The piano pedagogy scenes in India and the Philippines: An introductory cross-cultural comparison

Abstract

Categorized as developing nations, India and the Philippines are not generally known as centers for piano study. There has been little research investigating the traditions of piano education in these nations. In this study, I examined a number of issues related to piano pedagogy in each country. Data were collected from teachers in India (n = 45) and the Philippines (n = 28), who completed a 29-item questionnaire. Additionally, three instructors from India and one instructor from the Philippines were interviewed to gain further insight. A summary and comparison of the availability of piano instruction for pre-college students were outlined and opportunities for teacher support and professional development were explored. I looked at the current professional practices, the types of pedagogical methodologies and materials used in each country, the quality and types of pianos and keyboard instruments available, as well as the practice expectations and environments of students. How each country’s system of piano education adopts Western influence and observes their respective traditions is also presented. It is hoped that this research will lead to more in-depth investigation about these countries’ teaching practices and provide additional perspectives for pedagogues around the world.

Keywords

India musical culture music education Philippines piano piano pedagogy

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Benson

Fung

C.V.

(2005). Comparisons of teacher and student behaviors in private piano lessons in China and the United States. International Journal of Music Education, 23(1): 63–72.

Brand

(2001). Chinese and American music majors: Cross-cultural comparisons in motivation and strategies for learning and studying. Psychology of Music, 29(2): 170–178.

Brewer

(1999). Case study examinations of independent piano instruction in India (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (9925598)

Campbell

P. S.

(2001). Unsafe suppositions? Cutting across cultures on questions of music’s transmission. Music Education Research, 3(2): 215–226.

Carey

(2015). Teacher and student perspectives on one-to-one pedagogy: Practices and possibilities. British Journal of Music Education, 32(1): 5–22.

Cashman

(2013). Foundation studies: Contemporary music education in India. Ethnomusicology Review, 18. Retrieved from: ethnomusicologyreview.ucla.edu

Charoenwongse

(1998). Undergraduate piano pedagogy course offerings in Thai universities (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (9914398)

Chatterjee

(2018, February 25). Perfect harmony in ebony and ivory. The Times of India. Retrieved from https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/perfect-harmony-in-ebony-and-ivory/articleshow/63066065.cms

Chen

(2000). An investigation of piano training in higher education and suggestions for preparing secondary school music teachers in Taiwan, the Republic of China (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (9989957.)

10.

Chen

Y. C.

(2013). A comparison of “The Music Tree,” “Piano Adventures,” and “Hal Leonard Student Library” for beginning piano teachers (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (3562406.)

11.

Comeau

Huta

Liu

(2015). Work ethic, motivation, and parental influences in Chinese and North American children learning to play the piano. International Journal of Music Education, 33(2): 181–194.

12.

Cortes-Onishi

(2012). Where every child is smart: Nurturing musical intelligence through traditional musics in early childhood education in a Multiple Intelligences International School, Manila, Philippines. In Lum

C. H.

Whiteman

(Eds.), Musical childhoods of Asia and the Pacific. (pp. 101–131). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

13.

Dirkse

(2009). A survey of the development of sight-reading skills in instructional piano methods for average-age beginners and a sample primer-level sight-reading curriculum (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations. (1464039.)

14.

Hardcastle

Pitts

Aróstegui

J. L.

(2017). A cross-cultural comparison of music education experiences and ambitions in two Spanish and English primary schools. International Journal of Music Education. 35(3): 381–390.

15.

Kofman

(2001). The history of the Russian piano school: Individuals and traditions (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (3008167)

16.

Kostka

(2002). Practice expectations and attitudes: A survey of college-level music teachers and students. Journal of Research in Music Education. 50(2): 145–154.

17.

Kuzmich

(1995). Canada and China: Beliefs and practices of music educators. Canadian Music Educator, 37(1): 31–35.

18.

Jacobson

(2016). Professional piano teaching, Vol. 1: A comprehensive piano pedagogy textbook (2nd ed.). Van Nuys, CA: Alfred Music.

19.

Lavrakas

P. J.

(2008). Encyclopedia of survey research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

20.

Lessner

J. S.

(2017). Creating holistic musicians and teachers: The President of the Western Music Education Association reflects on being a music educator in India. Teaching Music, 25(1): 10–11.

21.

(2001). The effect of Taiwanese piano education from the perspectives of college senior piano majors (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (9994078.)

22.

(2002). Piano teaching philosophies and influences on pianism at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (3074952.)

23.

Marsden

P. V.

Wright

J. D.

(2010). Handbook of survey research. Bingley, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

24.

Muck

B. G.

(2009). A survey of fourteen beginning piano method series (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (1481502.)

25.

Riley

(2012). Journal of self-exploration: Seeking understanding through musical and cultural experiences in South India. In Barrett

M. S.

Stauffer

S. L.

(Eds.), Narrative soundings: An anthology of narrative inquiry in music. (pp. 219–230). New York, NY: Springer Science and Business Media.

26.

Rosen

(1998). Music training and cultural transmission: A study of piano pedagogy and the transmission of culture in Vietnam and Thailand (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (9821513.)

27.

Roy

(2016). The internet guru: Online pedagogy in Indian classical music traditions. Asian Music. 47(1): 103–105. Retrieved from Project MUSE database: https://muse.jhu.edu/ (accessed 5 June 2018).

28.

Sundell

(2012). Comprehensive musicianship and beginner piano method books: A content analysis (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (MR86244.)

29.

Upadhyay

D. K.

Dalal

A. K.

(2017). Learners’ perspectives on music training in institutions of North India. International Journal of Music Education. 35(4): 500–514.

30.

Wang

(2001). The evolution of piano education in twentieth-century China with emphasis on Shanghai and Beijing conservatories. Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (3008052.)

31.

(2001). Piano teaching in China during the twentieth century (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from ProQuest Digital Dissertations. (3017258.)

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.14 MB