the question “which of your

degrees were in, or included as a cognate (more than two classes), piano pedagogy”. Data of this

question are presented in Table 4.26.

TABLE 4.25
Education profile (part I)
Professor/Faculty Respondents (N=20) %
Bachelor 0 0
Master 5 25
Ph. D. 1 5
D.M.A 14 70
Ed. D. 0 0

TABLE 4.26
Education profile (part II)
“Which of your degrees were in, or included as a cognate (more than two classes), piano
pedagogy?”
Professor/Faculty Respondents (N=16) %
Bachelor 5 31.2
Master 11 68.7
Ph. D. 1 6.2
D.M.A 9 56.2
Ed. D. 0 0

Professional development activity. This question asked respondents to select the

professional development activities in which they have participated. Most of respondents (n =

58, 92.6%) stated they have engaged in professional development activities to improve their

teaching skills (see Table 4.27). Additionally, these 58 respondents answered a follow-up

question regarding what kinds of the activities they have participated. Educational conference

56
(89.6%), local chapter event (79.3%), reading pedagogical journal/research article (77.5%), and

performance received more responses (see Table 4.28). Following are additional activities listed

by respondents:

o Written by former student respondent. Webinars.

o Written by faculty respondents. Research/writing journal articles, consulted with and

was observed by specialists from a center for the advancement of teaching among faulty

and graduate students, presenting pedagogy workshops.

TABLE 4.27
Professional development
Respondents Yes % No %
(N=63)
Current students 11 79 3 21
Former students 27 93 2 7
Professor/faculty 20 100 0 0
∑ n=58 n=5
% 92.6% 7.9%

TABLE 4.28
Professional development activities
Activity C F P Respondents Percentage
(N=58) %
Educational conference 9 24 19 52 89.6
Local chapter event 9 17 20 46 79.3
Masterclass 7 13 16 36 62
Music festival 5 17 15 37 63.7
Performance 7 18 19 44 75.8
Reading pedagogical journal/research article 6 21 18 45 77.5
Other 0 1 4 5 8.6

Demographic. The initial purpose of gathering demographic information was to

compare the possibility of similarities and differences among four regions in the United States.

However, there was no response from the Northeast region, therefore, the demographic data only

57
applied to Midwest, South, and West regions (see Table 4.29) with a heavy weighting in

Midwest and South. Data of respondents’ ages and genders are presented in Table 4.30 and 4.31.

Note: this question received 62 responses. One former student respondent did not

complete this question.

TABLE 4.29
Residence
Regions C F P Respondents Percentage
(N=62) %
Northeast: CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT, NJ, 0 0 0 0 0
NY, PA
Midwest: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, 3 11 11 25 40.3
NE, OH, SD, WI
South: AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, KY, LA, 9 13 5 27 43.5
MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA,
WV
West: AZ, AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, 2 4 4 10 16.1
NV, OR, UT, WA, WY

Note: this question received 62 responses. One faculty respondent did not complete this
question.

TABLE 4.30
Age
Ages C F P Respondents Percentage
(N=62) %
Under 18 years 0 0 0 0 0
18-24 8 1 0 9 14.5
25-34 5 25 4 34 54.8
35-44 1 3 8 12 19.3
45-54 0 0 5 5 8.0
55-64 0 0 2 2 3.2
Ages 65 or older 0 0 0 0 0

58
 Note: This question received 62 responses. One faculty respondent did not complete this
question.

TABLE 4.31
Gender
Respondents Female Male Other
(N=62)
Current students 10 4 0
Former students 23 6 0
Professor/faculty 11 8 0
∑ n=44 n=18 0
% 71% 29% 0

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 CHAPTER 5

FINDINGS

Online Survey

A review of literature in both piano pedagogy and music education helped the researcher

acquire information regarding historical and current thought on piano teacher preservice

curricula. There are numerous research studies with information on what piano pedagogy

students should study based on instructors’ opinions, but relatively little based on students’ stated

needs and preferences. In order to develop a “student-centered” survey and follow-up interview

questions the researcher used previous literature and also consulted several students and faculty

members in piano pedagogy.

The online survey contained questions dealing with aspects of master’s piano pedagogy

degree curricula such as graduate-level piano pedagogy courses, teacher preparation, teaching

experience, professional development opportunities, and career expectation. The researcher used

Qualtrics online service to create the survey and analyze the data received from respondents.

Respondents were given a period of 37 days to complete the survey, which included both general

and targeted follow-up emails encouraging participation. Survey data came from 63 completed

survey questionnaires received from current piano pedagogy faculty (n = 20), currently enrolled

master’s piano pedagogy students (n = 14), and former piano pedagogy master’s students (n =

29) who graduated from a program within the most recent five years (2010-2015).

Master’s Piano Pedagogy Degree Curriculum

Responses indicate that there is some agreement between current master’s students,

recent graduates and faculty members about the design of curricula for master’s piano pedagogy

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program. Results indicate that all three subgroups feel that an ideal curriculum should require

coursework that includes applied piano lessons, keyboard literature, piano pedagogy literature,

music theory, music history, and music bibliography/research. But more than half of the former

student respondents chose jazz improvisation and piano ensemble as ideal courses, and more

than two-thirds of the collegiate and faculty respondents chose a music technology course.

However, results indicate when a survey question asked them to select specific courses which

should be required for MPP curricula, jazz improvisation, piano ensemble, and music technology

were not chosen by many respondents.

Graduate Piano Pedagogy Course Topics

Collegiate and former student respondents were asked to select those topics included in

the graduate piano pedagogy course(s) they felt were most beneficial to their teaching. Results

indicate agreement between these two groups that teaching strategies for various levels and ages

of students were very important. Other topics commonly chosen included repertoire, observation

of other teachers’ teaching and teaching techniques. Several piano pedagogy instructors noted

that they offer career advice to MPP students, however career advice from faculty was not

identified by current students and recent graduates as being important to them. Similarly, faculty

interviewees indicated that they covered topics regarding working with students with special

needs, however only a few of current students and recent graduates considered that topic was

effective for their own teaching. Some former student interviewees did report that they wished

to learn more about how to deal with children with special needs and children with inappropriate

behaviors.

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Textbooks And Supplemental Printed Materials

Content of graduate piano pedagogy courses may also be inferred by the type of

textbooks used by instructors. Based on a review of numerous course syllabi, most of graduate

piano pedagogy instructors list required textbooks for students to use. Faculty respondents,

current students and recent graduates all agreed that the Marienne Uszler’s The Well-Tempered

Keyboard Teacher was a primary textbook used in graduate piano pedagogy courses. The

following textbooks were also cited frequently by respondents: Jeanine Jacobson’s Professional

Piano Teaching, James Lyke’s Creative Piano Teaching, and Frances Clarke’s Questions and

Answers: Practice Advice for Piano Teachers. Reference books help piano teachers find

appropriate repertoire for their students. Agreement among all respondents indicated that Jane

Magrath’s The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature and Maurice

Hinson’s Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire were main sources for their teaching. One other

reference book written by Reid Alexander, Piano Repertoire Guide, was reported frequently by

faculty respondents.

Teaching Experience

Applying concepts of teaching is important for piano pedagogy students. Results indicate

there is a lack of agreement among the three subgroups about student teaching resources or

opportunities during their study in MPP programs. Based on survey data and interviews, both

current and former student groups indicated the necessity of having a piano laboratory or

preparatory music program for MPP study. An ideal MPP program should also help students

find other opportunities for applying pedagogical knowledge and teaching skills. The majority

of novice teachers reported they gained teaching experience by teaching private students, but

62
most of the faculty respondents believed that observing other piano teachers’ teaching was the

main resource for their student to gain teaching experience.

Faculty members were asked to report and define teaching experience requirements for

master’s piano pedagogy applicants. If faculty indicated there was no teaching experience

requirement for MPP applicants, they were encouraged to provide more information about the

student recruitment process. They were asked how they evaluate applicants’ teaching potential,

and identify what qualities were required in the MPP students. A majority of faculty respondents

indicated that there was no teaching experience requirement for MPP applicants, but most of

them use an interview to determine applicants’ teaching potentials, communication skills,

performance skills, and study/career plan. As a result most of novice piano teacher respondents

had some teaching experience prior to MPP study. So student’s acceptance to MPP programs is

somewhat connected to previous teaching experience. According to the review of interview

content, having previous teaching experience was a major advantage to receiving a teaching

assistantship.

Present Job Market for Novice Piano Teachers

The researcher included job market questions in both online survey and interviews.

Faculty members showed a more optimistic attitude toward the job market than novice piano

teachers, with a Likert rating of 7.70 in the survey (1 = not very optimistic and 10 = very

optimistic), as well as very optimistic comments in the interview. On the other hand the former

student group showed the lowest level of job market optimism among three subgroups, with a

rating of 6.38, and not very optimistic comments in the interview. The collegiate group fell

between the other two groups with a rating of 7.00.

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Career Planning

Based on responses from the current collegiate group the most often chosen ideal job was

being an independent piano studio teacher. Although six out of fourteen collegiate respondents

did indicate that their ideal job was to be a member of the piano faculty at a university/college,

there was only one respondent who indicated a strong desire to get a doctoral degree in piano

pedagogy. The coding of interviews presents a similar result; most of the current collegiate and

former student respondents indicated their preference for teaching pre-college students as well as

a desire to run a piano studio business. Most novice teacher interviewees were not considering a

doctoral degree at the time of the study.

Professional Development

Participation in professional development activities, such as piano pedagogy conferences,

MTNA local chapter events, writing/reading pedagogical journals, and performing concerts were

important ways cited for piano teachers to improve their teaching skills. They also learned about

technology, teaching methods, and repertoire. Most respondents reported having engaged in

some professional development activities. Educational conferences, local chapter events, and

reading pedagogical journal/research articles were the top three most cited activities. Many

former student interviewees mentioned that engaging in these activities was beneficial to their

career. By attending conferences and other events (workshops, masterclasses), they could learn

new concepts about piano teaching and build a network to attract more students.

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 Interviews

The interviews were the other primary method of data collection which allowed

participants to express more detailed information on certain aspects important to them. This

allowed the researcher to identify larger themes and a more precise level of detail that enhanced

the data collected from the survey. The information obtained through the real-time interviews

with members of the three target groups, current collegiate students, early-career piano teachers

(former students), and piano pedagogy faculty members, allowed the researcher the opportunity

to attempt triangulation of data. An interview guide was developed, and the following is a

summary of responses to each question that was addressed during the interview sessions.

Collegiate and Early-career Piano Teachers

What part of your experience in the MM piano pedagogy program stands out as the

most valuable? From the novice piano teachers’ point of view, the most prominent aspect was

the content of their graduate-level piano pedagogy courses. Content areas listed by most novice

piano teachers included teaching philosophy, class teaching demonstration, peer evaluation,

lesson planning, pedagogical repertoire, and reference books on pedagogical topics. Among

these topics the “hands-on” experience stands out as the most influential to them on preparing

them for a teaching profession. The common benefits of having piano pedagogy courses for

piano pedagogy students included being able to sharpen teaching skills over the time of the

degree program. Beginning piano teachers also benefited from class discussions and peer

evaluation. Another influential aspect was pedagogical material that increased students’

understanding of different approaches utilized in piano method books. In addition, an

organization and materials in the studio course also prepares students to be familiar with

independent studio business, writing policy, and marketing.

65
 What is your overall perception regarding the curriculum in your program? All

interviewees reported that the curriculum in their programs was well-rounded, and courses such

as music theory, music history, performance, and academic research made them better as a

teacher and musician. Most of them believed that their programs prepared them well for

teaching. All interviewees agreed on the importance of applied piano lessons for piano

pedagogy students, because one of the components of being a successful piano teacher was

having convincing playing skills. Not all of the master’s piano pedagogy programs indicated

that the level of importance of playing skills for piano pedagogy students should be same as for

piano performance majors. One collegiate interviewee stated that applied piano lessons were

very valuable, but she wished her school would allow her to take more hours of piano lessons

instead of only two semesters. In a comparison of perceived influence between the pedagogy

professor and performance professor, the interviewee noted that she was being instructed in her

piano lessons at a more advanced level, and it had been a big inspiration in her performance. In

addition by studying with performance faculty she felt she could transfer the experience into her

own teaching.

How do (did) various piano pedagogy courses affect your teaching? Collegiate and

early-career piano teachers were asked how various piano pedagogy courses affected their

teaching. All of the interviewees expressed very positive attitudes about student teaching

experiences (also known as practicum and internship). One former student commented on

observing a member of the faculty as the main teacher for a group class, she was just there to

assist the faculty. By observing the way this faculty member taught, seeing how she did lesson

plans and how she ran the group classes, the modeling of teaching was very helpful to this

interviewee in her own teaching. Another current student emphasized the benefits of reading

66
pedagogical literature in piano pedagogy class. In her piano pedagogy class, students were

required to do book and article reports, as well as a report on their own teaching.

Several interviewees were independent piano teachers who often teach in their home

studios. These early-career piano teachers felt privileged to have had the advantage of taking a

course related to running a studio business. One interviewee noted that the entrepreneurship

course was very helpful because they learned information about writing up a contract for a

company and how to put together a studio policy.

“That is really important if you are going to have a solid business with a good reputation,

and to make sure people are going to treat you with respect.”

What are your career goals? Collegiate interviewees were asked what they were going

to do after graduation. All of them indicated interest in being an independent piano teacher and

having a successful home studio. They felt less comfortable with the idea of teaching in higher

education, even those currently teaching some college-level piano courses. One collegiate

interviewee did express her strong desire to pursue a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy, but

finance was her top concern.

Most of the former student interviewees showed an optimistic attitude toward their

current profession as an independent piano teacher. Location was mentioned as a key aspect for

beginning piano teachers wanting to build a successful home studio. One interviewee stated that

she established a busy teaching schedule within a short period of time due to the small number of

piano teachers in her town, and she was the youngest teacher in that area. Another interviewee

in a different state/town indicated that her biggest challenge was finding students. As a new

67
piano teacher relocating to a small town she realized the necessity of investigating how people

looked for piano teachers and how to advertise her piano studio for people.

Maintaining an active performance career as a solo and collaborative pianist was a

common career expectation among these novice piano teachers.

“I will be continuing to play and have more collaborative performance with other

musicians. I would like to keep taking piano lessons with master teachers, if possible. If time

allows.”

How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers? Responses from both

current and former students tended to be less optimistic than faculty members about their current

job market. Those who showed a less optimistic attitude were most likely concerned for their

future career. Two examples:

“It is pretty slim from what I can tell. My pedagogy professor was just talking to us the

other day about how hard it is to get a job in the piano market. That is why I want to go the

independent route. So I can set my own schedule, fees and everything like that.” And

“…I think it is really hard to be a full-time piano teacher. You cannot really depend on

this for a living because the pay is very low.”

Some interviewees who displayed a more neutral attitude believed that success was

dependent upon where piano teachers lived and what the job market was like in that area. For

instance, one interviewee came from a wealthy area where it appeared that parents are not afraid

to spend money for high-quality piano instruction.

Do you have any improvement suggestions for master’s piano pedagogy programs?

Each degree program has a slightly different focus for course work, so this interview question

68
allowed interviewees to share their opinions or expectation about the effectiveness of their

specific master’s piano pedagogy degree programs. Overall interviewees provided very positive

feedback about their programs. But one former student suggested that her degree program

should have provided more information on how to deal with unexpected situations, mostly

related to students’ unusual behavior, as well as dealing with parents. This interviewee noted

that she required parents to take a very active part in the class, so that the parents learn along

with the younger beginners. This requires more effort on the teacher’s part, because she had to

handle the dynamics between the students, parents and herself. This interviewee stated, “That is

something we did not address as much in the program.”

Not all of the responding programs had a piano laboratory program or preparatory music

program in which students could gain teaching experience. Two collegiate interviewees strongly

suggested that a piano laboratory program at the university would be helpful for students doing

research and internships.

Do you have any suggestions for incoming new piano pedagogy students/future

piano teachers? Collegiate interviewees offered suggestions regarding making clear study

plans, having a student teaching experience, and professional development involvement. One

current MPP student suggested incoming students should examine the requirements of the

program carefully. It is important to know the nature of diagnostic exams and when they will be

given. Other collegiate interviewees suggested that getting as much teaching experience as they

can during master’s degree study was important. In addition these interviewees encouraged

incoming students to think about what they want to accomplish in a piano pedagogy program at

the graduate-level and to make career plans thoughtfully.

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 A common suggestion from early-career piano teachers related to picking a good location

after graduation. It is important to do research on area schools and child populations, family

income demographics indicating ability to afford piano lessons, and opportunities for the pianist

to have additional income in addition to teaching piano.

“It was my biggest word of advice for those coming out of school, because I moved to a

really good area and that actually helps me out quite a bit.”

One common suggestion for beginning piano teachers was participation in professional

development activities included joining local music associations, attending educational

conferences, masterclasses, and participating in webinars.

“So being a part of an association makes a big difference. Try to be active and to keep up

with the current things that are going on. Lately, I’ve been watching more webinars. I think it is

a good way to try to stay up on what is going without having the expense of traveling.

Conferences are good too, but I do not know that everyone can afford to go every year.”

Faculty in Piano Pedagogy

What do you hope your piano pedagogy students accomplish during their master’s

study? All faculty interviewees indicated that their piano pedagogy students should gain

teaching experience and learn about teaching repertoire for a variety of different levels,

particularly beginning through early-advanced. It is important to gain as much teaching

experience as possible while in school. Several faculty interviewees believe being familiar with

teaching techniques for both individual and group introduction settings would help beginning

piano teachers’ future career opportunities. Regarding the importance of performance skills, one

faculty interviewee emphasized that piano pedagogy students should become powerful and

70
respected performers in the repertoire that they are studying as well as the repertoire they are

going to teach. It is also beneficial to gain entrepreneurial skills, since learning business

processes may assist novices in establishing and maintaining their future teaching career. In

addition faculty interviewees stated that they wanted their students to know how to motivate

students and how to structure instruction.

How do you assess your students’ teaching potential? Faculty are looking for

candidates who have a strong desire to teach piano, strong performance skills, and demonstrate

abilities needed to succeed in the program. All of the responding faculty members require a

teaching video to assess prospective students’ teaching potential, followed by a face-to-face

interview for asking in-depth questions regarding a candidate’s interest, teaching experience, and

educational background. One faculty member said that

“…In addition to the videos I’m asking them to submit a self-observation of their

teaching. It is telling me a little bit more about what the goals of their lessons were and to

evaluate how successful those goals were met. It also helps to tell me a little bit more about the

students themselves, why they chose these pieces, material they are teaching. It gives me a

broader picture of them as teachers.”

In terms of assessing students’ teaching potential during master’s study one faculty

interviewee noted that she includes a practicum in each semester, so she could observe her

students and access personality and attitude.

“If it is looking like they are just doing this because they think that they will be able to

make more money because they will be teaching, and it does not look like they are really

71
passionate about teaching piano or that they are really interested in it, then frankly, they probably

are not well suited for a pedagogy program.”

It is very common that piano pedagogy students’ personalities and career goals are major

factors when faculty assess their teaching potential and qualifications. Because not all master’s

piano pedagogy students come with teaching experience, faculty are willing to help those who

have an appropriate attitude about piano teaching with their teaching skills and their teaching

potential.

Compared to undergraduate piano pedagogy courses, what topics/components

should be required/emphasized in graduate piano pedagogy classes? Most of responding

institutions have only one piano pedagogy faculty member, so many of them have to teach

undergraduate piano pedagogy students in the same classes as the master’s students. In joint

courses, a graduate student would often be paired up with an undergraduate student on more

advanced topics, so the graduate student would be able to help with mentoring, modeling, and

targeting important information for the undergraduate student.

At the master’s level, piano pedagogy students are expected to learn practical experience

at a more advanced level through more “hands-on” experience than undergraduate students. One

institution offers group piano courses in the summer, and MPP students get that added teaching

experience. In addition to basic research skills, reading the literature in piano pedagogy and

music education fields as well as learning information about quantitative and qualitative research

processes by participating in projects related to piano teaching are common expectations.

Additionally, learning techniques for teaching master classes with college students is often

included in the graduate piano pedagogy course curriculum.

72
 How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers? Most faculty

interviewees remain optimistic about employment prospects for piano teachers. To become a

success in the very competitive independent piano teacher market, sharpening teaching skills and

being a fine pianist and teacher are marketable components when beginning teachers advertise

themselves to others. Faculty interviewees stated that the performance skill should be beginning

piano teachers’ main recruiting tool.

“Because if you are a fine pianist and a fine piano teacher, even if you have only one

student, the word will get out. You will be recommended because the word of mouth is the best

way of getting students.”

“I think the independent teaching market is active as always. At least where we live,

there are a plenty of students. People are looking for lessons for their children or for themselves.

So, I think the independent teaching market is very good.”

In terms of teaching in higher education, the market is extremely competitive. Students

are advised to get a doctoral degree in order to qualify for a teaching position at a university or

college.

Do you have any suggestions for beginning piano teachers? Many faculty

interviewees emphasized the significance of being a life-long learner. In the present

environment things change quickly, so piano teachers are encouraged to continue learning new

information in order to meet the challenges.

“I think that young piano teachers need to understand they are life-long learners of the

piano. You might be a professional, and you might be a piano teacher with a lot of students, it is

73
important to continuing learn more about teaching, and continuing to learn more about

performance.”

“If you love teaching enough you will love learning and to better yourself. And always,

every day is a learning opportunity.”

Faculty also encouraged beginning piano teachers to be flexible, to try different things.

For example, learning how to work with different ages of people.

“Do not restrict yourself. It is not bad to have a specialization in a certain area of

students, but do not restrict yourself and say ‘I do not want to work with adults or I do not want

to work with kids’. Be open to different possibilities, be as versatile as you can.”

“To be open-minded on learning new things because there are many possibilities [that]

can help grow [a] studio business.”

74
 CHAPTER 6

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The purpose of this study was to understand the design/structure of current master’s

piano pedagogy degree programs, how they are perceived by collegiate and early-career piano

teachers, and additionally to understand the extent to which various academic courses influence

novice piano teachers’ perception of teaching and their career. This study was conducted by

means of an online survey and real-time interviews in order to obtain an in-depth understanding

of the content and perceived impact of master’s piano pedagogy degree programs. To

accomplish this the following eight research questions were addressed: (1) What are the

similarities and differences among master’s piano pedagogy programs in the United States? (2)

How did the piano pedagogy courses affect current students and graduated students’ perception

of piano teaching? (3) How do piano pedagogy instructors assess teaching qualification? (4)

What are the concepts in piano teaching that novice piano teachers perceive as the most valuable

from their education experience in master’s piano pedagogy programs? (5) What are early-

career piano teachers’ career satisfaction, attitudes, and expectations? (6) Is there a difference in

perception regarding master’s piano pedagogy degree curricula between current and former

piano pedagogy students? (7) What factors influence career satisfaction? (8) Is there a

difference in career expectation between the novice piano teachers and piano pedagogy

instructors?

Conclusions

Students in master’s piano pedagogy degree programs must demonstrate high-quality

teaching skills and pedagogical knowledge to meet degree requirements. The most common

curriculum of the master’s piano pedagogy programs, cited by participants, were core piano

75
pedagogy courses, applied piano lessons, music theory, music history, and keyboard literature.

A recital or lecture recital, a practicum course with supervised teaching, a research project, and a

final comprehensive exam are commonly listed for the fulfillment of degree requirements. The

total number of credits required ranges from 30-34; however, a few research universities require

35 credits or more to enrich students’ knowledge of educational psychology and research

subjects. Moreover, core piano pedagogy courses are the main resource for students to build a

foundation for their pedagogical knowledge and skills.

When piano pedagogy faculty are considering students for admission to degree programs

their essential emphasis is on assessment of candidate’s performance ability, so a live audition or

performance video recording must be presented for consideration. Most of the programs require

candidates to send a video of their teaching for evaluating their teaching qualifications.

However, several schools prefer using an in-person interview because it helps faculty understand

other factors, such as personality, study plans, and career goals which they believe contribute to

good piano teaching candidates. For prospective students living outside of the United States an

internet interview is strongly recommended. To evaluate students enrolled in the program, piano

pedagogy instructors look for students to have sufficient knowledge of piano teaching problem-

solving skills. Most importantly, faculty members would like to see their students show a sense

of passion about both piano teaching and music making.

Teachers’ preservice teaching experience was considered a primary component in

master’s piano pedagogy degree programs. Most of the novice piano teachers in this study

indicated positive attitudes toward the “hands-on” internship experience and

interactions/learning experience with piano pedagogy instructors. The most valuable aspects of

the master’s piano pedagogy programs, noted by participants, were faculty members directly

76
sharing their professional knowledge and years of experience to students in class. Comments

from novice piano teachers indicated that “practicality” was the key when they evaluate a course

taken during their degree. The content of the piano pedagogy courses influenced their decisions

about choosing piano materials such as method books, reference books, and repertoire. In

addition, observing piano faculty and other piano teachers influenced their way of teaching

concepts and running a studio. Doing observations and in-class teaching demonstrations allows

them to obtain information directly from an instructor and apply it to their own teaching

instantly.

Many students in master’s degree programs do not have a lot of previous teaching

experience, therefore, supervision from piano pedagogy instructors is important for the growth of

students’ teaching skills. Interviewees in this study expressed appreciation because they

received thorough support from their instructors during internship sessions. Some participants

were amazed by the variety of piano method books on the market, and they felt fortunate to have

access to a collection of teaching materials in their college/university.

The perceptions of former piano pedagogy students are somewhat different when

compared to the perceptions of current students. Former students most likely have had more

teaching experience, so they understand and articulate the benefits of learning basic concepts in

educational psychology. Among all master’s piano pedagogy programs in the United States only

a few programs require students to take music education or education psychology courses. If the

goal of these programs is to educate students to become effective music teachers, offering music

education and psychology-related coursework would be valuable to individuals developing their

comprehensive knowledge and teaching skills in music.

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 Taking applied piano lessons with piano performance professors was also perceived as a

valuable experience by many novice piano teachers. Many of them felt that their weekly lesson

with a piano performance professor was powerful because it was a different way to have a

“hands-on” experience in addition to piano pedagogy courses. Many performance professors are

fine pianists, and their students often look up to them as role models, thus the “learning-

teaching” interaction between professor and student provides a valuable opportunity for

beginning teachers to augment the pedagogical concepts they learn from piano pedagogy

courses.

In terms of the current/future job market, most faculty interviewees in this study remain

optimistic about employment prospects for their students. To become successful in a very

competitive independent piano teacher market sharpening teaching skills and being as fine a

pianist as they are a piano teacher are important components for beginning teachers advertising

themselves to others. Faculty interviewees stated that the performance skill should be the

beginning piano teacher’s main recruiting tool. Stable income is a primary factor that influences

beginning piano teachers’ career satisfaction, particularly for those teaching in independent home

studios. When discussing a piano teacher’s income novice piano teachers in this study tend to be

realistic about and focused on this matter because they are in their early career establishment

stage. Although not all faculty respondents articulated that a stable income is the major concern

of novice piano teachers, many offered very practical suggestions regarding career planning.

Two prominent factors that contribute to establishing a satisfying studio are picking a good

geographic location and engaging with professional associations.

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 Considerations

The findings of this study suggest the following aspects for an ideal master’s piano

pedagogy degree program:

o Topics concerning teaching students with special needs should be incorporated in

graduate piano pedagogy courses.

o The piano pedagogy faculty should systematically offer practical career advice for

graduate piano pedagogy students.

o Programs should provide a supportive environment for students to gain teaching

experience. Having a piano laboratory or preparatory music program is seen as

important/necessary for facilitating progress and eventual success as a teacher.

o Curriculum design and course development should be student-centered, taking

into account student goals and aspirations.

o Prospective piano pedagogy students should show a strong desire to teach and

ideally have at least some previous experience prior to entering a master’s

program.

o High-level performance skill should not be separated from other qualities that

make a good piano teacher.

Recommendations for Further Research

Based on the findings of this study, further research is recommended in the following

areas:

o How to establish a viable piano laboratory program for students to apply what they are

learning from a piano pedagogy class.

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o Students’ perceptions of internship/practicum and observation experiences as well as

links between these experiences and current/future success.

o A study similar to the current one investigating undergraduate piano pedagogy degree

programs.

o Since many institutions have undergraduate and graduate students taking piano pedagogy

courses together, often due to financial and staffing constraints, future investigations

should explore similarities and differences in the learning of undergraduate and graduate

students in these programs as well as exploring the potential for positive impacts from

modeling, mentoring, and peer interactions across undergraduate and graduate

populations.

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 APPENDIX A

SURVEY QUESTIONS

Survey Questions: Piano Pedagogy Faculty Members

1. What qualities make a great piano teacher?
Select all that apply
- Knowledgeable at teaching
- Talented at piano playing
- Has good interpersonal skills
- Works to improve the teaching of piano
- Enjoy piano teaching
- All of the above
- Other

2. Please select the courses that are ideal for all MM piano pedagogy students. (Part 1a)
Select all that apply
- Applied piano lesson
- Keyboard literature
- Piano pedagogy literature
- Accompanying
- Chamber
- Piano ensemble
- Other

3. Please select the courses that should be required for all MM piano pedagogy students.
(Part 1b)
Select all that apply
- Applied piano lesson
- Keyboard literature
- Piano pedagogy literature
- Accompanying
- Chamber
- Piano ensemble
- Other

4. Please select the courses that are ideal for all MM piano pedagogy students. (Part 2a)
Select all that apply
- Composition
- Music theory
- Music history
- Music bibliography / music research

81
- Jazz improvisation
- New music ensemble
- Music technology
- Other

5. Please select the courses that should be required for all MM piano pedagogy students.
(Part 2b)
Select all that apply
- Composition
- Music theory
- Music history
- Music bibliography / music research
- Jazz improvisation
- New music ensemble
- Music technology
- Other

6. Please select the textbooks you use in your pedagogy class.

Select all that apply
- Creative Piano Teaching by James Lyke
- How to Teach Piano Successfully by James Bastien
- Questions and Answers : Practice Advice for Piano Teachers by Frances Clarke
- Professional Piano Teaching (Vol. 1 & 2) by Jeanine Jacobson
- The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Marienne Uszler
- Practical Piano Pedagogy: The Definitive Text for Piano Teachers & Pedagogy Students
by Martha Baker-Jordan
- Other

7. Please select the reference books you recommend to your students.

Select all that apply
- Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire by Maurice Hinson
- Pianist’s Guide to Transcriptions, Arrangements, and Paraphrases by Maurice Hinson
- The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching & Performance Literature by Jane Magrath
- Piano Repertoire Guide by Cathy Albergo & Reid Alexander
- Other

8. Please select the additional recommended materials to your students.

Select all that apply
- Teaching Piano in Groups by Christopher Fisher
- The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook by Beth Klingenstein
- Thinking as You Play: Teaching Piano in Individual & Group Lesson by Sylvia Coats
- Etudes for Piano Teachers: Reflections on the Teachers’ Art by Steward Gordon
- Other

82
9. How important are music education courses for MM piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

10. How important are educational psychology courses for MM piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

11. How important are music theory courses for MM piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

12. How important is the internship/practicum for MM piano pedagogy students?

Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

13. Where do your piano pedagogy students gain their teaching experience?
Select all that apply
- Preparatory music program at university / college
- A university / college piano laboratory program
- Local music store
- Private students
- Observation of piano faculty and/or local piano teachers
- Not sure

14. Does your M.M. piano pedagogy program require applicants with previous teaching
experience?
- Yes
- No

15. “Yes”-If the student does not have teaching experience, what other related experience
would you consider?

16. “No”-How do you determine the applicant’s interests in piano teaching?

17. How do you feel about the present job market for piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not very optimistic; 10 = very optimistic

18. How many students currently enrolled in M.M. piano pedagogy program at your
university?
- 0
- 1-9
- 10-19
- 20-29
- 30-49
- 50 +

19. Which region of the country do you live in currently (legal residence)?

83
- Midwest: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI
- Northeast: CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
- Southeast: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV
- Southwest: AZ, NM, OK, TX
- West: AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY

20. What is your age?

- 18 to 24 years
- 25 to 34 years
- 35 to 44 years
- 45 to 54 years
- 55 to 64 years
- Age 65 or older

21. What is your gender?

- Female
- Male
- Other

22. What is the highest degree or level of education you have completed?
- Bachelor’s degree
- Master’s degree
- Doctoral degree:
o Ph. D
o D.M.A
o Ed. D

23. Which of your degrees were in, or included as a cognate (more than two classes), piano
pedagogy?
Select all that apply
- Bachelor’s degree
- Master’s degree
- Doctoral degree
o Ph. D.
o D.M.A
o Ed. D

24. As a faculty, have you engaged in professional development activities to improve your
teaching skill?
- Yes
- No

25. If “Yes”, please select the activities you have participated.

- Educational conference

84
- Local chapter event
- Masterclass
- Music festival
- Performance
- Reading pedagogical journal / research article
- Other

26. Interview.
You may have more detailed information or thoughts about your experiences and
expectations regarding the piano pedagogy field. Would you be willing to participate in a
brief phone interview? Interviews are confidential, all information will be kept in a secure
place and interviewees will not be identified in the text of the study or appendices.
- Yes
- No

27. (If “Yes”.)

“Thank you very much for willing to participate a phone interview. This survey does not
collect any personal information, such as name, email address, or phone number.
Therefore, in order to schedule an interview at your convenience, please send a message
to [email address], thank you very much!”

85
 Survey Questions: Current Master’s Piano Pedagogy Students
1. What qualities make a great piano teacher?
Select all that apply
- Knowledgeable at teaching
- Talented at piano playing
- Has good interpersonal skills
- Works to improve the teaching of piano
- Enjoy piano teaching
- All of the above
- Other

2. Please select the courses that are ideal for all MM piano pedagogy students. (Part 1a)
Select all that apply
- Applied piano lesson
- Keyboard literature
- Piano pedagogy literature
- Accompanying
- Chamber
- Piano ensemble
- Other

3. Please select the courses that should be required for all MM piano pedagogy students.
(Part 1b)
Select all that Apply
- Applied piano lesson
- Keyboard literature
- Piano pedagogy literature
- Accompanying
- Chamber
- Piano ensemble
- Other

4. Please select the courses that are ideal for all MM piano pedagogy students. (Part 2a)
Select all that apply
- Composition
- Music theory
- Music history
- Music bibliography / music research
- Jazz improvisation
- New music ensemble
- Music technology
- Other

86
5. Please select the courses that should be required for all MM piano pedagogy students.
(Part 2b)
Select all that apply
- Composition
- Music theory
- Music history
- Music bibliography / music research
- Jazz improvisation
- New music ensemble
- Music technology
- Other

6. Please select the textbooks you have used in your pedagogy classes.
Select all that apply
- Creative Piano Teaching by James Lyke
- How to Teach Piano Successfully by James Bastien
- Questions and Answers : Practice Advice for Piano Teachers by Frances Clarke
- Professional Piano Teaching (Vol. 1 & 2) by Jeanine Jacobson
- The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Marienne Uszler
- Practical Piano Pedagogy: The Definitive Text for Piano Teachers & Pedagogy Students
by Martha Baker-Jordan
- Other

7. Please select the reference books you have used for your own teaching.
Select all that apply
- Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire by Maurice Hinson
- Pianist’s Guide to Transcriptions, Arrangements, and Paraphrases by Maurice Hinson
- The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching & Performance Literature by Jane Magrath
- Piano Repertoire Guide by Cathy Albergo & Reid Alexander
- Other

8. Please select the additional materials you have used for teaching.
Select all that apply
- Teaching Piano in Groups by Christopher Fisher
- The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook by Beth Klingenstein
- Thinking as You Play: Teaching Piano in Individual & Group Lesson by Sylvia Coats
- Etudes for Piano Teachers: Reflections on the Teachers’ Art by Steward Gordon
- Other

9. The following topics are frequently discussed in piano pedagogy class. Please select the
topic(s) that you think is (are) important.
Select all that apply
- Teaching strategies for varies levels and ages of students.
- Learning disabled & physically impaired students

87
- Teaching techniques: articulation, dynamics, music reading, etc.
- Repertoire
- Observation of other teachers’ teaching
- Student teaching in class
- Review Journal and article
- Career advice from faculty
- Other

10. How important are music education courses for MM piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

11. How important are educational psychology courses for MM piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

12. How important are music theory courses for MM piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

13. How important is the internship/practicum for MM piano pedagogy students?

Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

14. As a piano pedagogy student, where have you gained teaching experience?
Select all that apply
- Preparatory music program at university / college
- A university / college piano laboratory program
- Local music store
- Private students
- Observation of piano faculty and/or local piano teachers
- Other

15. Did you have teaching experience prior to your study in M.M. piano pedagogy program?
- Yes
- No

16. If “Yes”, please select the length of you previous teaching experience.
- Less than 6 months
- 1-2 years
- 3-4 years
- 5 years or more

17. How do you feel about the present job market for piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not very optimistic; 10 = very optimistic

18. What is your ideal job?

Select one from following

88
- University / college piano faculty
- Independent piano studio teacher
- Music store/company piano teacher
- Public school system piano teacher
- Something unrelated to piano teaching
- Other

19. Are you considering getting a Doctoral degree in piano pedagogy?

- Yes
- No
- Maybe

20. Which region of the country do you live in currently (legal residence)?
- Midwest: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI
- Northeast: CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
- Southeast: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV
- Southwest: AZ, NM, OK, TX
- West: AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY

21. What is your age?

- Under 18 years
- 18 to 24 years
- 25 to 34 years
- 35 to 44 years
- 45 to 54 years
- 55 to 64 years
- Age 65 or older

22. What is your gender?

- Female
- Male
- Other

23. As a piano pedagogy student, have you engaged in professional development activities to
improve your teaching besides piano pedagogy course?
- Yes
- No

24. If “Yes”, please select the professional development activities you have engaged in.
- Educational conference
- Local chapter event
- Masterclass
- Music festival

89
- Performance
- Reading pedagogical journal / research article
- Other

25. Interview.
You may have more detailed information or thoughts about your experiences and
expectations regarding the piano pedagogy field. Would you be willing to participate in a
brief phone interview? Interviews are confidential, all information will be kept in a secure
place and interviewees will not be identified in the text of the study or appendices.
- Yes
- No

26. (If “Yes”.)

“Thank you very much for willing to participate a phone interview. This survey does not
collect any personal information, such as name, email address, or phone number.
Therefore, in order to schedule an interview at your convenience, please send a message
to [email address], thank you very much!”

90
 Survey Questions: Former Master’s Piano Pedagogy Students
1. What qualities make a great piano teacher?
Select all that apply
- Knowledgeable at teaching
- Talented at piano playing
- Has good interpersonal skills
- Works to improve the teaching of piano
- Enjoy piano teaching
- All of the above
- Other

2. Please select the courses that are ideal for all MM piano pedagogy students. (Part 1a)
Select all that apply
- Applied piano lesson
- Keyboard literature
- Piano pedagogy literature
- Accompanying
- Chamber
- Piano ensemble
- Other

3. Please select the courses that should be required for all MM piano pedagogy students.
(Part 1b)
Select all that apply
- Applied piano lesson
- Keyboard literature
- Piano pedagogy literature
- Accompanying
- Chamber
- Piano ensemble
- Other

4. Please select the courses that are ideal for all MM piano pedagogy students. (Part 2a)
Select all that apply
- Composition
- Music theory
- Music history
- Music bibliography / music research
- Jazz improvisation
- New music ensemble
- Music technology
- Other

91
5. Please select the courses that should be required for all MM piano pedagogy students.
(Part 2b)
Select all that apply
- Composition
- Music theory
- Music history
- Music bibliography / music research
- Jazz improvisation
- New music ensemble
- Music technology
- Other

6. Please select the textbooks you used in your pedagogy classes.

Select all that apply
- Creative Piano Teaching by James Lyke
- How to Teach Piano Successfully by James Bastien
- Questions and Answers : Practice Advice for Piano Teachers by Frances Clarke
- Professional Piano Teaching (Vol. 1 & 2) by Jeanine Jacobson
- The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Marienne Uszler
- Practical Piano Pedagogy: The Definitive Text for Piano Teachers & Pedagogy Students
by Martha Baker-Jordan
- Other

7. Please select the reference books you use for your own teaching.
Select all that apply
- Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire by Maurice Hinson
- Pianist’s Guide To Transcriptions, Arrangements, and Paraphrases by Maurice Hinson
- The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching & Performance Literature by Jane Magrath
- Piano Repertoire Guide by Cathy Albergo & Reid Alexander
- Other

8. Please select the additional materials you use for your own teaching
Select all that apply
- Teaching Piano in Groups by Christopher Fisher
- The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook by Beth Klingenstein
- Thinking as You Play: Teaching Piano in Individual & Group Lesson by Sylvia Coats
- Etudes for Piano Teachers: Reflections on the Teachers’ Art by Steward Gordon
- Other

9. The following topics are frequently discussed in piano pedagogy class. Please select the
topics that were beneficial to your teaching.
Select all that apply
- Teaching strategies for varies levels and ages of students.
- Learning disabled & physically impaired students

92
- Teaching techniques: articulation, dynamics, music reading, etc.
- Repertoire
- Observation of other teachers’ teaching
- Student teaching in class
- Review Journal and article
- Career advice from faculty
- Other

10. How important are music education courses for piano educators?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

11. How important are educational psychology courses for piano educators?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

12. How important are music theory courses for piano educators?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

13. How important is the internship/practicum for piano educators?

Scale 1-10. 1 = not at all; 10 = extremely important

14. As a former piano pedagogy student, where did you gain your teaching experience during
study in M.M. program?
Select all that apply
- Preparatory music program at university / college
- A university / college piano laboratory program
- Local music store
- Private students
- Observation of piano faculty and/or local piano teachers
- Other

15. Please select the length of you teaching experience.

- 1 years
- 2-5 years
- 6-9 years
- 10 years or more

16. How do you feel about the present job market for piano pedagogy students?
Scale 1-10. 1 = not very optimistic; 10 = very optimistic

17. Is your current profession related to piano teaching?

- Yes
- No

18. If “Yes”. What is your current profession?

Select all that apply

93
- University / college piano faculty
- Independent piano studio teacher
- Music store/company piano teacher
- Public school system piano teacher
- Other

19. Which region of the country do you live in currently (legal residence)?
- Midwest: IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI
- Northeast: CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT
- Southeast: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV
- Southwest: AZ, NM, OK, TX
- West: AK, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY

20. What is your age?

- Under 18 years
- 18 to 24 years
- 25 to 34 years
- 35 to 44 years
- 45 to 54 years
- 55 to 64 years
- Age 65 or older

21. What is your gender?

- Female
- Male
- Other

22. When did you receive your Master’s degree in piano pedagogy?
- Less than 1 year
- 1-4 years ago
- 5-9 years ago
- 10-14 years ago
- More than 15 years

23. As a piano educator, have you engaged in professional development activities to improve
your teaching skills?
- Yes
- No

24. If “Yes”, please select the professional development activities you have engaged in.
- Educational conference
- Local chapter event
- Masterclass
- Music festival

94
- Performance
- Reading pedagogical journal / research article
- Other

25. Interview.
You may have more detailed information or thoughts about your experiences and
expectations regarding the piano pedagogy field. Would you be willing to participate in a
brief phone interview? Interviews are confidential, all information will be kept in a secure
place and interviewees will not be identified in the text of the study or appendices.
- Yes
- No

26. (If “Yes”.)

“Thank you very much for willing to participate a phone interview. This survey does not
collect any personal information, such as name, email address, or phone number.
Therefore, in order to schedule an interview at your convenience, please send a message
to [email address], thank you very much!”

95
 APPENDIX B

INTERVIEW GUIDE

Current Students

1. What part of your experience in the MM piano pedagogy program stands out as the most

valuable?

2. What is your overall perception regarding the curriculum in your program?

3. How do various piano pedagogy courses affect your teaching?

4. What are your career goals?

5. How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?

6. Do you have any improvement suggestions for master’s piano pedagogy programs?

7. Do you have any suggestions for incoming new piano pedagogy students?

Former Students

1. What part of your experience in the MM piano pedagogy program stands out as the most

valuable?

2. What is your overall perception regarding the teacher preparation / education provided by

your school?

3. How did various piano pedagogy courses affect your teaching?

4. What are your career goals?

5. How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?

6. Do you have any improvement suggestions for master’s piano pedagogy programs?

7. Do you have any suggestions for future piano teachers?

96
Faculty Members

1. What do you hope your piano pedagogy students accomplish during their master’s study?

2. How do you assess your students’ teaching potential?

3. Compared to undergraduate piano pedagogy courses, what elements/topics/components

should be required/emphasized in graduate piano pedagogy classes?

4. How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?

5. Do you have any suggestions for early-career piano teachers?

97
 APPENDIX C

LIST OF TEXTBOOKS AND REFERENCE BOOKS

1. The Art of Teaching Piano by Denes Agay

2. Piano Repertoire Guide by Cathy Albergo & Reid Alexander

3. Coffee With Ray by Nick Ambrosino

4. How to Teach Piano Successfully by James Bastien

5. The Art of Practicing: A Guide to Making Music from the Heart by Madeline Bruser

6. A Piano Teacher’s Legacy by Richard Chronister

7. Questions and Answers: Practice Advice for Piano Teachers by Frances Clarke

8. Thinking as You Play: Teaching Piano in Individual & Group Lesson by Sylvia Coats

9. Intelligent Music Teaching: Essays on the Core Principles of Effective Instruction by

Robert Duke

10. Chopin: Pianist and Teacher: As Seen by His Pupils by Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger et al.

11. Teaching Piano in Groups by Christopher Fisher

12. Piano Duet Repertoire (2nd ed. 2016): Music Originally Written for One Piano, Four

Hands by Christopher Fisher, Cameron McGraw, et al.

13. Music for the Piano by James Friskin & Irwin Fredundlich

14. Etudes for Piano Teachers: Reflections on the Teachers’ Arts Bb Steward Gordon

15. Fourth Finger on B-Flat by Joanne Haroutounian

16. Guide to The Pianists Repertoire by Maurice Hinson

17. Pianist’s Guide to Transcriptions, Arrangements, and Paraphrases by Maurice Hinson

18. The Pianist’s Dictionary by Maurice Hinson

98
19. Professional Piano Teaching (Vol. 1&2) by Jeanine Jacobson

20. The Practice Revolution by Philip Johnston

21. Practical Piano Pedagogy: The Definitive Text for Piano Teachers & Pedagogy Students

by Martha Baker-Jordan

22. The Independent Piano Teacher’s Studio Handbook by Beth Klingenstein

23. Guidelines for Style Analysis: Expanded 2nd Edition with Models for Style Analysis, A

Companion Text by Jan Larue

24. Creative Piano Teaching by James Lyke et al.

25. The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching & Performance Literature by Jane Magrath

26. What Every Pianist Needs to Know about the Body by Thomas Mark Et Al.

27. On Piano Playing: Motion, Sound, and Expression by Gyorgy Sandor

28. Playing Beyond the Notes: A Pianist’s Guide to Musical Interpretation by Deborah Sinn

29. The Well-Tempered Keyboard Teacher by Marienne Uszler Et Al.

30. Play It Again, Sam: What, Why , and When to Repeat by Marienne Uszler

31. Time Flies: How to Make the Best Use of Teaching Time by Marienne Uszler

32. That’s a Good Question: How to Teach by Asking Questions by Marienne Uszler

33. The Royal Conservatory of Music Official Examination Syllabus

99
 APPENDIX D

LIST OF 62 UNIVERSITY NAMES

Following institutions currently offering master’s piano pedagogy degree:

SOUTH

1. Florida State University

2. University of South Florida

3. University of Miami

4. Georgia State University

5. Samford University

6. University of Central Oklahoma

7. University of Oklahoma

8. University of Houston

9. Texas Christian University

10. University of Texas-San Antonio

11. Baylor University

12. University of Texas-Austin

13. Texas Tech University

14. Stephen F. Austin State University

15. Southern Methodist University

16. University of South Carolina-Columbia

17. East Carolina University

18. University of North Carolina

100
 19. Bob Jones University

20. University of Louisiana

21. Louisiana State University

22. George Mason University

23. University of Tennessee

24. Western Kentucky University

25. West Virginia University

26. Arkansas State University

27. The Catholic University of America

28. Peabody Conservatory

29. Campbellsville University

WEST

30. University of Colorado-Boulder

31. University of Denver

32. Arizona State University

33. University of Idaho

34. University of Utah

35. University of Oregon

36. California State University

MIDWEST

37. Wichita State University

38. University of Missouri-Columbia

101
 39. University of Central Missouri

40. Southern Illinois University

41. Western Illinois University

42. University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign

43. Northwestern University

44. Bowling Green State University

45. Ohio State University

46. University of Ohio

47. Michigan State University

48. Central Michigan University

49. Eastern Michigan University

50. University of Michigan

51. University of Wisconsin-Madison

52. Butler University

53. Ball State University

54. University of Iowa

55. University of Northern Iowa

56. University of Nebraska

57. Southern Illinois University

NORTH

58. Westminster Choir College

59. Pennsylvania State University

60. Temple University

102
61. University of Hartford

62. West Chester University

103
 APPENDIX E

EMAIL LETTERS TO PIANO PEDAGOGY FACULTY

Subject: Piano Pedagogy Research Project invitation

Dear Prof. _____

My name is Xiaoke Cheng and I am a Ph. D. candidate in Music Education-Piano Pedagogy at Florida
State University. The reason I am writing this letter to ask for your assistance with my doctoral research
project “Perceptions of Collegiate and Early-career Piano Teachers Regarding Master’s Piano
Pedagogy Degree Programs”.

I would like you to participate in an online survey about your perceptions regarding master’s piano
pedagogy programs. Additionally, I need your help to forward the survey link to your current enrolled
master’s degree piano pedagogy students and students who have completed an M.M. Degree in piano
pedagogy at your school within five years (2010-2015).

Your response will be greatly appreciated. You may simply reply this email address [email address]. All
responses will be confidential and the researcher do not collect identifying information such as name,
email address or phone number.

If you choose to participate, you and your students will be asked to complete an online survey that deals
with the following:

1. Topics and materials in master’s piano pedagogy courses.

2. How piano pedagogy courses affected perceptions of piano teaching?
3. Teaching experience prior to master’s degree program.
4. Concepts/experiences in piano teaching that early-career piano teachers perceive as valuable from
their study?

You and your students may have more detailed information or thoughts about the experiences and
expectations regarding the piano pedagogy field. Would you be willing to participate in a brief phone
interview? Interviews are confidential, all information will be kept in a secure place and interviewees will
not be identified in the text of the study or appendices.

If you have any questions, please contact me at [phone number] or [email address], or my doctoral
advisor Dr. William Fredrickson at [phone number] or [email address].

104
Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Xiaoke Cheng

105
Subject: Piano Pedagogy Research Survey

Dear Prof. _____

Thank you very much for being willing to participate in my doctoral research project. I would like you to
complete an online survey (please find the link below) about your perceptions regarding master’s piano
pedagogy programs. Additionally, I need your help to forward the following message including this
survey link to your current enrolled Master’s degree piano pedagogy students and students who have
completed a Master’s degree in piano pedagogy at your school within five years (2010-2015).

[Survey link]

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely,

Xiaoke Cheng

Ph. D. candidate at Florida State University

Dear Piano teachers

My name is Xiaoke Cheng and I am a Ph. D. candidate in Piano Pedagogy-Music Education at Florida
State University. I am inviting you to participate in a study that is designed to gather information
regarding how the design of Master’s piano pedagogy degree programs are perceived by current and
future piano educators.

Participation in this study involves completing a short online survey that will take 5-8 minutes. All
responses will be confidential and the survey does not collect identifying information such as name, email
address or phone number. Please click the link below to access the survey, and complete it by March 10,
2016. [Survey link]

If you have any questions, please contact me at [phone number] or [email address], or my doctoral
advisor Dr. William Fredrickson at [phone number] or [email address].

Thank you for your participation!

Sincerely,

Xiaoke Cheng

106
 APPENDIX F

IRB APPROVALS

The Florida State University

Office of the Vice President For Research
Human Subjects Committee
Tallahassee, Florida 32306-2742
(850) 644-8673 · FAX (850) 644-4392

APPROVAL MEMORANDUM

Date: 2/1/2016

To: Xiaoke Cheng

Dept.: MUSIC SCHOOL

From: Thomas L. Jacobson, Chair

Re: Use of Human Subjects in Research

Perceptions of Collegiate and Early-career Piano Teachers Regarding Master's Piano Pedagogy
Degree Program

The application that you submitted to this office in regard to the use of human subjects in the
proposal referenced above have been reviewed by the Secretary, the Chair, and one member of
the Human Subjects Committee. Your project is determined to be Expedited per per 45 CFR §
46.110(7) and has been approved by an expedited review process.

The Human Subjects Committee has not evaluated your proposal for scientific merit, except to
weigh the risk to the human participants and the aspects of the proposal related to potential risk
and benefit. This approval does not replace any departmental or other approvals, which may be

107
required.

If you submitted a proposed consent form with your application, the approved stamped consent
form is attached to this approval notice. Only the stamped version of the consent form may be
used in recruiting research subjects.

If the project has not been completed by 1/30/2017 you must request a renewal of approval for
continuation of the project. As a courtesy, a renewal notice will be sent to you prior to your
expiration date; however, it is your responsibility as the Principal Investigator to timely request
renewal of your approval from the Committee.

You are advised that any change in protocol for this project must be reviewed and approved by
the Committee prior to implementation of the proposed change in the protocol. A protocol
change/amendment form is required to be submitted for approval by the Committee. In addition,
federal regulations require that the Principal Investigator promptly report, in writing any
unanticipated problems or adverse events involving risks to research subjects or others.

By copy of this memorandum, the Chair of your department and/or your major professor is
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This institution has an Assurance on file with the Office for Human Research Protection. The
Assurance Number is FWA00000168/IRB number IRB00000446.

Cc: William Fredrickson, Advisor

HSC No. 2015.17184

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 APPENDIX G

CONSENT FORM

109
 APPENDIX H

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

Transcript Markings

\\ \\ Identification information

= = Pause

[…] Unclear content

( ) Denote

I = Interviewer

P = Participant

MPP = Master’s Piano Pedagogy

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 Participant One
Collegiate Piano Teacher
I: Are you a graduate student in a master’s piano pedagogy degree program?
P: Yes. I am = = I just started one semester ago. But I am a first year Master’s Degree student at
the University of \\ \\.
I: Okay. What part of your experience is the most valuable during your master’s degree?
P: Hm, = = the most valuable? Probably the pedagogy classes I’ve had so far, it really helped
sharpen my teaching skills, I think. It helped me become a better teacher over all.
I: What is your overall perception regarding your curriculum in your program?
P: The overall program?
I: Yes. The overall requirements.
P: I think it’s very well-rounded. What I had so far has really made me better overall as a
musician and teacher. And I think the other requirements I’ll have to do are just further develop
me in that sense. I think the program that they have here at University of \\ \\ is very a good one,
actually.
I: Okay, do you take any music education classes?
P: Music education classes = = Not in my master’s so far, I don’t think that any are required and
then I don’t think any in my undergraduate. It was all like keyboard performance and then music
history. But no music education type courses, no.
I: Okay, are you a teaching assistant?
P: Yes, Ma’am.
I: What class are you teaching?
P: I teach a section of Class Piano II currently, and last semester I taught two sections of Class
Piano I.
I: So, besides the teaching assistantship, class piano. Any other resource for you to gain your
teaching experience?
P: I also = = Well, as a teaching assistant here, besides the Class Piano, I also have two private
students assigned to me. One is also taking Class Piano but needs some extra help to get and
meet the requirements. And the other one is an undergraduate non-music major that just wants
to take piano. And then during my undergraduate for my first year of college, I had one student
that I taught weekly. One private student. And then my last year as an undergraduate I had, = =

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I believe it was five students, including the one I taught from the very beginning. So I’ve had
some = = they were all beginners. Young children for the most part.
I: I’m looking at the requirements for your degree, you have Suzuki Piano Method internship,
correct?
P: It’s either Suzuki Piano method or the internship. This semester = = Yeah, the teacher that
teaches the Suzuki method was going to retire this year and she was not going to do the Suzuki
method this semester. So I was originally going to sign up for the internship, but she decided to
actually do the Suzuki so I’m actually taking the Suzuki book I course right now.
I: Okay. Do you know other students in your program? How do they do their internship courses?
P: Hm = = I know two who are doing internship right now. I’m not exactly sure how it goes. I
haven’t talk too much to them about it. But I think they meet weekly and then they have a
student that each of them teaches with the pedagogy professor watching. I think that’s the way it
goes, but I am not sure.
I: What is your plan after you graduate?
P: Well, after I graduate, eventually at some point I think I want to have a private studio where I
teach beginning piano to like children and teenagers. Maybe not just beginning but also upper
level. I don’t want to do anything in college, I don’t think. I don’t think being a college teacher
is in the cards so to speak. I’m not sure whether that is going to happen right after I finish my
Master’s degree or if I’m going to do military time first. It’s just up in the air a little bit right
now, but that’s my ultimate goal, I think. = = To be able to teach people piano and to share music
and what I love about music with them.
I: Good. Are you considering getting a doctoral degree in pedagogy?
P: No, Ma’am. I don’t believe that I will pursue it any further than my master’s.
I: How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?
P: It’s pretty slim, from what I can tell. Ms. \\ \\ , my pedagogy professor was just talking to us
the other day about how hard it is to get a job in the piano market, that’s kind of why I want to go
the independent route. So I can set my own schedule fees and everything like that.
I: Do you want to be an independent piano teacher?
P: Yes, Ma’am.
I: Okay. Do you have any improvement suggestions for MPP programs?
P: I don’t think so, I think what we have right here is rock solid and it’s turning out really good

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piano teachers. Just my experience here so far with myself and just watching my peers and what
they’re doing, I mean. = = They’re all = = It’s an amazing program here. And faculty are
amazing as well. So its rock solid and its very good.
I: Do you have any suggestions for incoming new piano pedagogy students?
P: Let’s see here = = I would definitely study up on your piano literature before coming and
taking the diagnostic exams because I remember = = we took our diagnostics exam. And then we
had a special for like piano pedagogy majors. I did not do so well on that one. I couldn’t
remember all the editions of the like the Beethoven Sonatas that are out there and all that over
stuff. I was like, man, = = I should have studied up a little more on this. I did study up pretty
well for the general diagnostics on music history and music theory. And that’s something that
incoming pedagogy majors would really want to study up for. But, if there is one thing I would
like to go back and do over the summer was probably hit up the piano literature a bit more.
I: So you suggest to take piano literature before they take the diagnostic exam? Correct?
P: Right. I mean, = = most undergraduate courses have for piano pedagogy or piano performance
majors, they have piano literature requirements. I would say make sure you go back and review
that. Know some of the basic things about that, so.
I: Other than the requirements, any other electives in your curriculum?
P: I don’t think so. There are a couple electives = = well, one elective that I’m looking to take,
maybe next spring just to fill up some hours. And I think it’s a piano technology class where you
learn how to work on a piano and tune it and what not. I know some students that are in that
right now. I don’t think I would make that a requirement for the degree, but I would highly
recommend the course. Just to learn how a piano works and to be able to do simple fixes and
what not on it if you need to.
I: Thank you so much for your wonderful information!
P: My pleasure, Ma’am, have a wonderful day!

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 Participant Two
Collegiate Piano Teacher
I: Are you currently a student in master’s piano pedagogy program?
P: Yes, I just finished my undergraduate degree in piano pedagogy at \\ \\ University. I’m doing
my master’s degree in here at \\ \\ University.
I: Okay, Is this your first year in this program?
P: Yes, this is my first year, second semester. Right.
I: What part of your experience stands out as the most valuable?
P: First, I think, Piano Pedagogy class is very important. Second, yes, the piano materials class is
very, very helpful.
I: Can I ask, what is this piano material class?
P: This is about the materials, all the different kinds music, = = musical. Like piano […]. Like all
this kind of music, and also we learn about the material for different level of the students. And in
concerts we have like a music progression where we set up two levels for students, we learn how
difficult the pieces are for the students for each level of students. How difficult or how easy. […]
these things many years ago in undergraduate. So yeah.
I: Anything else?
P: Oh, piano literature is very important. We have two semesters of piano literature, we listen to
a lot of music, and that is very important. History of the piano, yeah.
I: How do you feel about the overall curriculum in your program?
P: I’m sorry, can you repeat that again? I’m very sorry.
I: It’s okay! What do you feel about the overall curriculum degree requirement in your program?
P: Are you talking about the undergraduate or the graduate?
I: The graduate.
P: Graduate? Uhm, I think we need more = = piano lessons. Most of my class are related to
piano pedagogy, this is very important and valuable, but I still think we need to take piano
lessons. We have to improve our piano skills. But we are only allowed to take 8 credits and that’s
not very much. I think we need more piano lessons.
I: Okay. So how many semesters do you need to take applied piano lessons?
P: It depends! If you take two credit classes, I think it took, six semesters, sorry, I forgot the
number, also you can take four credits per semester that means you have finished in one

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semester. Uhm, two credits. That would be like two years, so it really depends on how many
credits you are taking a semester.
I: How many recitals you need to play?
P: Oh yes, we have two choices for piano pedagogy major. You can do one recital and have a
lecture or you can do a big professional presentation study. But I’ve heard of that it’s like a two
or three hour presentation.
I: Two to three hour presentation?
P: Oh! Or one to two hours! Yeah, yeah. You don’t have to do the recital if you do that. If you
do a recital, for example, a lecture, I don’t know how long it is. But when I worked, and when I
was in undergraduate, I needed about 20 minute or something lecture. But I also did a senior
recital. For Master’s degree, I don’t want to do the long presentation. I rather play a recital, yeah.
I: Do you have comprehensive exam for this degree?
P: I don’t think so. But we have to take four classes that is for all the music major students who
want to get a Master’s degree. Two semester of music history, one semester of music theory, one
semester of the […] class. So yeah, we have to pass with at least a C for these classes, in order to
get the Master’s degree. Yeah.
I: Let’s go back to the piano pedagogy courses, how do you feel about the topics covered in the
classes, the pedagogy classes?
P: I think the topics are very good. We are not just doing like talking or reading the book or
writing a paper for the class, we also have to go out to observe other piano teachers. We also
have to read the books, and do a book report. Also read articles and do a report. Also we have to
record our own piano teaching, then we have to do lesson plans, after the lessons plans then we
have to record the piano lessons. We also have to write a report for our own teachings. And then
the teacher will review our recordings and write some comments for us. That is very helpful.
Yeah, we did a lot of observations for this class! I am very busy when I take pedagogy classes!
I: The observation part was very helpful for your teaching, right?
P: Yes, very, very helpful. When I go out to observe other teachers, we have a lot of local piano
teachers help us. That is very, very helpful too. Yeah.
I: Anything else?
P: I think that’s it. Yes. That is all about the pedagogy class. Very helpful. Yeah.
I: Very good. So what about your plans for after you graduate?

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P: = = I’m thinking I will teach at a school. Now I have about = = 15 students. I probably rather
stay at home than teach at home = =
I: Did you say that you have 15 students in your studio?
P: Yes. I have 15 this semester, yes.
I: Are these students your private students?
P: My private students and also my private students from the school. Also I teach two classes
from the school.
I: That’s your assistantship, yes?
P: Yes. Actually, I teach two classes, each class has about 9 to 11 students. I also have my own
private students, but also from the school. Students who are not music majors but who take non-
music major piano lessons, there are about 7 students. Then I have my own students, about 7 or
8.
I: Oh! You are very busy!
P: Yes! I want to make my own studio here and teach students.
I: Very good! Are you considering about getting a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy?
P: I really want to! I don’t have that much money! I don’t think I’m good enough to get a
doctoral degree, I really want to, yes. If I can.
I: So maybe in your plans, yes?
P: Yes. That is another thing, if I can get a doctoral degree and also maybe get a scholarship or
teaching at a school.
I: How do you feel about today’s market for piano teachers?
P: Okay. First, = = I think the pay of piano lessons is too low. That’s the first thing. Second, I’m
a very strict teacher, I come from Asia. So, I’m not really sure. That is a big difference, yeah. I
think it’s really hard to be a full time piano teacher, like if you have your own studio with full
time teaching. You can’t really depend on this for a living because the pay is very, very low. You
know, at \\ \\ State, in the very middle of America, the job market is very = = not very good.
I: Are there many piano teachers in your area?
P: Yes, we have a lot of good piano teachers in this area, yes!
I: Okay. Are you going to an organization, like MTNA = =?
P: Yes! I went to the MTNA = = I am a member and I go to the conference every year.
I: Okay, do you have any improvement suggestions for MPP program? Regarding the

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curriculum?
P: I think it’s already very, very good. We have a lot of work to do and we’re very busy. We
learned a lot from our teachers from the class. I think = = yeah, a lot. We also have the
elementary piano principal that we will all be there to judge. We need a lot of steps, not only for
the class but after the class we need a lot too. I think that this is already very good for us. They
can ask us to do more piano lessons for our piano, I think that is important.
I: Do you have any suggestions for incoming new piano pedagogy students?
P: Are you talking about the new freshman of the graduate program or?
I: I’m talking about the graduate students, the incoming graduate students for MPP program.
P: First is teaching, start teaching. As many as you can, get students for teaching experience and
also reading a lot of books. Our school’s music history class was very difficult! So these history
classes are very difficult, so watch out for that. We have tough teachers before. Take those
courses separately. And also we have too much work of pedagogy class and also the music
history.
I: You don’t have much time to practice, correct?
P: Yes! Because I have a lot of work to do for class, like reading or something. That I cannot
spend hours of practice.
I: You mentioned piano pedagogy class, how many semesters do you need to take the classes?
How many classes do they offer?
P: Let me think. = = Probably, five classes for pedagogy. Because you have to take the studio 1,
piano pedagogy class, you also have to take piano […] like four or five semesters. One of my
teachers asked me to retake some classes because our previous teacher is retired.
I: What course do you need to retake?
P: No, I don’t have to retake because she said she teaches it different so she wants me to retake.
Okay, I almost have it = = Just a second!
I: Take your time.
P: Yes, I got it! = = for piano pedagogy program, total for piano pedagogy program, we have to
take 32 hours. We have to take 6 credit hours of piano class, piano lessons. That means you can
finish in one or two or three semesters. Then for pedagogy class we need to take group piano
pedagogy, studio piano, then piano pedagogy seminar, so that’s three. And then piano literature.
I: So, you said group piano?

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P: Yeah.
I: Then studio teaching?
P: Yeah, studio teaching.
I: How many semesters was studio teaching? One?
P: One semester. Two credits. Yeah, and then piano pedagogy seminar.
I: Well, what’s the seminar do?
P: I’m taking this class right now, this semester it is = = like = = our teacher has two students,
one is at the intermediate level and the other is just beginning. She asked us to teach those two
students then she will be there to observe our teaching, then […]
I: Does your professor make teaching plan for you?
P: Yes. She will decide what piece I teach.
I: Okay, thank you.

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 Participant Three
Collegiate Piano Teacher
I: What part of your experience in master’s piano pedagogy (MPP) stands out most valuable?
P: I would have to say the class discussions that we have, and hearing the other students ideas
and experiences who have done some more teaching or have encountered difficulties or solutions
to certain problems with teaching and also = = I have enjoyed getting to start the practicum that
we’re going to teach = = that was pretty much my first experience with teaching.
I: What is your overall perception regarding the MPP curriculum?
P: Overall perception? I think it’s pretty well structured in giving certain times for teaching,
learning how to teach beginners, and learning how to teach intermediate students which I’ll be
doing next year. But, I think it’s paced pretty well and the students = = we have things that
we’re interested in or have more questions on that can be addressed in class and that […].
I: What about other courses?
P: Oh, okay! I think it’s pretty fair with what we’re required to do with history and theory, yeah,
just like everyone else. = = I don’t know as much as everyone else about that yet but we’re kind
of starting at least with some research with like our project, within our class this semester we
have to conduct a study within our beginner class. So, it’s kind of a good stepping for people
who haven’t done that much research.
I: Do you need to play recital for this degree?
P: Yes. = =
I: What about keyboard literature courses?
P: Yeah, it’s a little different. There’s only one, right?
I: Yeah. What do you think about that?
P: I think I still stand by it. Like, yeah, it guess it fits with the credit numbers and its kind of why
they did that but I think it’s beneficial for pedagogy students. = = Literature classes and getting =
= foundation and repertoire. I think it’s important for teaching students = = learning how to […].
There is a practicum catch to recurrent pedagogy students. And I think it’s just because Dr. \\ \\
(piano pedagogy professor) this year, so she wanted to start out her semester with it but there
wasn’t time to establish getting students and getting okays on the […]. I think in the future there
will definitely be a practicum attached to both the beginner students and the […] students at next
year. We’re going to have an advanced students we’ll be have to be teaching all of next year.

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I: Besides teaching in pedagogy class, where other places can you get teaching experience?
P: Where can I get teaching experience? = = I think that’s where other students have = = are
teaching = = some people are at teaching studios and […] to teach. = = So this is my first year,
so I’m not as established in the area, but I’m looking, like, from our practicum, like the parents
and students. I have at least one student […] or a church […] if they’re interested in that […].
Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking but I think it would be cool if we had a community arts school,
like precollege. So that we have that population to work with. Maybe that’s an idea for the
future.
I: Okay, what’s your plan after you graduate?
P: My plan after I graduate is open-ended. I would like to teach in some way or in some form, I
like that idea of teaching students = = Yeah.
I: What age groups you feel more comfortable to teach with?
P: I have a very, very open mind. So, I have not = = I can’t say I won’t teach them, or I like
teaching. I feel like I’m at a point that I’m still learning so much. So, I think, I’m getting more
comfortable with the idea of teaching = = but now I don’t want to teach. But you don’t really
have a choice sometimes, but I think = = my favorite, but I would like to teach not college, so.
High school and younger. I would consider that, I do not have experience but I would love to
teach adults, but probably not in a university.
I: Will you continue to study a doctoral degree?
P: Maybe, uhm. = = If you ask me right now, then no. But I would be open to it if it’s beneficial.
= = But my thinking right now is doing both performance and pedagogy Master’s degree and get
the most out of that.
I: What do you think about the job market for piano teachers?
P: I think that […] the really rich. I think that it really depends, but it just depends on where you
really go location wisely and what the job market is like in that area. Like, I come from a pretty
wealthy area where our parents aren’t afraid to shell out some money for high quality […]. But I
noticed that close […] that isn’t that case. So it really depends on where you go. So if I want to
go to a place that’s more like lower income, then I’m probably not going to be able to make that
much money. But it’s kind of […] or partially.
I: Do you have any suggestions for the master’s piano pedagogy program?
P: The community school of arts would be good. I think it would be good idea for research as

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well as teaching experience, and internship. = = I see a lot of […] program. I think I see a lot of
positive directions, but I think that’s the main thing.
I: Any other suggestions for incoming piano pedagogy students?
P: I think that they want to be thinking about what they want within the field of piano pedagogy
at the graduate level. Thinking career wisely. I think that’s important, to test the waters. If you
think you want to go into research, first try it and see that’s maybe what you expected it to be
like. = = I don’t know. I feel like there is a lot of different things, I don’t think that you should
put yourself in a box like this is the curriculum. It’s important to look at the curriculum and talk
to the professors in different programs, and see what they specialize in. I think what you pull out
from […] is where you go. If you’re looking specifically at […] in terms of what I like to do.
I: I have one more question.
P: Sure.
I: You are taking applied piano lessons with your piano performance professor, and taking piano
pedagogy courses with a pedagogy professor. When you’re teaching, which side is more
essential to your teaching?
P: Personally, so far, = = for the performance side of it. I feel that because my lessons take place
in a more personal setting and something I can track steadily week to week, I find myself often
thinking about how my teacher is diagnosing/reacting to me as a student and the different
approaches she tries to help me achieve a specific goal or understand a certain concept. As a
teacher, I am trying to think like my student and figure out where they are coming from and I
feel like I can relate from my own experiences as a student. This is of course not to say that I
don't think much about what I have learned in my pedagogy class. I just think that for me, I tend
to internalize teaching concepts more deeply through tangible experiences. And often times, Dr.
\\ \\ (piano performance professor) will say “Pedagogically. This is a pedagogy lesson here” I
think that it’s more close of a relationship and actually struggling, and my teacher (piano
performance professor) is actually doing this and see the way she’s approaching for me. I
wouldn’t say = = I think it's important having those two different perspectives, even if they don’t
agree on something, I can kind of take a step back and look at both.
I: Okay, thank you.

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 Participant Four
Early-career Piano Teacher
P: I am a piano teacher and I also work, = = I’m on staff with a church.
I: Okay.
P: As their pianist.
I: Okay. What part of your experience in MPP program stand out as important and influential for
your piano teaching?
P: Uhm, hm. = = Well, in my program at \\ \\ University, when I went through they had four core
piano pedagogy classes. And I have to say there was one class that was about, I think it was just
called “organization and material”, but it covered a lot of different things: studio policy, your, =
= we hit on policies a lot, and how to teach, the different approaches in the method books, and it
had a lot of good general information in it and I think that was probably the most helpful.
I: Okay. How many piano pedagogy courses did you take?
P: There were four three-credit hour classes, at the time. I know they restructured the degree
since I left, but there were four three credit hour classes and then there was a couple of = = it was
an internship class that was one credit and you had to take it a couple times, but it involved you
recording your teaching and critiquing it. Things like that.
I: Four three-credit piano pedagogy classes.
P: And then the one credit hour one that we took a couple of times. Yeah, and it was an
internship, is what we called it.
I: Okay, well. Besides the internship, any other resources for you to get teaching experience
during your studies?
P: Well, \\ \\ University had a community arts music school where I could teach and earn money.
That was ideal, I mean, I kept quite a few students and got to get some experience while also
being in school, so that was really helpful.
I: What is your overall perception regarding the teacher preparation and teacher training
provided by your school?
P: Well, I learned a lot. I felt like \\ \\ University did a very good job preparing me for teaching.
I: What other courses? How do you feel about their curriculum?
P: Yeah, I had piano literature, and piano lessons, I gave a recital. I had the option of either
giving a recital or writing a thesis. So I took the recital option. And I took there was some really

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good electives to choose from, like, I took the pedagogy of music theory. That was a good
elective to take for piano pedagogy. Yeah, everything was, well, supported your general music
knowledge base.
I: Do you have teaching experience before you study master degree?
P: Oh, yes. I did. Yes. In undergrad they also had a similar program where students can teach
people from the community. In fact, I think when I auditioned to \\ \\ University I had to submit
a video of myself teaching a few lessons. = = like a part of the applying process, yes. I still had
to go and audition in person.
I: Okay. Did you have an in-person interview with the pedagogy professor there?
P: Yes.
I: Okay.
P: It was like interview and = = she was kind of got me started on advising what classes I should
sign up for and things like that.
I: What are your career goals?
P: Well, currently, uhm = = Well, right after I graduated from \\ \\ University in 2012, I moved
and then I began teaching for someone. = = for a music school in \\ \\ city, \\ \\ state. And I
actually I had a lot of life changes lately, got married a bought a house last year. And I’m
working on setting up a home studio now.
I: Congratulations!
P: Thank you! So, I was able to get some experience teaching for someone else. But now I’m
ready to start. I have about 10 students on = =. So I’m working towards not having to teach for
someone else and only having to teach for myself. So that’s my, I guess I would say that’s my
big career goal right now. I’m working on advertising and things like that.
I: Regarding the teaching in a home studio, do you have any challenge?
P: I guess just finding students has been a little challenging. They seem to come in first, different
times of the year they signed up. I don’t know, just getting my name out there just because I
haven’t had openings for a long time so I wasn’t trying to advertise. But now I’m hitting that
harder. Trying to figure out how people look for piano teachers.
I: Yeah. How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?
P: Well, I think I definitely, there is less piano teachers out there. At least, the ones that, this
may sound funny, but the ones that I know of are a good bit older than I am.

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I: Less piano teachers than before?
P: I think so. I don’t know. It also depends where you are at location would be huge. But I don’t
know if = = I haven’t figured out how to find the piano teachers in my town. Like I remember
MTNA, I’m the only one in my town that is in MTNA. So I don’t know who else is out there
because I have not run across them or I don’t know.
I: Okay. It is hard to find other piano teachers to make connections?
P: Yes, I would say so. In this town, it = = I mean, I know a few. I have friends around the \\ \\
city area who are also teachers, but I haven’t run across any within my own hometown.
I: Do you have any suggestions for MPP students? Any suggestions for them?
P: I would say, picking a good location after you graduate, one with people who are making
enough money to afford piano lessons, where you can have other opportunities accompanying,
an area that has a lot of schools and children. Probably my biggest word of advice for those
coming out of school because, I moved to a really good area and that helps me out quite a bit,
actually.
I: Okay. Do you have any suggestions for the MPP curriculum? Any improvement suggestions
for this degree program?
P: Well, I guess, I felt like the most important class in the whole degree, = = uhm, covered a lot
of different things. It is very important that they have their own policy, at least an ideal of what
it could be. I would say that it is really important to know what different method books are out
there and how they progressed and the different approaches to reading, and which one you agree
with or that you can work with.
I: Okay. Do you have any other thing that you would like to add? Anything else about piano
pedagogy?

P: It was really helpful to have that experience within school, like I had to do the community
school that my school had. So = = at the same time you could ask your professors or whoever for
advice on handling different things. I don’t know. That kind of a program is very helpful for
schools with a pedagogy program.
I: I have one more question, actually, that I want to add. Do you mind?
P: Oh, no! That’s fine!
I: About the internship that you mentioned. When you took that class did you make your own

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teaching plan or did your professor make the teaching plan for you?
P: We made our own teaching plans. They were = = Well, actually, you recorded one of your
students. And then, say, that one semester that it was a younger, 6 or 7, one of the students that
you already had. And you recorded them and then, there was a program that we could use and
we could add comments to the video. Like, this worked really well, I’m really glad I did this or
this didn’t go so well, I would try something else next time. And then your professor could make
comments within your teaching video.
I: Did you share your teaching video with your professor and your classmates?
P: My professor saw my video, and then we would meet as a class, she could show like snippets
of the video. Like, something she wanted to highlight in class that particular week.
I: Okay.
P: It was really helpful!
I: Thank you!

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 Participant Five
Early-career Piano Teacher
I: Is your profession related to piano teaching?
P: Yes. Yes, I am. In a home studio.
I: Okay. What’s your overall perception of your MPP program?
P: Uhm, = = I mean, I thought it was really very valuable. I guess I learned a lot about how to
run my own business, that kind of thing. And also, the teaching part of it as well. I got a lot of
hands on experience teaching which I think was really valuable and then I can continued my own
private lessons which helped me in a lot of ways with my teaching, as well.
I: What about your overall courses that you took in your program?
P: Besides the pedagogy courses or including the pedagogy courses?
I: Including.
P: Let’s see, we had an organization and materials course, and we had a piano technique course,
and then my second year we had, like, they changed the formatting while I was there. What used
to be two classes they put into one, and so we had style and interpretation and like this
psychology of teaching within one course, I think. And then we had to do two keyboard
internship classes, and so one focused more on private lessons, and then the second focused on
group teaching. = = Uh, what else did I take? I had to take a music history of the classical era,
and I took pedagogy of music theory and, like, well you know, like a chamber lessons for one
semester and private lessons. And I took an internship class, it wasn’t typically for pedagogy it
was just something that they offered.
I: What are your career goals? What is your expectation for your career?
P: I’m pretty happy with where I’m at right now because I’m teaching independently and also
accompanying at a university here in \\ \\ State. = = Uhm, eventually I think, I would eventually
want to move out of the home and start a little bit of a bigger business. I don’t have any huge
concrete plans, I don’t know that I intend to start like a music school or anything like that. I
don’t think that’s really something I would do. I don’t have any desire to be stuck doing
administration stuff all day. So maybe one day, I would move out of the home studio and maybe
not do as much for accompanying so I can teach more during the day. I have one adult group
class right now, I’m trying to start to get some stuff going and I feel like that’s somewhere that I
could go if I had more time. Right now with my accompanying work I have responsibilities and

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I can’t really do anything more than the one class I have.
I: When you think about the piano pedagogy courses you took before, what topics or what parts
of your courses have influenced you the most?
P: Like what part helps the most, basically?
I: Yeah. What topics have influenced your own teaching?
P: Uhm, well, I guess, if I can look back at the courses I took = = the organization and materials
course, which basically covered writing a studio policy and teaching philosophy but then also
basic approaches to teaching. I think that was all very helpful. And I also think that the
entrepreneurship class was very helpful because, I don’t know. I guess I think about the stuff I
learned in there a lot. I talked a little bit with the collegiate […] here in North \\ \\ city and \\ \\
city, that’s something that they are eager to learn more about, you know. Like, how do I write up
a contract for a company or how should I put together a studio policy? I think that’s really
important if you are going to have a solid business with a good reputation, to make sure people
are going to treat you with respect and = = Yeah, I would say, and then obviously the hands-on
experience, I was lucky enough to have a pedagogy assistantship so I got to do even more
teaching than I think maybe most pedagogy students do. But doing that and then I got to work
with my pedagogy instructor. She does a group class for 5 and 6 year old students, so I get to
work with that with her for a whole year, two semesters worth. It was very valuable to be able to
observe her teaching that much. Yeah.
I: Do you have any improvement suggestions, for master’s piano pedagogy program curriculum?
If you were the piano pedagogy professor, what kind of classes would you require the students to
take?
P: I guess, what I feel really grateful about going to \\ \\ University and working with prof. \\ \\,
she has an DMA and knows all about the business side. And I also took that entrepreneurship
class and I’m not sure how it is at other university, how much of an emphasis they put on the
business side of it. I guess, if I were to start a program I would make sure that there was a course
talking about that kind of stuff, like the entrepreneurship and the just kind of running your own
business. I don’t = = I guess that’s the one thing I would make sure that they had. I guess,
looking back I wish that I had maybe been observed more my own teaching. I got a very […]
from my group class internship, but then my other internship was taught by somebody else, but
sometimes I think I should have been observed more by […], = = But yeah. Like I said, I don’t

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know how other universities do it, but even more = = I got a lot of observation with my group
teaching but I didn’t get as much observation with the one on one teaching.
I: How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?
P: I mean, where I am, I think we need more piano teachers. I can’t = = I don’t know what my
situation is compared to other people, but in \\ \\ city area, I’m the youngest teacher here. I’ve
only been here since last August and I already have 15 students and I have a very short waiting
list. And so, we’ve got a couple kids who are graduating from university and then, excited that
at least one of them is planning to stick around and teach. Around here, I’m always trying to
convince people to come live in \\ \\ city. Not sure about where else, but.
I: Is there a MTNA local organization in your area?
P: Yep, yep. We have the \\ \\ area music teachers association. The University of \\ \\ has a
collegiate chapter as well.
I: Do you have any suggestions for beginning piano teachers?
P: Well, it depends what piano teachers. = = I mean, guess maybe, just = = you know, stretching
out to that local association and joining. There are tons of benefits from that. Even just for the
music that the teachers give away, they’re always bringing in music. But there = = it’s just there
insight is so valuable. A lot of ladies who are in our association have been around for a long time
and have a lot of good ideas about things. And plus, I think, as an independent teacher, those are
your colleagues. I don’t work in a school, I don’t see a lot of people my own age. Uhm, that kind
of stuff. Everyday. So being a part of an association makes a big difference. And I guess just
trying to be active and to keep up with the current, the things that are going on. Keeping in
touch. Lately I’ve been trying to watch more webinars. It feels like people are doing that more
often than enough. I think it’s a good way to try to stay up on what’s going without having the
expense of traveling or whatever. I think conferences are good too, but I don’t know that
everyone can afford to go every year. You know. So.
I: Webinar, yeah, is a very good way to get connections.
P: Yeah.
I: Okay! Anything else you want to add about piano teaching?
P: Trying to think = = I’m very glad that I got my Master’s degree in piano pedagogy. I don’t
think I would be as successful doing what I’m doing without it. It’s very valuable.
I: Are you considering to get a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy?

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P: Uhm, no. I don’t think I want to. I don’t feel more comfortable like teaching that far in
advanced. Like I don’t consider myself, like, this magnificent performer. I don’t perform music
that much. So I never really thought of doing my doctoral degree. I really like working with
intermediate level and as soon as I get a student that’s pushing really advanced, I think you
should go somewhere or work with someone else.
I: Thank you very much!
P: Absolutely, no problem.

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 Participant Six
Early-career Piano Teacher
I: Is your profession piano teacher?
P: Yes. I have my own studio.
I: Okay, what was the part that stands out as the most valuable for you during your MPP study?
P: It would be the teaching assistant for the community group class. That is not about of the
required curriculum. However, \\ \\ University has a very good community program. Community
art program, and we would teach of the private class and in front of the faculty that was teaching
our group class for the children, for 4 to 6 year olds. And, I would help teach that class every
Saturday. So, that had helped tremendous. I realized that I had been using the teaching materials
and the teaching concepts from that class in my own.
I: You gained teaching experience in the community program during your MPP study, correct?
P: Yes. That’s why I taught the private lessons, also being the teaching assistant for the group
class. So, one of the faculty is the main teacher for the group lesson and I am just there to assist
her. By observing the way she teaches, and seeing how she does lessons plans, how she handles
the group class, and basically how she runs the classes. It’s very helpful.
I: Okay. What about the overall MPP curriculum? What was your experience with other classes?
P: I like most of the classes and we were required to take three to four piano pedagogy related
courses. One is material and organization and the other is teaching style. I mean, the survey of
the different period of music and trying to teach in that style for that period of music. And the
other course is piano technique. One other course is about psychology. So, I would say that the
materials and organization and the teaching in style, survey of the techniques, repertoires, and
the psychology were very helpful.
I: How many years have you been teaching as an independent piano teacher?
P: I graduated two years ago. So, it’s about that much time.

I: What kind of challenges did you have or that you are having as being an independent piano
teacher?
P: I would say, I guess I would relate it to the first question that you asked me, what was the
most invaluable from my Master’s Degree and it’s the = = how the teacher ran the class, how the
teacher handled a difficult situation in the classroom. Like, let’s say = = because it’s a group

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class […] behavior issues. How she handled that. So, my biggest challenge is dealing with
unexpected situations, mostly relating to the student’s behavior and the parents. The dynamic
between the parents, students and myself. I guess it’s very […] because I teach […] I also invite
the parents to be a very active part of the class. So the parents learn along with the young
beginner, it is required. And that puts more effort on me, and work in my work because I have to
handle the dynamics between the students, parents and myself. And that’s something that we did
not address as much in the program.
I: Okay. How do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?
P: I think it really depends on where the teacher is, = = I would say that it’s challenging and it
will take several years before a teacher gets to establish, = = with forty students [...]. And you
know with that, I think the piano teacher’s salary, if they work fulltime and it’s still not in the
same category as a lot of other professions. And I believe that we as piano teachers couldn’t […]
into pursuing the degree and education and the private practice and performance. Somehow, I
feel like it’s a profession and sometimes it’s not appreciated as other professions, and lots of
parents think of the piano lessons as just like any other extracurricular activity. And it’s not
essential.
I: You have a lot of teaching experience, do you have any suggestions for beginning piano
teachers, recent graduates from MPP program? Any suggestions to them?
P: Uhm, = = I think, joining the MTNA Teacher Association really helps especially if the
teachers plan on having their own studio. Having that sense of community and improving
oneself is rewarding and, it’s just keeps the teacher learning. I really like MTNA, = = and also
lots of other associations like […]. So being involved in the music teacher association, going to
conferences, those are very good ways to keep improving and keep refreshing.
I: What is your career goals? What is your expectation for your career?
P: I have two separate goals for myself. One is teaching and the other is my performance. So for
teaching, I think, I am already doing it and I am very happy with my role as a teacher. I guess,
I’ve worked hard for what I achieved and I am living it every day. Uhm, I just enjoy teaching
and I love to share lots of […] to think of different ways to engage their students and that makes
me happy. So, just to see their smile and for parents to see that, it makes me happy. So, I would
say that my goals for teaching, the way that I see it now, of course I will keep changing the way I
teach. But yeah, just being able to react to good students and parents it makes me happy. And as

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for myself, I will be continuing to play and have more collaborations if […] with other
musicians. And I would like to keep taking lessons from master teachers, if possible. If time
allows.
I: Are there many piano teachers in your area?
P: A lot. I think they are not younger teachers than me. And, you know, a lot of teachers are my
age and a lot of great students have older teachers as well. I would say an age group ranging
from 20 something to, like the other day I saw a 90 year old teacher […]

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 Participant Seven
Early-career Piano Teacher
I: Are you a doctoral piano pedagogy student?
P: Yes, I am.
I: When did you, finish your master’s degree in piano pedagogy?
P: Um, in May of 2015.
I: Okay. Then what part of your experience in master’s piano pedagogy (MPP) stands out the
most valuable?
P: I would say = = since it is about pedagogy is probably the pedagogy classes. = = That was the
most relevant thing.
I: Piano pedagogy classes?
P: Right, the courses. And then perhaps in second place in to that would be my applied lessons.
I: Okay, applied piano lessons.
P: Right.
I: With your piano performance professor?
P: Yes.
I: What was your overall perception regarding the master’s piano pedagogy degree curriculum?
P: I think, we went through an interesting time in my masters, we had a big transitional time. So
this is actually I study with a third piano pedagogy instructor.
I: Okay.
P: = = In three years. Um, I think the teachers were very knowledgeable. I think the master’s
program basically expected us, as students to come up with our own experience. To come to the
table with our own previous teaching experience and we were basically left to complete our own
projects apart from a few instructions that were given. So, as far as preparation goes, I’d say that
the teachers were knowledgeable but I think they were largely = = early on with the first teacher,
I don’t know if I can mention names in this study, but the first teacher, I think, was largely
“hands off” than our second teacher, who was also largely “hands off”. This third one, is a little
more willingly to ask how our projects are coming along and offer some input. But, still, I think
they gave us the instruction and they […] afterwards. If I had to describe the teachers in one
expression, it would be hands off.
I: Hands off = = is a good thing or = =?

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P: I think it can be both. I understand that hands off can help us be independent, at this point
most of our ideas are going to be valid, I think sometimes it would be nice if the teachers made
us do more of their systems just to give us the experience of operating through their system and
then we could pick and choose which parts we wanted to use.
I: Is there any difference between these three piano pedagogy instructors regarding their
teaching?
P: Well, the first teacher, the first teacher had a list, the teacher has us compile a large anthology
of repertoire it was at least 30 pieces and so we had to write little descriptive paragraphs about
each one. But a lot of the other assignments they were pretty informal, we didn’t have to do a lot
of academic citations and stuff. We had to read journal articles and write summaries, but this
teacher was not very picky about my format, what kind of writing style I used, so I was able just
to generate the content and it seemed to be well received. The content was what was most
important, = = but it was largely projects such as music anthologies, uh, = = collection of Etudes,
a collection of pieces based on a certain topic from different eras. = = The second teacher I didn’t
take the pedagogy class with, I took the pedagogy practicum. This teacher was more interested
in developing my side of using the technology side of things, so in the pedagogy practicum I had
to record a student = = I actually ended up teaching a secondary music major student for my
practicum, and = = they got me an iPad and I ended up learning how to use the iPad = = upload
videos to YouTube, email links, and stuff. And that teacher was largely responsible for that, and
I would send my videos to the teacher and we would discuss them a little bit. So, I don’t have
any comparison with the first teacher. And we also, um, we hosted a master class where I was an
instructor and the other master student at the time was an instructor = = we were the “master
teachers”, how we got to take turns teaching each other’s students and then we got to discuss
how things went afterwards with our second pedagogy teacher. The third pedagogy teacher also
did a repertoire but it was less, it was more like 20 pieces, and we had to write a paragraph, and
the paragraph we wrote had to address certain topics the teachers said we should address such as:
technical challenges of the pedal, time period, why this period is good for pedagogical reasons.
Other things we had to do, we had to read journal articles, not as many, only maybe six, where as
it would be 12 for the first teacher. But the third teacher had us conforming to more of margin
psychological associations or choosing one of the forms APA or MLA or Chicago and sticking
with that form through the writing style. And, so we had to do a summary = = and a critical

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evaluation of those articles. We also have a research paper that we’re going to have to do and
these journal articles contribute to that and she’s going to have us, um, = = get the paper finished
and if we want to submit it for publication we can contact the teacher later on so she seems more
actively involved in communicating with us about that. So, the third teacher = = she’s been
more, she’s been living the professional experience with us, staying, work with us.
I: Okay. How do you piano pedagogy courses and topics effect your own teaching?
P: Probably, certainly the one that’s influenced me the most so far is this one and how he teaches
beginners. This teacher, the third pedagogy teacher, has us going through a system of teaching
beginners where we teach them whole body movements at the piano. I’m not sure if she needs
the […] on that system but the teacher had us teaching in that cycle and made lesson plans for us
for probably like the first five weeks. And now, the teacher is letting us teach our own, provided
that we going through those concepts. I think that pretty effective because before then I would
have only about one or two beginning students, and I used to emphasize the reading position
more when I started and getting to five finger positions quickly like you’ve seen in a lot of
method books. And then I like to take a few weeks to make sure they know how to relax their
wrists and that they don’t tighten their shoulders, and they focus on their large knuckles as a
source of strength in their piano playing. And then we can start gradually moving towards
playing with the whole hand. So, the third teacher, got me away from individual fingers at the
outset to whole body movement then matriculating into five finger patterns then reading. = =
Um, another thing, the first teacher, I think landed my projects = = I used a lot of material I
already knew, um, so, it gave me a litter bit of experience just seeing what goes into creating a
project because we take these method books from granted sometimes. And it was good to hear
stories about how the first professor was working on different method books and how labor
intensive they are, and how well thought out they are. Actually, I think I appreciate the method
books more now and I don’t feel as strong of an urge to make up my own system, as long as I
can look at the page and make sure my student is understanding what I want them to understand
from the page, I’m more than content to go along with the book. And then the second teacher, in
the middle, that was a usual situation for me because this teacher was an intern director, who was
only there for a year. But, the teacher helped me have more of an appreciation for the
technology side of things, and helped me see that technology is accessible and I can use it
without stalling the lesson um, = = and it gave me some experience with the master class, so I

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can say “Yes, I’ve done that”. So that was really helpful and it helped me to understand more of
what the outline of the master class is, what content to include in the master class so you don’t
include a whole lot of fundamental technique things but you work on the artistry and the overall
product.
I: Okay, did you have teaching experience before coming to MPP program?
P: I had students before, I had, actually probably started teaching a year-and-a-half before, just
for my undergrad pedagogy class. So I taught a couple students there and during my first year
here I had three college students, but they ended up not going on after mid-terms popped up = =
took over their life. = = But really I had not much teaching experience at all before. Now I do
feel more comfortable with teaching. I feel more comfortable, as of this year, and maybe starting
in the fall of 201\\, I feel more comfortable with beginners because I know what point to address
first.
I: Okay.
P: As for little students, I feel most comfortable with late elementary, early intermediate, starting
off for probably a year into the program I was more comfortable with that advance students. I
feel more comfortable with them because I can sort of relate to them like myself, and I remember
what I was doing in high school so I can sometimes transfer that to those students. = = Um,
however, that’s an area we haven’t addressed quite as much in this program it’s been largely, all
the teachers that have been here have largely addressed beginners to intermediate. Though, I
think next year there’s some talk about talking about advanced students. So, we’ll see how that
goes.
I: Okay. You are now a doctor student in piano pedagogy, so why, what made you want to
pursue a doctoral degree in piano pedagogy?
P: So, I, it seemed to make sense to me. I wanted to teach in college when I’m done and I know
the doctoral is an important part in getting a college position that is good. = = Umm, I like my
applied piano professor = = I wanted to continue studying with him. I’m interested in the new
director and, but that would bring the question piano pedagogy, the especially since the director
was actually out of the country, um, so it would provide me new aspect of teaching that I could =
= It was almost like going to a new school. It’s such a large place, I felt like I was just getting
the hang of where things are after being there two years before. So I wanted that consistency to

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stay in school and I wanted to work towards a college teaching job and see what would come up
after school.
I: The doctor’s degree at \\ \\ University, there’s not many requirement courses for piano
pedagogy major.
P: Right, right.
I: How do you deal with these things? How do you choose the courses?
P: That’s been something I = = I’ve, that if I were to recommend any changes I think there
should be more classes for piano pedagogy. I think the music education department mainly
focuses on general music education by in large, and I understand there not being a lot of
pedagogy classes because there’s not a lot of pedagogy students here, but um, = = I feel like
pedagogy has kind of been lumped into music education, which is good because it’s got a lot of
its research down to a science and pedagogy has a long way to catch up in that, and I think music
education can help them with that. But, at the same time I don’t know the music education
people necessarily know what the piano pedagogy students need. If their lessons are one-to-one
that’s just very unusual for music education. You mostly have a class setting for your music
teachers. = = Um, what was your question one more time?
I: Yeah, um how do you choose courses?
P: Um, yes, I select courses = = I had one professor who was very accommodating and I was
actually able to take pedagogy, under a music education. So I was able to fulfil some of the
music ed. requirements with pedagogy. = = Um, so I like to make sure that whatever piano
courses, I look for piano courses, if I can take the piano course under the required credits, if
that’s possible. If I’m going to take a music ed. class I want to know if it’s one that can be
applied to piano. I’ll probably take all the piano classes that I can, the piano teaching, there’s
four in the master’s that’s available for pedagogy. So, um, I’ll probably take the third of fourth
one next year, and we’ll see what other classes are available, I don’t think I’m any under
particular rush but I like looking to see what classes are most applicable to what I’m doing. I
don’t want to name any specifics but I think there’s ones that are, well, yea, there’s ones that
would make more sense to connect with my piano, that would make more sense than other
classes. So, um, = = but, also I meet with professors and we talk about what classes they approve
of, what classes they recommend. Sometimes a class that’s strongly recommended, it would be
really good for me to take it, but = = um it ends up being beneficial anyways. And sometimes

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they recommend unusual classes that I end up drawing on information from later on. I’m not
exactly a big fan of when they recommend classes that don’t fill requirements, but um, = = but I
have managed to learn things from the two classes that I’ve taken that have been like that so far.
So it’s usually myself teaching. I think we could do more piano pedagogy classes or more
internship-like stuff = =
I: Like Practicum?
P: Practicum that would fill the music ed. requirement at \\ \\ University.
I: Okay. You did mention that you want to teach in college.
P: I would like to teach private students also I’m not sure if I’d want to open up my own studio, I
currently teach at a music studio in the community that are private students. = = Um, but I might
like to teach at a music school, also, for younger students, I want to be able to teach at all levels.
I may also want to be a musician at a church maybe a choir director if I get some more
experience with conducting and stuff. = = I’d like to do some composing, and work some other
instruments like an organ, while singing. But I'd like to teach younger levels, all the way up.
I: Like pre-college?
P: Pre-college, yes.
I: Do you have any suggestions for incoming master’s degree students in piano pedagogy?
P: For incoming master’s students in piano pedagogy, I would say, get familiar with, make
friends with students who have been there longer, especially if they’re older students. A lot of
master’s students come in and they have doctoral student friends who are ten years older or
whatever age, make friends with them, find out how they’ve made their connections. = = Um,
talk to people in your community, go to churches, go to music stores, = = Um, go to the
organization of meetings such as MTNA meetings at the state or National Federation of Music
Clubs do that, or whatever your local music teacher’s organization is look into that right away.
Get in touch with the music schools, google them right away, usually there’s a friend of a friend
of a friend who’s worked there. So, = = like their pages on Facebook, be very aware of where =
= who is who, and who knows who else. And if you have opportunities to teach = = Sometimes
it hard to get a full teaching experience while taking classes, but if you have time, have students
that you teach, cause that’s where your experience comes from. It’s not from the classroom.
You can try out some of your theories from the classroom while you’re teaching, but I think you
learn more when you have the students and you can go back to the class and say, “Oh, yes. I’ve

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tried this, what would you do about this?” = = Um, and be aware of what programs are available
at your master’s school because sometimes they have community schools that you can teach in,
sometimes they have summer camps, be aware of when those applications are due, make
yourself super available. And church is also, sometimes they need teachers, so if you’re
attending a church print out some flyers. And there’s also sometimes a school will have a
reference list, so get on those reference lists, get on those Facebook pages and start getting to
know people.
I: Good. Anything else?
P: That, overall, um, = = and, learn how to follow directions. So, if you get um, = = instructions
so if you start […]. I think teaching is a large art, part of it is knowing how to dot this and dot
that, and if you put in your check marks and you go “Good”. Individuality isn’t all it’s cracked
up to be, because you need to get through the content and the students need to learn certain
things. So, learning how to = =people will be more impressed with you if you do exactly what
they tell you to do and you get it done on time then if you try to make it this = = you try to make
it something really super but then you miss a point they wanted you to get at. That’s worse. So,
learning how to do your time and doing the projects that are reliable and consistent.
I: Okay, good. Thank you
P: Thank you very much.

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 Participant Eight
Piano Pedagogy Faculty
I: What do you hope your students accomplish during their MPP study?
P: Well, I hope that they gain some experience in a variety of teaching settings. So teaching
young kids, teaching older kids, teaching group piano, hopefully they will be able to get out into
the community and be able to teach in classrooms, all related to piano, obviously. But I hope
that they are able to gain as much as a varied experience as they can so that later on in life if they
encounter a similar situation they will kind of have an idea. I also hope to give them a wide
variety of sources, resources, ideas, cover a bunch of ideas. I don’t expect that I’m going to be
able to teach them everything that there is about teaching and about piano pedagogy that is out
there. But I want them to be able to develop the skills that = = so that if they have a question that
they know where to look and they will be able to find the resources to help them out. And also, I
do want them to be thinking in more of an entrepreneur mind, because with music you can’t just
expect to be doing just one job. You have to = = all of our careers are […]. So they have to be
innovative and creative to make opportunities for themselves. And whether it’s running their
own piano studio or doing accompanying or finding a retiring home where they are also going to
be providing a class, they have to be creative and they have to have entrepreneur spirit.
I: How do you evaluate their teaching potential?
P: Well, I involve a practicum in each of the semester that they’re having a seminar. So, I
observe them and I look for personality and attitude. If its looking like they’re just doing this
because they think that they’ll be able to make more money = = because they will be teaching
and it doesn’t look like they are really passionate about it or that they are really interested in it,
then frankly, they probably aren’t well suited for pedagogy. So I look for attitude and
personality first, and I want to see if they are going to be someone who can relate to other
people, who can relate to wide variety of people, personalities, and age groups as well. And then,
for me, that’s half the battle. If they’re workable then I’ll be able to help them with their
teaching skills and their teaching potential. So, like this year, I’ve been sitting in at least on ten
minutes for everyone’s lessons so I can see what they do. And then I give them feedback. So
from week to week, I can see if they’re taking my suggestions or if they’re not taking my
suggestions, but figuring out how to do something in a better way. And then I can tell that their
teaching potential is going to increase. It’s just like with playing the piano as well, some people

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are going to skyrocket with their improvement, and some others will take a slower approach. But
if I can see that they’re = = everyone is moving forward than I […].
I: Regarding the curriculum, I see some changes. Can you talk a little more about that?
P: Sure! Some of the changes, I’ve been told at least, have been set by my predecessors to do as
well. So it’s kind of nice that hopefully we’ll be able to carry it out now. One of the major
changes is that I’m asking students to be = = it goes into the program that they have to take four
semesters of taking piano lessons throughout their entire time here. I feel like it’s really
important because I don’t think people should go into pedagogy just because they’re like “Oh!
Wow, I can’t really play that well with performance, so I’m going to go into pedagogy”. No.
People should be wonderful pianist and performers and they should be choosing to go into
pedagogy because they really want to teach. And so I feel that good teachers are good pianist,
and will be able to demonstrate for their students. They have to have a good sense of what good
playing and good artistry is. They need to have those skills. So that is the reason why I made
them take lessons while their time here. And they have two recitals now, because frankly, it’s
like, I don’t know = = If there is no goal to work towards at the end, it’s hard to really stay
motivated on lessons. One is a lecture recital and one is a solo recital. So I increased the
performance requirements to match those of the performance students. They have to do a lecture
recital and a solo recital. The other that is different is now they take piano pedagogy for their
entire time here, I did that so that I had more opportunity to get through things. Like, I wouldn’t
be able to talk about beginner, intermediate, and advanced students and the collegiate level
within one year. I mean, I can barely even do it in two years. It’s really impossible to get
through everything. So that is another big change that I had. Because I am incorporating more
lessons and more pedagogy, they only have to choose one keyboard literature course to take
instead of two. But if they do want to take an extra one they can do it as a part of their electives.
There is no accompanying now, accompanying is definitely important for someone to know how
to do well, but just because of the limits of the credit hours, I couldn’t fit it in. But students are
encouraged, of course, to take accompanying opportunities when they can.
I: Okay. Based on what I’m hearing from other students, some of them mentioned about topics
related to teaching students with special needs. So what do you think about that?
P: I think it’s wonderful! So far, in the past, I actually haven’t covered that. But that’s definitely
something that I would want to include = = I haven’t really taught anyone with special needs

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myself. I feel a little out of place to talk about that in class. But hopefully if the opportunity
arises I can have someone guests speak about it. And we do have one student who is a student
with special needs in our current class. So he’s going to be writing a paper and giving a
workshop in class about teaching students with special needs. I hope that I can incorporate it
even more.
I: Do you have undergraduate students in your class?
P: Not this year, not this year. I don’t know why. No one undergraduate signed up, but the
seminar I teach is a class with […] for undergraduate and graduates. So I might have
undergraduates next year.
I: If you have both level students, what should be emphasized for graduate level students?
P: You know that’s going to be a real big learning curve for me. I’m going to have to figure out
a way to do that over the summer. Because I never been in the position where I had
undergraduate and graduate students in the same class. I’ve had Master students on their own,
I’ve been in a class where Master students and Doctorate students worked together so that I can
envision and I can probably do. But I will have to figure out how to work on that with
undergrads and grads in the same class. I have ideas of having kind of a mentoring system or a
buddy system where a grad student would be paired up with an undergraduate student. And so
the graduate students would for […] topics would be expected to go that much farther with them
or be more advanced. And they would be able to help with mentoring information to an
undergraduate student. So it might be that option. But, yeah, I have to figure out how. = = One
more thing about your biggest questions about the undergraduates and grads. Grads will
probably have to do more work or write a bigger paper or they’ll have to do more journal
articles, that sort of thing. Another way of having them do something a little different.
I: Do you have any suggestions for beginning piano teachers, regarding the job market?
P: Sure! For the job market, any recommendations? I would say, you know, be as fine as a
pianist and piano teacher as you can be. That is going to be your number one selling point = =
that is going to be your main recruiting tool, that’s going to be the way you advertise yourself to
others. Because if you are a fine pianist and a fine piano teacher, and you have even one student,
the word will get out and you will be recommended and word of mouth is the best way of getting
students. So I would work to refine your craft. I would also say be open to a number of
possibilities. Don’t restrict yourself, I mean = = It’s not bad to have a specialization with a

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certain area of students, but don’t restrict yourself and say “I don’t want to work with adults and
I don’t want to work with = =” you might find that you love working with adults, don’t restrict
yourself. Be open to different possibilities, be as versatile as you can. And go out to meet people,
don’t be stuck in your house teaching all the time. Go out and meet people, network, and they
don’t have to be piano teachers. They can be = = I mean, if you’re at a church talk to the people
around you! That’s a way you can get students as well.
I: Anything else for beginning piano teachers?
P: For beginning piano teachers? Uhm, = = you can = = sometimes we feel that “oh, where am I
going to be in the future?” There’s this push of STEM topic all the time, science, technology,
engineering, medicine. I think, piano and music will always have a place in the world and it is
our responsibility to show parents and show the community how important music education is
and how it’s fundamental to us as a society. Think of yourself as a representative for that. Go
and change the world! Yes!
I: Thank you so much!
P: You’re welcome!

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 Participant Nine
Piano Pedagogy Faculty
I: I’m going to record this interview is that okay with you?
P: Sure, that’s fine.
I: Thank you. My first question is: What do you hope for your students to accomplish during
their study in your program?
P: What do I hope my students will accomplish their study in the program = = and these are my
master students at \\ \\ university in pedagogy, yes?
I: Yes.
P: Well, a few things: first of all, I want them to gain an experience of practical teaching skill
through experience. = = If they aren’t currently teaching private students then I find a practicum
experience for them through our university. Um, and the practical teaching experience is = =
ends up being both their own private teaching but also some teaching that we do together. And
the teaching that they do privately, = = I do, as I’m sure you’re familiar with the experience, you
know they do recording of lessons, I watch the lessons, we meet so. So there’s kind of a lot of
opportunities for them both to practice their teaching, for me to give them feedback on their
teaching, for them to see me teaching, and for us to teach together. So, practical experience
number one, that’s very intentionally planned like that. And also, = = just I think as much
knowledge as possible about this great number of resources, that are available to them as
teachers because certainly not all of this information can be used and really applied until you
actually need to use it. You know what I mean? So, a lot this won’t become relevant to them
until later on when they’re actually out teaching. So not only is there information I want to
impart to them but I want them to have the tools to know how to find that information once they
their actually out and need to make use of this information. And, I guess, finally, just say, um, as
much as possible, touch on all of the = = I mean teaching is such a complex thing. You know,
you want to teach students about a lot of the practical aspects, the business professional aspects,
and pedagogical aspects, with regards to what to teach. You know, what music and what
resources. But there’s also the psychological and the philosophical parts of teaching, you know?
Motivating students and knowing how to structure your instruction in terms of teaching cycles
and giving feedback and accessing students. You know, just to prepare them as much as possible,

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I guess, in those three areas: the practical, the pedagogical, and I guess what I’d call the
philosophical/psychological, I guess. Oh gosh, that’s a lot to do.
I: Oh yes! You mentioned business, how do you teach those things?
P: Well, you know, in my teaching I’m only in my second year in this position and um, this is
my first time teaching graduate students actually this year. I didn’t have any graduate students
last year, so, I’m doing this for the first time and I’m certainly going to hone what I do as you’ll
find out when find a job too. You know, what do they say? It takes 3 times, 3 years as long
teaching something as you have it the way you want. But I think certainly just addressing a lot
of the very, very practical aspects like: Where are you going to teach? How much are you going
to charge for lessons? How do you figure out how much to charge for lessons in your
community, where you are? How are you going to collect tuition? So essentially, like, studio
policy sorts of the things. So I’ve dedicated, in my various courses, give a couple of days
dedicated I guess to what we’d call kind of policy and business aspects of running a studio so
that’s something I actually build into my course calendar to just spend = = I think last semester
when I had the types of classes that had this we had been spending two days on those sorts of
aspects. And then of course there’s the consideration of being = = teaching part of a larger
studio and we could go on and on here but basically build that into my courses that we spend two
days discussing and exploring kind of all the aspects that need to be considered. And again,
they’re not going to use all of this information right now, you know? Some of them will teach
one or two private students, my graduate school students are really young and inexperienced. I
don’t know what your experience is, but I taught for six years before I went back to graduate
school, and um, my students all came right from their undergraduate work so they’re very young
and very inexperienced, so you know, a lot of the information that I share with them they’re not
necessarily going to apply right now but again, I just want them to be aware of all the things that
need to be considered once they’re doing this full time. So, does that make sense?
I: Yes. What topics do you put more emphasis for graduate level students?
P: What, what topics? I would say, again, just because of the type of students that I have,
remember that I said I have: remember my graduate students are really young and not all that
experienced. I would almost call them like, you know, “super seniors”, they’ve just finished their
undergraduate degrees, you know. And they didn’t = = a couple of them studied pedagogy here
as undergraduates before I came, but of course I teach quite differently then my predecessor did.

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Um, but what I would say in just what I’ve noticed this year is they’ve just, they’ve started to
gain some confidence and some skill with teaching um, beginners especially I think, that’s kind
of what the focus of undergraduate classes are just because undergraduates, um, if they end up
taking what most of them think that they won’t end up teaching they’ll most likely will be
teaching beginning students and they have no idea how to do that, and it’s a very complex thing.
But I kind of think that needs to be the focus of an undergraduate, course or track, is to really be
preparing students, I guess beginning through, maybe through intermediate not that you ignore
the upper levels. I would say with the graduate students we’re looking at the whole spectrum of
now in terms of ages, and abilities, and continuing to dive even more into what I said which is
kind of the third point of what I want my students to get which is to delve deeper into, especially
the pedagogical processes that are necessary for successful teaching, identifying what those are
and analyzing how to do it and developing your own vocabulary for teaching and talking about
these things to students of all levels. But also thinking more about why we do what we do, how
we do what we do, why it matters, kind of those psychological and philosophical kind of things.
So I guess, to summarize all of that: a focus on students that stands the spectrum of age and
ability, perhaps with even more emphasis on intermediate and advance students. Basically, more
highly developed students, I’m not necessarily talking about smarter students, we’re now talking
about middle school and beyond or adult and so we’re not talking about seven year-olds quite so
much anymore. But also, so we’re just continuing to mature and develop with understanding of
why to teach, how to teach and all the gets involved with that.
I: Okay. Some students want to know more about teaching students with special needs. Do you
consider to cover that kind of information in your class?
P: That’s a great question. And I haven’t = = I haven’t and it’s something I’ve thought about
because I don’t have a lot of training with regards to teaching students with special needs and it’s
something that I’d really like to incorporate. \\ \\ university actually happens to have like a
specialization of music education track not pedagogy but music education that’s teaching
students of special needs. We have a wonderful faculty member, Prof.\\ \\ who actually Dr. \\ \\
always spoke very high of her when I was at \\ \\ university. Um, this is kind of an area of
specialty for her. But to answer your question I don’t really address = = I mean I address that it
something to consider and it needs to be considered and that actually that can be kind of a niche
for yourself as a teacher to become knowledgeable and skillful in teaching students with = = a

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diverse array of needs. But it’s not something I, myself am currently been knowledgeable
enough to lecture a class about it, but I do mention it, again, kind of with my overreaching goal
of just wanting to make students as aware of as many things that might be helpful to them as
they’re about to go on and start their careers as teachers. But this is another area that, to consider
because you don’t know who’s going to call you up on the phone and your child needs. Or, it
might end up being really a passion for a teacher to help meet those students’ needs. But it’s not
something I usually lecture on or get into. I do talk about = = I wouldn’t really classify this as
special needs, we do, I do talk to them, I have at least one or two lectures where we talk about
adult students. And = = certainly there are a lot of physical issues that go along with teaching
adult students depending on what age those adults are. It can impact their just ability level and
comfort level to do certain things at the piano. But I wouldn’t call that = = that’s not what you’re
asking about which is special needs. So it’s something I’d like to do more in but, to be honest it’s
not something I have a lot of expertise in myself.
I: Okay, how do you feel about the job market for piano teachers?
P: Well, I feel like it is good for and independent student teacher. Well, if I’m understanding
your question correctly, um, I would say I’m very hopeful about the job market for future piano
teachers. And I say that for several reasons, you know? Umm, I think that the current generation
that’s kind of bringing up the next generation of students, many of them took music lessons
themselves and or had music experience at school it is still a very, it’s still seen as a very positive
aspect to just kind of human enrichment and development I would say. In terms of the parent of
guardian who are bringing up those children so I think there’s still value in the sense of the
people who are raising these young people to seek out this experience for their young ones. Not
that I think piano lessons are only for young ones. But that’s kind of where, I mean that’s where
many of our students come from the beginning. And, it’s just been my experience that a teacher
who wants to teach and who’s passionate about teaching and practices their craft are better at
what they do you know that, that people will be drawn to that, will want to be part of that and
will study under that person because what they do is inspiring and infectious and so I guess I’m
hopeful person just that because you know there are people who love this as much as we do that,
um, it’s been my experience that when a teacher demonstrates that, that people are drawn to that.
But, also I think looking at the world, the reality of the world, is that a lot of school programs are
being cut and we’re at a really critical time, I think, in our society in terms of what the role of

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music is going to become, in terms of who’s going to be educated in music and for what purpose,
and, you know, I don’t know what’s going to happen and that’s another discussion in and of
itself, but, again I’m hopeful that even if cuts continue to be made, which I hope they don’t, that
you know parents, families, as they’re able to, will continue to seek out these types of
experiences for their children if they’re not able to get them in school. Now, we’re going to
start, what we’d run into there of course is this will start being an experience for those with the
financial means to do it which isn’t right. I philosophically don’t believe in that. I think is
something that music is for everybody. But there are avenues even with private study, many
community music schools have grants to help families of financial needs, etc, etc. We’re going
down another road entirely here, but anyways to make a long story short: I’m optimistic about
the job market and very hopeful for my students and for the future of our profession.
I: Great. Do you have anything else to add?
P: Oh gosh. We could talk about this topic all day, right? Umm, one thing that I’d maybe just
add based on the questions of your survey is the importance of graduate classes = = the
importance of classes that are not just piano related. I’m a firm believer in as much piano study
as possible. Oh my gosh = = I’m so in […] to my amazing piano teachers. It will only make you
a better teacher even if you don’t plan on performing, so I encourage my students to be as
absolutely serious about their piano studies. And I myself have been dedicated to […] back and
forth to should I do a DMA, should I do a pedagogy degree, and \\ \\ University’s option with
PhD. But um. So my piano study is so important, but gosh you learn so much from the education
classes and = = and I just think that’s the only other thing that I added just the importance of a
master’s program that isn’t just piano lessons and all the piano lessons, and piano literature
classes and one or two other pedagogy classes. That it needs to be some of those other things
because ultimately we’re teachers and need to learn about teaching. And just like \\ \\ University
teaches, you can make transfers to == = and all the things I learned about classroom teaching
I’ve been able to apply to my private teaching and that’s really important at the graduate level I
think. And I think there are a lot of master’s programs very well intended that = = that are very
piano performance heavy and I little bit light on the preparation of future teachers and um, I just,
I don’t think that’s the right balance for most people. But I’m not at all saying that I don’t think
the applied piano part isn’t just as important but there needs to be enough opportunity for

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students to learn how to teach and they don’t really get enough from taking every single piano
literature class that’s available, […] you know and all that sort of thing, if that makes any sense.
I: Okay, about applied piano lessons, there are only two semesters for students required in MPP
program, right?
P: Are you looking \\ \\ University?
I: Yes.
P: Yeah, you know and my school is a perfect example of if you look at it on paper and say:
“wait, is this a pedagogy degree or is this a performance degree with a few pedagogy classes?” =
=And again, I don’t know enough here to be able to get too involved and I didn’t have any
graduate students at all last year so it wasn’t on my radar. And I had a lot of health issues last
year and wasn’t able to do everything, umm, unfortunately, that I would have liked to have my
first year. I’m really just diving into the master’s degree this year and as I was looking at it over
the summer I kind of went, “Wait, how they take piano lessons for the whole summer? Where is
this?” So = = if a student is […] they can take, the degree work sheet you found the outline for
pedagogy is kind of just our minimum skeleton to get to the number of credit hours needed to get
the degree. If the student it on assistantship they can actually take more credits than the number
that you saw will be covered through their assistantship and that’s where I advise them to take
more piano classes or to do another independent study to something related to another pedagogy
topic that they want more information about but especially the applied piano. I’ve kind of found
that that ends up working out for them but every student can be on an assistantship so that’s
something I kind of hope to be able to […]. But you can see on our degree worksheet that they
take all of the piano literature, and I’m not saying piano literature isn’t important, but to be
honest, and just so you get a sense of my background, I have a bachelor’s degree and piano
performance, I have two master’s degrees, and then I have a PhD. I’ve only ever taken one
piano literature class in all of that schooling. And, um, it was just never required and I took one
of, kind of an elective at \\ \\ University. And I loved it and I wish I would have had time to take
more, I just = = having had the experience taking one class I don’t think that is a essential
training for future teachers that is most of the kind of students that pedagogy majors will end up
teaching. Does that make sense?
I: Yes.

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P: Yes. Yes. So anyways, I’m so glad you brought up that article in particular and that’s kind of
how we’re able to encourage them to continue to take more credits of applied lessons and
actually all of my pedagogy students are on some kind of assistantships so this year it’s going to
work out. But in the future years, I don’t know so that’s why we’ve got to look into making some
future changes there.
I: How many new MPP students you will have?
P: Oh, I don’t think we have any next year actually. And honestly, isn’t such a terrible thing
because three is a lot to have right now. And I’ve got another class coming, my role here is I’m
in charge of all piano teachers and all pedagogy students which is two big hats to where kind of
at our school. So I would love to say that I’ve got another pedagogy students coming next year
that would be really exciting but in a way it’s okay for that in the next year I won’t have some
and in the next year hopefully I can try to an attract a few more.
I: Thank you very much!

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 Participant Ten
Piano Pedagogy Faculty
I: My first question is: what do you hope, your students to accomplish during their MPP studies?
P: Okay, well, I hope that they gain significant teaching experience at all levels, um, = = I hope
that they learn about the teaching repertoire at all levels. I hope that they, uh, = = learn to
become, = = powerful and respected performers in the repertoire that they are studying, uh, as
well as the repertoire they’re studying to teach. = = and, I also hope that they gain
entrepreneurial skills that might assist them in their teaching career in the future.
I: Okay, then how do you evaluate your students teaching potential?
P: Well, uh, there are a couple of things I have in place = = sorry = = I’m walking to school right
now, it’s a little windy, just tell me if you can’t hear something.
I: I can hear you. It’s very clear.
P: Okay, okay good. Uh, uh, = = to evaluate their teaching potential as applicants to the program,
applicants are asked to submit = = , an hour long teaching demonstration online, a video, = = and
then also, if they’re invited-if they pass pre-screening and invited on campus for an interview,
um, I had an interview them where I asked them a number of questions about teaching, about
their teaching experience, what kind of teaching they’re interested in learning about, um, and
then if they’re applying for a teaching assistantship, they are asked um, they are asked to teach,
um, a group piano class for non-majors at \\ \\ University.
I: Okay. What topics do you think should be emphasized for graduate level students in your
piano pedagogy classes?
P: What topics should be emphasized?
I: Yes, compared to teach, = = do you also teach piano pedagogy courses for undergraduate level
students?
P: Yes, yes I do.
I: Okay, my question was-what topics in your piano pedagogy courses were emphasized for
graduate level students?
P: Sure. Sure. Well, they are a couple of things that I think should be emphasized at a graduate
level versus the undergraduate level. One of those things is uh, research field, as well as, um
reading about the field of research in piano pedagogy and music education.
I: Okay.

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P: Um, I also think that, um, some higher level, um, teaching observations should happen in a
graduate class versus an undergraduate class. For example, my graduate students observe faculty
and staff at \\ \\ University teaching college level students. I also think, in particular, that
entrepreneurial skills should be advised at the graduate level.
I: Some students think topics related to special education should be covered in piano pedagogy
class. What do you think about that?
P: Yeah, I think that’s a good thing. One of the things I teach in one of my graduate level classes
is how to work with special needs, like autism or other developmental disabilities.
I: Okay. How do you feel about the job market for piano teachers?
P: Um, I think that it’s actually quite good, I think that if you are a well-trained pianist, and that
you are a well-trained piano teacher, it’s actually one of the things in music that you can always
find a job.
I: Okay. Do you have any suggestions for beginning piano teacher?
P: I think that beginning piano teachers = = sorry it’s a little loud out here = = beginning piano
teachers need to be sure, um, need to understand that they are life-long learners of the piano and
that, um, while you might be a professional, and you might be a piano teacher with a lots of
students, it’s important you, uh, are open to continuing to learn more about teaching, and
continuing to learn more about performance.
I: Okay, okay. Thank you very much!

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 Participant Eleven
Piano Pedagogy Faculty
I: Thank you for doing this interview.
P: Absolutely, my pleasure. What can I do to help?
I: Okay, my first question is what do you hope your students to accomplish doing their study in
MPP program?
P: Well, that’s a lot of things to answer with. Things that I think would be = = what I really want
them to accomplish when they finish = = I think ultimately I would like them to become their
own teachers who are actually able to help the next generation to become their own teachers. So
that’s my short answer. But to get that I have put in several things I think, I think are important
in their experience. = = Um, my job here is to guide them to find their own abilities and talents
that are already inside them.
I: Okay.
P: Um, in the teaching area the emphasis on experience is invaluable, we cannot take that out.
Even though it is at the undergraduate level and absolutely at the graduate level they would have
to do these hands-on teaching. Uh, I am their supporter so I am there to help them think about
what they still need to accomplish and learn and ultimately be musicians who really enjoy
playing and appreciate music for life. = = And helping them to see that and helping them to [….]
soon. So that’s my short, sort of short answer.
I: Okay, how do you evaluate your students’ teaching potential?
P: Yeah. Teaching potential. = = I see everyone has that, and everyone is different because each
one learns differently: different temperament, different learning style. So to help them, to reach
their potential […] would you read, uh, (laughter) say your question one more time?
I: Oh yes. My question was: how do you evaluate their teaching potential?
P: Okay, okay. We have in place for Master’s level an audition. = = Teaching audition.
I: Okay.
P: So I would put in our guidelines, our guidelines would be they have to pick a topic = = and
then do a presentation on how they would, would teach that particular concept or skill. Some of
them would also send us a teaching video.
I: Okay.

153
P: So that’s how, how the audition video would be. Then I would my guidelines would be: I’m
looking at their, their teaching sequences. Do these match the particular goals for that session
they tell us in their audition what the goal is, what the objective or objectives are.
I: Okay.
P: And I look at their teaching steps and sequence and how they are played. But their also […]
the time of their own teaching during that particular audition. So that’s what I use.
I: Okay.
P: Now, from there on I would see that whether this person actually have teaching foundation,
understanding of teaching at this degree which would we go from there.
I: Okay.
P: And usually we don’t turn the lock away because this teaching comes from doing, from actual
experience.
I: Yes.
P: So that’s what I do.
I: Okay. Will you have interview with applicants?
P: The applicant, depending on if they are in the U.S. and come to us then, yes, we do have
interviews. The overseas that portion we are still in that process of streamlining to become more,
uh, standardized. We suddenly in the past few years have many overseas applicants.
I: Okay.
P: Which has made us, uh, = = think a lot on our procedures because we realize that some of
them we never actually met, we only watched their auditions from teaching auditions […]
I: I saw on the website that you are also teaching undergraduate level piano pedagogy classes,
correct?
P: Yes, yes.
I: So, compared to the undergraduate level, what topics should we emphasize for graduate level
students?
P: For graduate level students = =
I: Yes.
P: Uh, not undergraduate? That’s what you want, for your question?
I: Yes, only graduate level.

154
P: So, I’m not going to consider undergraduate. For graduate, the topics that I emphasize well, =
= I, in the past, my experience, the graduate students we have come in with many different levels
of teaching experience. A lot of times I have to go back to get them to understand these learning
sequence. So I have to emphasize that, even though they have teaching experience or not I still
have to emphasize that to help them come to the same understanding across the board, in the first
semester.
I: Okay.
P: Yeah, we are not telling them, we are teaching them, and guiding them and helping students to
discover. So that’s what I emphasize first, in the beginning. And then I go on, um, help them to
see more teaching philosophy from education and college philosophy, different ones, and, and
help them apply them. So that’s one thing I do as well. And, uh, and yes I emphasize the
practical part of how to run an independent studio. As well as one thing I have added that I’ve
never seen anywhere else, from my experience, is how to become their own, uh, their own = =
they would have to take out their own retirement, basically. I help them to see them as their boss,
for life, so who is paying for everything? Who is paying for the insurance, who is paying for
their retirement? So I put in also a session for about two or three weeks in how do they take care
of their own finance.
I: Good. Okay, some students mentioned that they wanted to learn a more about teaching for
students with special needs, what do you think about that? Do you cover anything in your class?
P: Absolutely. Yes. I also in the past I also have invited people who have experience working
with people with special needs. Yes, I have that as part of my curriculum that they have to go
through. And yes, technology aid, I invited people who work with different apps, different
technology, for that part as well, as well, I cover that as well.
I: Okay.
P: And also, we also we have a summer course that is run by uh, Student […], it is the keyboard
and soundboard and seminar.
I: Okay.
P: So in the pedagogy major, this is undergraduate, minor, sorry! Undergraduate piano pedagogy
minor they would have to take five hours of electives, and that particular summer course comes
in perfectly, so the students have to work for a whole week, every day, using technology. = = On
top of what I cover in my class, during the year.

155
I: Okay, Um, how do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?
P: Independent studio, business, or job market? Or the teaching in higher education?
I: Overall job market in piano teaching. Do you have any suggestions for them?
P: Well, if they are going to teach in higher education um, = = the market is very competitive, so
I will always encourage them to go on and study and get their doctoral degree, that seems to be a
requirement now in order to get a job in the higher education. And, as I said, it is competitive,
but yes, because, our modern life is changing in a quick pace. I can see that we have other
challenges that we face as a group of piano teachers, we have students who are busy with many,
so many activities. So I look at these future teachers as they will have to adapt to these = = and
make music a part of these youngsters. So, I think the job market has = = a long with the means
in society.
I: Okay.
P: Yes, it’s competitive. If you want me to speak on that. I know it’s competitive to do the
higher level education teaching, but if they are going to do independent studio there is a
challenge: “oh, it takes a while to build up a studio”. But, that is part of this kind of business for
a long time. For a long time = =. So it ties into our society to keep us always adapt to the needs
in the youngsters lives. Making music a part of their daily life.
I: Okay.
P: Instead of such a specialty they cannot make a connection to. Okay.
I: Yes. Anything else? Do you have more suggestions for beginning piano teachers?
P: Beginning piano teachers? Well, I think for one, is you have to love music and you have to
love your students. You love your students. You can sustain any challenges. You heart as to love
the music, love the students. You have to love the students that you will be working with then no
matter what challenges you will be happy with.
I: Okay. That’s great suggestion.
P: I keep it short. Other than that if you love them enough you want to teach-I think the next one
would be if you love teaching enough you will love learning, to better yourself. And always,
every day is a learning opportunity.
I: Great, thank you very much.
P: Oh, my pleasure. I’m glad I can be of help.

156
 Participant Twelve
Piano Pedagogy Faculty
P: Hello?
I: Hello! Good morning, Dr. \\ \\
P: Hi! How are you?
I: I’m doing well, how about you?
P: Good. Well, we as I said = = we had a snow storm and I was on the road when you called. So
I’m now, I’m = = So, I am on campus now so it is fine.
I: Okay.
P: Do you know how long it will take to do the interview?
I: About 10 minutes.
P: That sounds good. Okay
I: Okay. = = can I record this interview? Is that okay?
P: Yes. Absolutely.
I: Okay. My first question is: What do you hope your piano pedagogy students accomplish
during their studies?
P: So first, ugh, verification. = = we have two levels of pedagogy: we have undergraduate level
and, = = so we have piano majors in performance who are required to take pedagogy. We don’t
have an undergraduate degree in pedagogy. We do have a Master’s degree in pedagogy,
however, so the goals are different for the grads than the undergrads. For the grads obviously my
goal is for them to, ugh, to, for them to be good teachers at the elementary and intermediate
levels, to know the materials, = = to know how to teach good technique, to know how to
motivate their students. Also, to know how to run a private studio, = = for example, they get to
visit some private studios here in town of independent teachers. Also, to become familiar with
some of the most common technologies, you know, apps and websites for teaching. = = so those
are the main goals. And of course these are performance majors so we also, we the department
also trains them to be very good performers. So, that’s a combination. Now, for the master’s
degree, the goals we focus, are, we specifically focus on two aspects, I won’t say two aspects,
but we go more in depth into group teaching at the collegiate level. So they have a course in
group piano teaching with practical experience. Also, I’m teaching intermediate and advanced
repertoire, = = developing, = = teaching coaching techniques that are appropriate, = = for

157
advanced teaching at the college level. And also to teach master’s classes for example and to
select repertoire for advance techniques. In addition to that we also look at the technology of the
course. That’s one of the things we do at the graduate and undergraduate level. There is a
specific course also that looks at the research techniques for pedagogy.
I: Okay.
P: So they get to learn a little bit about quantitative and qualitative research = = and we get to do
a little bit of a project as, as a group, as a class. They also explore technology in more depth.
They develop materials, like for instance developing, video tutorials. They learn about, the
possibility teaching long distance piano, you know, online piano teaching and so for. So you
know, we look at some of those tools, as well. So those are, really the main things. And of
course at the Master’s level, the practical experience is more advanced, they do get to teach, for
example, a class, a group piano class in the summer, so they are totally in charge of that. So that
provides excellent experience. They also get to actually teach master classes with college
students so they get that kind of experience as well. So of course we get also a more in depth at
learning theory, motivation theory, all the theoretical topics where for undergraduate that perhaps
for undergrad we’re little more practical so much in depth. But we look at motivation, injury
prevention, let me think here, practicing, we look at optimal performance. So a series of topics
that are kind of more advance and we do that more in depth.
I: Okay. So how do you evaluate your students’ teaching potential?
P: In the past we have asked them to send two or three segments of their teaching. These are
twenty-minute-long segments so they send approximately between 45-60 minutes of video of
them teaching. We ask them try to pick students that are contrasting, so students that are different
ages, different levels, of course we also look at their CV. I ask them to list, their pedagogy
courses and their practical supervised teaching experience at the undergraduate level. So, we
look at that. Now, starting this year we’re going to, I’m going to require a little bit more, so, in
addition to the videos I’m asking them to submit, a self-observation or self-critique of their
teaching. You know just telling me a little bit more about what the goals of their lessons were
and to evaluate how successful those goals were met. You know, and also to tell me a little bit
more about the students themselves: Why are they choose these pieces, material they are
teaching. It give me a broader picture of them as teachers. Now, again, this is only for the

158
Master’s degree, = = we don’t have an undergraduate pedagogy degree and we don’t have a
Doctoral pedagogy degree either, so this is only for the Master’s degree program.
I: Okay, so dose that means = = for the applicants = = if they have teaching experience, they
have better chance getting in your MPP program? Correct?
P: Yeah, well, I always agree that its pedagogy and performance, so it’s always a combination.
So, in addition to the video I just mentioned, and in addition to sending the written materials,
they also have to do a live addition here or a recorded audition. We pre-screen them first, so that
means they, they send some recording first in December, and then we invite, and I actually listen
to all of them, and we all listen to the performance, so based on the performance teaching videos
we will invite some of them to come for a live audition in January or February. So both things
are very important for us, not only for the teaching experience but we are expecting a pretty high
level of performing experience as well.
I: Okay, then how do you feel about today’s job market for piano teachers?
P: Well, I mean, I think the independent teaching market as, as active as always. At least, where
we live, here in the \\ \\ area, there are a plenty of students: people looking for lessons for their
children or for themselves. So, I think there independent teaching market is very good. In fact, a
lot of performance majors at the undergraduate level, come here thinking that they will become
concert artists and they actually sometimes combine careers with teaching, accompanying and
performing so, you know, the teaching aspect is always an important one, especially for
undergrads who just graduated. For the Master’s, you know, it’s getting harder for those who
want to get college teaching jobs, the expectation is that they have a Doctoral degree, a Master’s
degree usually will not suffice. That being said, several of our Master’s students have end up
teaching, for example, in very good community music schools, these are pre-college music
schools. These music schools are very organized and very high levels, not here but all over the
country. So it’s actually now I’m seeing more and more those schools are reaching out to music
programs looking for Master’s degree applicants, so there’s also a little bit of that market. I don’t
think there are a lot of job opportunities but there’s that possibility for Master’s students. Now,
some Master’s here are also getting job in community colleges and some private schools or
smaller programs, so it’s still possible to get a higher level education job, but I think it’s harder
now because there are so many graduates in the market.
I: Okay. Do you have any suggestions for beginning piano teachers?

159
P: Yeah. Well, for beginning piano teacher, I guess, someone’s who’s starting to teach, yeah, it’s
there’s so many suggestions to say […] to think of, I’m sure these are overlapping with what
other people are saying, but = = to take the profession seriously. So you know make sure that
you are doing it professionally, even form the very beginning. You have a studio policy that you
are, you know, you are scheduling system is professional, meaning you don’t charge a leave per
lesson but at least month per month. You know just doing it professionally. A lot of what the
MTMA people are saying for the last 20 or 30 years. If you want to earn a living as a teacher,
you have to do it professionally. Now a days I would also advice, to be flexible about what you
teach. So, you know, a lot of especially the undergrads who do performance degrees, they think
that classical is the only tradition worth teaching. And now a days teachers to be flexible, they
need to know how to teach pop repertoire, they need to know how to teach improvisation and
harmonization. So, you know learning to do those things and learning to do them well. And at
the same time being flexible = = teaching an adult is different from teaching a child, focusing on
what they call recreational music making. And I’m not saying that every teacher needs to do that
but at least they need to know that it’s out there and will to be flexible and willing to try those
things. That would be my advice for new teachers and also of course just becoming aware of the
technology because that’s, there’s a lot of interesting possibilities that are being open and that
can actually help you grow your studio and increase your income quite a bit.
I: Thank you very much!

160
 Participant Thirteen
Piano Pedagogy Faculty
I: Okay, my first question: what do you hope your piano pedagogy students to accomplish during
their Master’s degree study?
P: Um, my hope for my students is that they will be during the time they’re getting their Master’s
degree, they will be prepared to teach, = = students of all ages and abilities. So, um, starting from
young students, ages 5-6, all the way to adult students, = = of all different levels, beginning
through early advance. And also be prepared to teach both in a group setting for both kids and
adults, and in a private setting as well. So, pedagogical speaking, this is my goal for my students.
Um, and to also develop their own strength and research interests.
I: Do you talk about topics related to teaching students with special needs?
P: = = I don’t feel like I’m an expert in that, however, I do assign readings to my students and we
talk about that as well. Sometimes I may have a guest speak as well.
I: How do you evaluate your students teaching potential?
P: I suppose that would mean whether they’d be successful about teaching in the future? = =
Well we have a […] in each they audition, they have to perform to the piano faculty, and I also
ask them to send me a recording of a teaching demonstration, so I look at that. And I also have
an interview with them to discuss their teaching experience and also their future goals = = after
they get their degree.
I: Mhm. So, that means you prefers those students who have previous teaching experience?
P: Right, that would be preferable, if they have teaching experience.
I: Okay. Do you have undergraduate students taking the same class in your grad-level pedagogy
class?
P: Yes, it’s a cross listed class for undergraduate and graduate students.
I: What topics do you emphasize for graduate students?
P: I’m sorry, can you repeat the question?
I: Yes. What topics should be required or emphasized for grad-level piano pedagogy students?
P: Um, = = well the class is cross listed, so that means I have both graduate and undergraduate
students in the class, and so they cover all the same topics. Uh, the difference is that graduate
students are expected to do more in depth, = = research and longer presentations, so their papers

161
tend to be longer and generally go more in depth on a single topic than an undergraduate student
would.
I: Do they evaluate or observe each other’s teaching?
P: Right. Yes, they do. They’re actually required to teach a class for younger students every
week, for piano pedagogy 1. They first observe me teach the class and then over the course of the
semester I assign teaching segments to them and they have to record themselves and do self-
observation, and then other students in the class have to do peer observations as well. So, first
they teach maybe 5 minutes, then 10, 15, and by the end of the semester they teach the entire 30
minute class, so there is quite a bit of observing.
I: Okay. So, how many piano pedagogy classes, they are required to take for MPP degree?
P: Uh, they take piano pedagogy 1 in the fall, piano pedagogy 2 in the fall, and the other classes
required are the […] piano pedagogy class, the piano pedagogy internship, which a supervised
teaching experience, and then their research project.
I: Okay. = = how do you feel about today’s job market for piano teacher?
P: Well, it’s a very broad question. Generally speaking I think it just depends on, um, where you
live and what kind of demand there is. There are definitely cities and markets that are saturated
in teachers and students wanting lessons. But I do feel strongly that piano lessons will just be
around because there’s so many studies that = = show the benefit of taking piano lessons. I think
they are a lot of families that see that benefit and invest in lessons. So, I think that it just
depends, it’s very hard to generalize. And, I would hope that with advances in society it would
be able to maybe stay more current. Like with the use of IPad and the use of electronic games,
and therefore stay relevant and therefore remain, you know how demand for lessons.
I: = = well, do you have any suggestions for beginning piano teachers?
P: Um, I suggestion would be to, = = try to learn as much as they possibly can, and to become
really good performers as they can, to get as much teaching experience in as they possibly can,
but at the same time try to focus on their strengths and find an angle that would make them more
marketable down the road as teachers. So, for example, if a beginning piano teacher is also a
composer that could potentially be an angle they could develop = = you know, they could
potentially offer compositions lessons in addition to piano. So, I think it is important in our
current market to have a special kind of angle for studio, so that would be my advice.
I: Thank you very much.

162
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 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

MS. XIAOKE CHENG

DOCTORAL OF PHILOSOPHY FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY-TALLAHASSEE

Music Education-Piano Pedagogy

MASTER OF MUSIC UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA/CHAMPAIGN

Piano Pedagogy

Piano Performance

BACHELOR OF MUSIC UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA

Piano Performance

174