I have been teaching piano for about two years now...and I thought that it was really important that my students know and understand the composer of the music they are playing...just so to understand the background of the music history...and to fill them with knowledge other than just notes...

But I've been told by parents not to do that, as it is a waste of time...and have been told by students, that they would prefer not to learn the historical part, as it is boring...

I didn't want to make music so exam orientated as it already is...but it seems that people are happy to keep it that way...

Am I then wrong, to implement some music history facts into this teaching plan of mine?

I think teaching music history and lives of the composers is a great thing to include. It also helps students connect to the music and bring the emotional aspect into music.

Others may be able to help you in how to make the parents and students understand this. All the parents I have dealt with are very appreciative that I teach more than just the notes.

Though I'm not a piano teacher, I think I might be able to answer your question.

First of all, my piano teacher always talks about the history behind a work - it definitely helps to bring the piece into a better context and ultimately help with the interpretation. I personally enjoy when he has something to say about history (though, I am a very big enthusiast on music history, so I may be a little biased in this regard).

I have a reasonably hefty mathematics training behind me - I have found that math people find it important (and very interesting) to learn about why certain people were working on a certain topic. The motivation behind each topic is just as important as the topic itself. It allows us to have an intuition on how to prove things and understand definitions, etc... Absolutely indispensable.

People tend to not want to do things when they don't understand why they are doing them. I think that you should explain to students and parents why you would like to talk about history. Maybe that might change some things.

Just offering the viewpoint of an adult student ... IMO, learning about the history of music is a key part of attaining a valid music education. Do your students and their parents realize that knowing the composer and the time period in which a piece was written can provide valuable insight into how it should be played?

Maybe you could create a small lending library of books that can help to reinforce the value of historical learning. Alfred's "Classical Spirit" and "Baroque Spirit" books, for example, combine quick, easy-to-digest explanations about musical styles, types of pieces, major developments, etc. with appropriate selections by major and lesser-known composers. They are available with or without CDs.

Good luck with your teaching.

These parents are certainly ordering this teacher around a lot. Teachers are experts, not servants. You have an expert opinion, I take it. You might be able to turn this around - The parents want their children to "succeed": that is their wish. You know how to make them successful. They need to learn history. Ok, so there's no "time" according to the parents. No problem: assign the student to look up a particular composer or time period and give you a five minute report in the next lesson. Your student might be fascinated. And you have not taken up precious lesson time.

Unfortunately yes...you see, there is this thinking that goes around Malaysia...well, at least it is obvious in my studio...that young and fresh piano teachers "are lousy and impatient"...and it is the "experienced teachers that produces results"

Hence...a lot of 'looking down' and discrimination going around...plus the fact that I am not exactly going with the flow of "music exams level after level"...and practicing "introduction of history"...which is against the norm...

Well, on the bright side, as many as they are, bossy parents...there are also appreciative parents that really makes my day...

And that is what keeps me going!!...

As I posted in another topic you started, you must assert your voice in your piano studio to represent your musical philosophy of what piano teaching is all about.

You have more than enough dissenting people who give comment and advice to you. You are maxed out with input you don't necessarily want. I offered a suggestion about that in another topic to you.

Because I'm a little risk taking than other teachers might be, my suggestions may not seem doable to you.

I would also put a package of duct tape - know what that is? - and leave it opened on my desk just to convey to myself that if nothing else works I could cover their mouths with duct tape making it difficult for them to speak so frequently about formatting policy in my studio.

Negotiating and conversations are different from the dictums they are trying to give you.

Courage, my friend! If nothing else, take care of your own concerns and needs first. If the teacher is not happy, no one will be happy.

Betty

LOL! Duct tape...I don't know if I would actually use it, but I guess there's no harm in leaving it out...it might frighten them into stopping their talking.

So, you want to play Bach, but rather not know about the Reformation, you want to play Mozart, but would rather not know about opera (nor that Mozart wrote that piece 3 years before you started piano lessons!), or perhaps you'd like to play Debussy, but would rather not learn about Impressionism.

You may become technically adept, but I for one wouldn't want to listen to your recitals. Something serious will be lacking.

This is a long way of saying that music was of it's time, and if you do not know about the life and times of when it was written, you'll be deficient.

Considering that Malaysia is not Euro-centric in it's learning, your students are already several steps behind those of the Western world. I would point that out to parents, so that they realize there's a reason for students learning "history" as you call it.

I suppose they object to you teaching them Italian, German, and French, at least to the extent that students know what the various notations mean which are plastered throughout the music!

Sometimes, when dealing with a particularly obtuse parent, I suggest that if the student (and by implication, the parent) constantly rejects my advice, it would be easier on all of us if they just sent me a monthly check, and skip driving to lessons every week.

Your problem is the parents are present during the lesson, I gather.

I wouldn't spend too much time teaching history until a child is over twelve or demonstrates an interest in it.

I would occasionally mention the various time periods of music, and the sorts of things people valued. For instance, order and clarity are very important for Classical music. Or state that Alberti basses are found in Classical music mainly. Or rubato is something you use in Chopin and other Romantic Music but not in the Baroque. The Baroque is about the dramatic, with driving rhythms, and polyphony.

I'd keep it simple. Right now, the children really do need to build their skills.

Lessajinomoto and Canto,

The duct tape on my desk would be for a message to me about keeping my cool with them, but being vocal enough for them to know I have a different viewpoint and plan for their child and why.

If all else fails, my imagination would dream up a "picture" of me trying to apply duct tape as a final lost cause.

It's not going to happen!

Besides, there is always "Gorilla Glue" to consider.

This scenario was meant to be totally silly, people. Remnants from "Saturday Night Live" or something like that.

I really do believe in having great relationships with my clients - teamwork and support is important. We need each other for a win-win-win situation.

Betty

And yet they choose to send their children to you rather than a more experienced teacher. This alone demonstrates that they must have some respect for you and faith in your teaching methods.

You are right to include historical facts and information as part of your teaching. In any case, you are the teacher and it is up to you to decide what is best for your students. Like Candyman said, try to keep it relevant and appropriate to their age, ability and experience. Music history does not have to be heavy with the younger students. A few key points and fun facts would not take up too much time. With older and more advanced students it is essential to know the historical background of any work if you are going to give a good performance.

I do try to incorporate music history into the lessons, but I always put the teaching materials in context of the question, "How can that historical insight make me play the piece better?" Once in a while I start digressing and start talking about the personal lives (or lack thereof) of these composers. And as long as my students are interested, I'll keep talking.

But I must also warn against any biographical interpretation of a piece of music. Like any work of art (sculpture, painting, music, and even literature) the "creator" maybe creating the work for the sake of art and nothing else! Just because Mozart's mother died doesn't mean all the pieces he wrote in the next month and a half are gloomy and angry. Just because Brahms can't have Clara Schumann doesn't mean all of his music is filled with deep, pent-up frustration (although most of it do).

That being said, I do enjoy "over-romanticizing" historical interpretations. I especially enjoy playing or hearing works written by composers near their death. Bach's Contrapunctus #14 hits me every time I hear it, as do Chopin's flawed, but deeply-moving late mazurkas.

What do teachers think of my idea of giving a student historical research as homework? Kids are adept at research, computer stuff, so this may connect to a strength and passion. It is something that I ended up doing while preparing my last piece: the composer, the time period, the philosophies, the dance form. This then led to discussion of what I found and what it might mean for the piece, which had my teacher lead me further. The most fascinating thing was to se professional dancers in period costume performing a Gavotte. This was much more meaningful than a dry explanation, and lent meaning to the music itself.

You can include tidbits of music history in an animated and fun way, especially with younger elementary students. I love to talk about Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy', how he lost his hearing, how he wrote music when he was completely deaf, etc... Because I have a clavinova in my studio I like to use the harpsichord sound and talk about the history of the piano. Certain songs in the method books lend themselves nicely for storytelling and learning a bit about history. You can also find children's books about composers, the orchestra, etc....

I think it's important for students to learn how various events going on in the world at specific times impacted music, art, political and religious thought, and how everything is intertwined.

Art history books are fascinating where you can breeze through pictures and learn a lot about the era. Just imagine candle power - no electricity. No running water, kids! No ringing telephone! Writing music with a quill and ink bottle! No books to read before the invention of the printing press. No tv evening news, how did they communicate? What about their parties and socialization in their homes with dancing and music - Gavottes, Minuets, Jigs. How many dance forms can you name? Have you heard an organ in a cathedral? Have you heard a harpsichord? Looking at composer biographies, listening to their music.

Aren't people interested in the who? where? what? why? and when? of it?

Everything can become a story - appropriately shared - plant a seed - ask a question. Spark their imagination.

Betty

A little old man with shiny white beard, dark complexion, sleeping under a tree in a park on on hot day while wearing a full tuxedo - like a character in a fairy tale - listened to me practice some years ago. He shared candies with me while sitting on a stone fence and said fervently, struggling with his English:

"You must make the singer sing! You must make the singer sing!"

I'm not making this up, btw.

I had a Gavotte to play. I watched dancers in period costomes with slow, lithe leaps, full of graceful suppleness. The thought came:

"You must make the dancer dance!"

Does this not come into your playing as you try to bring a slow graceful spring into their step. If you cannot visualize the dance, can you do it justice?

To further acquaint the student with the composer's intentions, we always stressed the value of reading about the lives of the great masters and of trying to understand their thoughts at the time they wrote their compositions. Likewise, it is very useful for the student to read about the environment and the conditions in which the great composers lived. As understanding of the ornamentation in Mozart's music, for example, can be enhanced by understanding the rococo architecture of his time or even the stylized patterns of dress that he followed so carefully.[/b]

So wrote Rosina Lhevinne, Jan 11, 1971, in the preface to the book Basic Principles in Pianoforte Playing by Josef Lhevinne.