A Study of the Content and Teaching of Improvisation Item in YAMAHA and KAWAI Piano Grade Examination

• Main Author: 張麗君
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/72784833225488458150

碩士 === 臺北市立教育大學 === 音樂學系碩士班 === 95 === Improvisation is a representation of music creativity. Many teachers concern about how to incorporate improvisation training into music teaching. The purpose of the study was to, from the perspective of piano grade examination, investigate how music assessment affected the cultivation of piano improvisation ability. Through the in-field observation of both the group-lesson and private-lesson instruction in YAMAHA and KAWAI music education system, the research was able to comprehend how teachers cultivated students’ improvising skills. The researcher adopted the “Componential Theory of Creativity,” advocated by Amabile in 1983 as the tool to analyze teaching activities. Descriptive research was utilized with methods of observation, interview and content analysis. Thirteen subjects took part in this study─ seven teachers of group-lessons and six teachers of private-lessons. The findings of this study are as follows: 1. Taking the piano grade examination prompts teachers to value improvisation training in piano teaching, and to balance their students’ learning among, for instance, techniques, aural skills, harmony and rhythm since they are all essential to improvisation performance. Moreover, taking the piano grade examination can be viewed as a testing chance for public improvisation performing. 2. The improvisation item in YAMAHA piano grade examination is similar to KAWAI’s in contents. They are both designed as an attached item to balance the development of various music abilities, hoping to establish students’ thinking ability in the meaning of harmony, the development of melodic motives as well as music style characteristics through hands-on playing practices. 3. The characteristics of group-lessons in YAMAHA music education system are as followed: The expanding of domain-relevant skills correlates with YAMAHA pedagogy and teaching materials. They pay particular attention to the elevation of aural skills. Teachers make use of the group-learning mode to foster creative-relevant skills. Taking the piano grade examination and the progress in keyboard harmony bring students task motivation. 4. The characteristics of group-lessons in KAWAI music education system are as followed: Teachers emphasize the building of music theory concepts and rhythm training foundations in domain-relevant skills. Musical movement and improvising with small instruments prompt the development of creative-relevant skills. Task motivation comes from the construction of teaching atmosphere and providing arenas to perform. 5. There are few differences between private-lessons geared toward either YAMAHA or KAWAI piano grade examination. All of the teachers take chord progression content of target grade levels as an essential training. Creative-relevant skills consist of analyzing musical compositions and demonstrating improvisation. A passing license prompts students’ extrinsic motivation while the progress in keyboard harmony brings them intrinsic motivation.