1 / 22

Educational applications of scientific research on music performance

This presentation explores the potential impact of scientific research on music education, addressing issues such as academic pressure, changing demands on musicians/educators, and the balance between cost efficiency and structural conservatism. It highlights inadequately taught topics, common objections, and strategies to improve efficiency. Topics include teaching improvisation, structural and emotional communication, performance anxiety, music medicine, and efficient practice. The importance of student-teacher interaction and the role of analytic and holistic thinking are also discussed.

cabot
Download Presentation

Educational applications of scientific research on music performance

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Educational applications of scientific research on music performance Richard Parncutt University of Graz, Austria Invited presentation at the International Symposium on Psychology and Music Education (PME04), Padova, Italy, November 2004

  2. Some issues • Academic pressure on music academies • Changing demands on musicians/educators • Flexibility of job markets • Cost efficiency versus structural conservatism • Communication education  psychology • Intuitive versus logical thinking

  3. Aim Improve efficiency of music education Efficiency = output / input • Input = students‘ time and effort; costs • Output = musical or educational quality

  4. Some inadequately taught topics • Improvisation • Expression • Performance anxiety • Music medicine • Physics, physiology, psychology of performance (own instrument) • Efficient practice • Student-teacher interaction

  5. Common Objections and Answers O: We never learned or needed that stuff! A1: Our students will be even better than we are. A2: Beethoven had no Bachelor‘s degree. O: Foreign ideas interfere with teaching! A1: It‘s about ideas, not “truth”. A2: Communicate with other teachers. O: Analytic thinking inhibits spontaneity! A1: Music theorists are music lovers, too. A2: Analytic thinking is confined to practice.

  6. Approach • Survey of practically promising research • Practical and political issues • why not currently taught? • anticipated effect of introduction • strategies to encourage introduction

  7. Sound before sign (Jost, McPherson) • Psychology of speech acquisition • hear, understand, imitate, improvise, write, read, share • successively & interactively • European history • improvisation died out in the 19th century • Modern teachers • feel inadequate, don’t convince parents or play with students • “Sound before sign” • start early (plasticity), one skill at a time, improv. against accomp., notate improvs., multiple representations

  8. Teaching improvisation (Lassnig) • Order • imitate  improvise  notate  transcribe • Balance • group / individual improvisation • Approach • set limits (dynamics, articulations, pitches, durations) • expression first: syntax through semantics • combine structural elements with musical skills • Psychological theory of creativity • knowledge, risk, evaluation, motivation, flow

  9. Structural communication (Friberg) Students can‘t describe how they express! • Structure: phrasing, meter, melody, harmony • Good theories: simple and applicable • Expression and accentuation • Immanent versus performed accents • Principle: performed reinforce immanent • Meaningful analysis of repertoire

  10. Emotional communication (Juslin) Students have little analytical knowledge of: • Cues • size/variation of: tempo, dynamic, articulation (attack / duration), timbre, durational contrast, intonation/vibrato • Redundancy and ambiguity of message • Relation to structure • Effectiveness of feedback training

  11. Performance anxiety (Wilson) High incidence, low awareness / treatment: • Optimal arousal versus panic • Personality, mastery, situation • Perfectionism and control • Treatment • physical (relaxation) • cognitive (realism, desensitization, restructuring) • Yoga, hypnotherapy, Alexander technique

  12. Music medicine (Gasenzer, Erlitz) High incidence, low awareness / treatment: • Common problems • chronic tension, reduced elasticity of muscles • pelvis, lower spine, back of neck • specific to instrument, technique, repertoire, physique • Student musicians need: • knowledge (relevant anatomy, physiology) • strategies (exercises, sport, nutrition) • treatments (active interventions, avoiding overload) • information specific to children • Why important for students? • Prevention is better than cure!

  13. Physics, physiology and psychology of piano (Troup, Holming) Students know surprisingly little about: • Relevant mechanics, acoustics, physiology • Timbre • key velocity, noise, pedals, balance, onset timing • Fingering • constraints: physical, anatomic, motor, cognitive • dependencies: expertise, interpretation • Structural and emotional communication • with limited expressive possibilities

  14. Efficient practice (Barry) Diversity of approaches: • Study and analysis of scores • Mental and physical practice • Metacognition, organization, goal orientation • Intrinsic motivation • Listen to recordings and concerts • Many short sessions with breaks

  15. Student-teacher interaction (Painsi) • Research • child’s, teacher’s, parent’s attributions of success and failure • Results • teachers don’t discuss failures or feel responsible • girls attribute more than boys to uncontrollable factors • Strategies • attribution training, self-efficacy, stress management, motivational feedback • Aims • realism, confidence, motivation, progress

  16. Analytic versus holistic thinking Brandler & Rammsayer (Psychol Mus 2003): • Musicians - verbal memory; holistic/intuitive • Nonmusicians - series, classifications, matrics, topologies; analytic/logical • Nature/nurture - unclear, irrelevant Implication: • Musicians need support in analytical thinking

  17. Implications Compulsory units for all students: • improvisation • expression • performance anxiety • music medicine • physics, physiology, psychology of performance (own instrument) • efficient practice • psychology of music teaching Bachelor‘s: 3 ECTS/unit = 12% of course

  18. Aims of individual units Formulate musically relevant aims, e.g.: • Physics, physiology, psychology of piano • minimize cognitive and physical load • realistically achieve interpretive goals

  19. Changing the system • Politics: majority rules or minority rights? - Musicology: historians versus systematic, ethnomusicologists - Academy: performers versus academics, theorists, composers • How did it get like this? - Musicology: 19th-century faculties of humanities - Academy: performance as genius • Solution: arguments not opinions - Cite research - Quality = focus plus diversity • Example - Musicology in Graz (planned): 6 modules

  20. Getting academic staff • Change curriculum • New units: temporary staff • Success of curriculum  new permanent staff • Quality & international orientation of staff: may teach in English or French

  21. Musical interdisciplinarity • Humanities • Sciences • Practice • Necessary: - specialism - openness, respect, curiosity • Not necessary: - specialist knowledge outside specialism

  22. Thank you for your attention and special thanks to all who helped with the Italian translation! • Maddalena Forti • Luigi Frezza • Silvia Boccato • Bintou Traoré • Silvia Risato • Nicoletta Chiggio • Matteo Mattarello

More Related