Teaching and learning piano poses challenges when the student is clinically blind. This article addresses the following question: What can be learned from a case study of teaching piano successfully to a student who is blind? The article has three purposes. The first is to document the achievements of a young student who met these challenges. The second is to investigate how an experienced teacher chose effective ways of describing and demonstrating music to meet the needs of her student. A third is to examine the language of teaching and learning between teacher and student using Tait’s theory of language communication in studio music lessons. This article reports on the process of teacher and student in the journey that has led to the formation of a sensitive and gifted musician.
BerrB.ShockleyR. (2003, October/November). Motivational strategies, hearing three sides of the story. The American Music Teacher, 53(2), 43–49.
2.
BloomB. S. (Ed.). (1985). Developing talent in young people. New York: Ballantine.
3.
BowmanW. (2004). Cognition and the body: Perspectives from music education. In BreslerL. (Ed.), Knowing bodies, moving minds (pp. 29–50). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.
4.
ChengE.DurrantC. (2007). An investigation into effective string teaching in a variety of learning contexts: a single case study. British Journal of Music Education, 24(2),191–216.
5.
CohlerB. J.Galatzer-LevyR. M. (1992). Psychoanalysis and the classroom: Intent and meaning in learning and teaching. In SzanjnbergN. M. (Ed.), Educating the emotions: Bruno Bettelheim and psychoanalytic development (pp. 41–90). New York: Plenum.
6.
Costa-GiomiE.FlowersP. J.SasakiW. (2005). Piano lessons of beginning students who persist or drop out: Teacher behavior, student behavior, and lesson progress. Journal of Research in Music Education, 53(3), 234–248.
7.
DavisP. (2003). Including children with visual impairment in mainstream schools. London: David Fulton.
8.
DoerksenP. F. (1999). Aural-diagnostic and prescriptive skills of preservice and expert instrumental music teachers. Journal of Research in Music Education, 47(1), 78–88.
9.
DowningJ. E.ChenD. (2003). Using tactile strategies with students who are blind and have severe disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 36(2), 56–60.
10.
FlavelR.LunnH.JohnstonC. (Eds.). (2002). Do it yourself: Encouraging independence in children who are blind. Burwood, NSW: Royal Blind Society and University of Sydney.
11.
FraibergS. (1977). Insights from the blind. London: Souvenir Press.
12.
GarsonA. (1974). Suzuki and physical movement. Australian Journal of Music Education, 14, 13–18.
13.
GwatkinJ. (1996). The application of Suzuki method for beginning piano students age 7–11. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Western Australia, Perth.
14.
HallamS. (1997). What do we know about practising? Towards a model synthesising the research literature. In JorgensenH.LehmannA. C. (Eds.), Does practice make perfect? Current theory on instrumental practice (pp. 179–231). Oslo, Norway: Norges Musikhogskole.
15.
HargreavesD. J. (1986). The developmental psychology of music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
16.
HewittM. (2001). The effects of modelling, self-evaluation, and self-listening on junior high instrumentalists’ music performance and practice attitude. Journal of Research in Music Education, 49(4), 307–324.
17.
HolbrookM. C.(Ed.). (1996). Children with visual impairments. Bethesda, MD: Woodbine House.
18.
HoweJ. A.DavidsonW.SlobodaJ. A. (1998). Innate talents: Reality or myth?Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 21, 399–442.
19.
HoweM. J. A.SlobodaJ. A. (1991). Young musicians’ accounts of significant influences in their early lives. 1: The family and the musical background. British Journal of Music Education, 8, 39–52.
20.
KataokaH. (1985). Thoughts on the Suzuki Piano School. New Jersey: Birch Tree Group.
21.
KohutD. (1985). Musical performance learning theory and pedagogy. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
22.
LakoffG.JohnsonM. (2003). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
23.
MarimonC. (2002). Editor’s forum. Piano Pedagogy Forum, 5(1), 1.
24.
MillsJ. (2003). Musical performance: Crux or curse of music education?Psychology of Music, 31(3), 324–339.
O’ConnellM.LiebermanL.PetersenS. (2006). The use of tactile modelling and physical guidance as instructional strategies in physical activity for children who are blind. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 100 (8), 471–477.
28.
PearceE. T. (2004). Self-directed practice: A key to both student success and motivation. The American Music Teacher, 54(2), 29–31.
29.
SiligoW. (2001). Adaptive techniques for teaching music to visually impaired students. The American Music Teacher, 50(5), 20–30.
30.
SlobodaJ. A. (1985). The musical mind. Oxford: Clarendon.
31.
SuzukiS. (1981). Ability from age zero. Van Nuys, CA: Summy-Birchard Inc.
32.
TaitM. J. (1992). Teaching strategies and styles. In: ColwellR., (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning: A project of the music educators’ national conference, 35, 525–534.
33.
TriefE.BruceS.CascellaP. (2010). The selection of tangible symbols by educators of students with visual impairments and additional disabilities. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 104 (8), 499–504.
34.
UllmanM. (2007). Music and language are processed by the same brain systems. Georgetown, Washington DC: Neuroimage Georgetown University Medical Center.
35.
WigginsJ. (2009). Teaching for musical understanding (2nd ed.). Rochester, MI: Centre for Applied Research in Musical Understanding.
36.
WoodyR. H. (2004). The motivations of exceptional musicians. Music Educators Journal, 90(3), 17.
