Contemporary Trends in Piano Pedagogy and Playing of Instructive Repertoire

The course is four semesters long. It includes instruction in Methods (36 hours), Music Pedagogy (18 hours), Music Psychology (18 hours), Interpretation Seminar (18 hours), and Pedagogy Seminar (18 hours) in the massed courses and individual instruction in Piano Performance (20 hours), and Teaching Practice (20 hours). For an additional fee, 1-10 hours per year of instruction in Chorepetition, Improvisation, and Harpsichord can be arranged. The Personal Creativity course also provides the opportunity to consult on the final written work in Piano Methods, and to prepare professional articles and contributions to discussions and publications.

The course allows students to acquire the latest knowledge of piano playing methodology, to develop their playing on the instrument with a focus on the repertoire taught by the teacher at the appropriate level and specialization of the school, to consult the performances of their students either live or through audio or video recordings of their teaching at the workplace, to follow the results of contemporary music pedagogy and psychology. In addition to the methodological and theoretical-practical aspects of the respective disciplines, the individual semesters are oriented towards the development of teachers’ social psychological and communicative skills in relation to the evaluation of pupils’ performances and work, especially in pedagogical and performance seminars. During the course, students are introduced to the basics of pedagogical and psychological diagnostics and the main aspects of preparing a musician for public performance.

Classes in the mass subjects are taught on Saturdays from 9:45 to 14:30, in nine blocks per year, on the specified consultation days of the respective year. Individual lessons are taught on Saturdays and other days, in addition to which students attend an opening consultation day, which includes a block of specialist lectures and organisational information. Optional participation in a full-day block of current pedagogical and performance joint events and seminars is possible once a month.

Methodology of piano playing: development of creative artistic personality through piano playing; education of deep emotional perception and experience of positive relations to people and nature; comparison of modern and outdated methodological procedures in piano teaching, considering changes in the way of life and needs of pupils; overview of modern elementary piano schools in the Czech Republic and abroad; development of musicality of pupils: Education of metro-rhythmic sensitivity, work with pitch, colour and tone dynamics, development of pupils’ creativity, basics of analysis of compositions from the very beginning of teaching, elements of musical forms, harmony, improvisation; work with rhymes and songs; the process of acquiring piano technique based on the priority of the intention of musical expression; the basics of working with musical text and playing from notes; individual and balanced way of choosing repertoire for pupils of the Elementary School. How to study composition and find optimal ways to work with parents in establishing good habits of effective practice; performance as a means of emotional self-expression, communication and joyful creation and perception of music by pupils.

Piano playing: individual tuition is based on the specific needs of each student teacher. The basis is a cross-section of the repertoire usually covered at primary and secondary level, but with the assumption of the most advanced professional performance. The material discussed includes piano schools, technical exercises and etudes, polyphonic pieces, and other performance repertoire from all stylistic periods. The difficulty of the pieces corresponds to the usual level of the first and second grade of the Elementary School. Teachers of other schools perform repertoire according to the curriculum of their department. The course is taught by JAMU teachers who teach the main course in piano performance at the music faculty. Therefore, trainees can also develop their piano skills in the sphere of the highest severity and difficulty and consult their concert repertoire if they are sufficiently equipped and prepared.

Teaching practice: this individual course allows for consultation with students, models or analysis of recordings of the trainee’s own teaching at their workplace. It also enables confrontation of the student’s teaching with the teaching of a JAMU teacher who is solving a problem with the same student, or who is consulting the student’s preparation for concerts, competitions or examinations for a higher level of musical studies.

Music psychology: application of modern scientific knowledge to the practical activities of the piano teacher; focus on the area of personality and music psychology, application and use of special tests and addressing the issue of the relationship between emotionality and rationality in the general and specific musical development of the child and adolescent.

Music pedagogy: analysis and discussion of modern scientific film documentaries on the principles of teaching and developing a creative musical personality; piano playing and health; mild brain dysfunctions and their treatment through piano teaching; teaching disabled pupils; preparing pupils for public performances, concerts and competitions.

Interpretive seminar: continues the methodology of piano playing. It includes practical demonstrations of work with pupils, analyses of performances from recordings of international piano competitions and the work of outstanding teachers.

Pedagogical seminar: brings up-to-date knowledge in the field. Information about newly published sheet music, possibilities of its use, audio recordings of instructional literature are presented, students are informed about the results of competitions, performance and pedagogical courses and current professional lectures and seminars in the Czech Republic and abroad. Space is created for discussions and the formulation of opinions on topics chosen by the participants.

Personal creativity – preparation of the final written thesis: gives the opportunity for individual consultations on the preparation of the chosen professional topic of the written thesis, which, after elaboration and acceptance by the professional committee, is permanently available in the library of the Methodological Centre of the JAMU Faculty of Music, and is also often published in the magazine Pianissimo, etc. It guides teachers to develop precise formulation of their own opinions, to combine them with previous knowledge and to enrich not only their pupils but also their colleagues. In the course one can consult one’s own publications and professional contributions to discussions and lectures.

I. year
HARD TRAINING
Methodology of piano playing	2 hours
Interpretive seminar	1 hour
Music pedagogy	2 hours
Pedagogical seminar	1 hour
INDIVIDUAL TUITION
Playing the piano	1 hour
Teaching practice	1 hour
Expected participation: at least 75 hours per year.

II. year
HARD TRAINING
Methodology of piano playing	2 hours
Music Psychology	2 hours
Pedagogical seminar	1 hour
Interpretive seminar	1 hour
INDIVIDUAL TUITION
Playing the piano	1 hour
Teaching practice	1 hour
Personal creativity	1 hour
Expected participation: minimum 80 hours per year

In addition, trainees have the right to participate in all pedagogical and performance seminars, lectures and one-off seminars within the framework of other Method Centre courses.

The course is intended primarily for graduates of conservatories and music colleges who work in music education. However, it can also be attended by teachers who are not conservatory graduates, but who demonstrate sufficient professional (musical) skills and have teaching experience in the ZUŠ. The course is also open to graduates of non-teaching university disciplines (e.g. musicology) who teach at ZUŠ or conservatories. The first year of study is completed with credits and graded examinations in all subjects, the second year with board examinations in methodology, piano playing, teaching practice, psychology and pedagogy. The final examination also includes an interview combined with an assessment of the final written work. Upon successful completion of the examination, the trainee receives a certificate of completion indicating the subjects studied and the examinations passed.