Influences and Challenges of Technology to Piano Lessons
By Lita Zagala
We know how smart phones and other devices have taken over a part of our lives, and how the internet is changing the way we do things and deal with people. Music, like other art forms and professions, enjoys the benefits from technology. For example, YouTube is full of videos of artists’ piano performances that serve as good examples of how a piece should be played.
In my days in university, I had to go to concerts to appreciate and learn from the masters. Not only were they expensive, live concerts then were few and far in between. Like everyone at the conservatory of music, I spent a lot of time at the listening center of our library. Today, the internet has become a wellspring of information, such as music history, theory and technique, that’s useful and readily available. Smart phones and tablets are often used when in-studio piano lessons are not possible due to inclement weather or other circumstances.
New challenges in teaching
While music education benefits from technology, it also faces new challenges. Educators and piano teachers have observed notable changes in our current behavioral patterns among the young that require new approaches to teaching. Young people expect ‘instant gratification’ in the same way they demand instant results from tablets and smart phones. It is all about ‘here and now’ without having to go through the usual arduous processes of practice and learning.
Studies show declining numbers of students taking piano lessons going beyond Grade 8. Witness the availability of apps that mimic keyboards that provide almost instant results. I’m lucky that I have students who continue to Grades 9 and 10 and even to ARCT. They have reached a level of proficiency in piano that enables them to learn music independently.
Music helps build character
While I embrace technology as a necessary tool for giving piano lessons, my goals for my students have not changed. I believe that music training helps in character formation and provides a added oppoerunities for developing important life skills such as patience, persistence, self discipline and focus.. I realize that only a few will want to be full time musicians. But everyone will eventually become adults and will someday work within their own chosen professions. Music, especially piano lessons during childhood can help build those life skills.
Human experience is made whole by the presence of music in one’s life. As a teacher specializing in the Suzuki piano method, I believe in Dr. Shinichi Suzuki’s philosophy that “musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. Any child who is properly trained can develop such musical ability just as all children learn to speak their mother tongue. The potential of every child is unlimited.” In order to adapt to the changing music learning environment, I incorporate the RCM repertoire when my piano students are ready to take the RCM piano examinations.
Commitment bridges values to reality
It is sometimes tough for students to cling to ‘good old reliable’ virtues such as patience, self-discipline and persistence when technology is always there to offer instant gratification. But a serious commitment to music education through piano lessons can bridge old values to the new reality.
