Components of instruction in general music and piano in selected educational settings in Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Main Author: Allen, Thomas Orrin
• Other Authors: Koriath, Kirby L.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Music > Instruction and study > Argentina.; Piano > Instruction and study > Argentina.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/174778; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/833669

Pianists from Buenos Aires, both artists and students, have seemed to this writer to possess common qualities of spirit, fluency and command. The research project was organized to investigate facets of Argentine culture and the training of pianists in Buenos Aires which may have contributed to this perception. Observations of musical education in Buenos Aires were conducted in August and September of 1986. Learning situations observed included piano lessons in private studios, public and private conservatories and preparatory schools. Also observed were aural perception training and general music education in private elementary schools, public high schools, pre-professional schools, public and private conservatories and preparatory programs. The social, political, cultural and economic conditions that existed were also studied in order to better understand the climate in which musical training occurred.Those factors in the culture and training of pianists in Buenos Aires that would seem to have a discernible effect on students within that system include: 1) The Argentines' sense of cultural identity is consciously enhanced by deliberate inclusion of Argentine culture in the Music Education curriculum and the conservatory syllabus. 2) Important to the sense of command and success is the will to succeed in the struggle against the economic and political hardships of life in Argentina. 3) Music education is highly structured and weighted toward aural perception training. Aural skills were taught thoroughly and with great consistency of method in every class visited. 4) The piano teaching was carried out with expert technical guidance, beautifully played demonstrations and much singing of phrase and tone. 5) The central government established for the conservatories a ten-year Programa de Piano, which insures consistent standards of achievement in technique and literature throughout the country. 6) The Argentine government offers totally free public education. Any students able to pass the entrance examination at the conservatory can avail themselves of the country's best education in music. === School of Music