by ingrid.hjelm-hansen -

Key Findings from Interviews

I have spent the last week planning and arranging two interviews related to my topic. It was interesting to conduct primary research in this way and talk directly to people with experience in the topic. In this seventh blog post, I will present key findings from the interviews. 

Interview subjects

  • Women in the age between 23 and 25
  • Went to music lessons for 1-3 years in primary school
  • Mainly piano, but also other instruments such as the clarinet, guitar and drums
  • Busy time schedule with handball, football, horse riding and choir

Why did they start?

They both have a parent with musical talent and interest. One of them also has a sister that went to piano lessons and got inspired by her. Both interview subjects also grew up with a piano in their house, which made them curious on the instrument. 

During music education

The first interview subject stated that it was much more difficult to learn the instrument than predicted. She never learned musical notation, but had another technique that worked out in the beginning. The different notes in the C major scale got a number from one to five, representing the different fingers on her hand. When the number 1 was listed, she played a C with her thumb, without knowing the actual name of the tone. After some time, it was difficult to adapt the system to more complicated songs. Without knowing how to read music sheets, she struggled to progress. She quitted practicing at home between the lessons and did not get a big feeling of mastery. 

The second interview subject had a slightly different experience. She learned how to read musical notation, and felt that she mastered how to play the instrument in the beginning. She practiced at home approximately once a week, but did not find it genuinely fun or motivating. The music school arranged a competition for the pupils, to make them practice more between the lessons. This did not motivate the interview subject, because she felt that the whole intention was wrong. They had to use a stopwatch to time how long they were playing for. After a while, the songs also got more difficult which made it less fun for her. 

Why did they quit?

For both interview subjects, it was mainly a consequence of a tight time schedule. They went to other arranged activities that was more active, fun, and social, which made them easier to prioritize. For the first interview subject, it was challenging to get to the piano teacher. She had to walk for a long time along a road not suitable for pedestrians. None of the subjects had a lot of friends doing music lessons, and because they did not find the actual practice motivating anymore, quitting was an easy option. The second interview subject also dreaded the concerts that were arranged once every semester. She did not look forward to them and thinking of them made her rather afraid and unwell. 

Subsequently, both interview subject state that they now wish they were better at playing music instruments. Nevertheless, they do not regret prioritizing more social and physically challenging activities. 

Music lessons at school

In addition to attending arranged music lessons, both of them took part in music education in school. They learned basic guitar chords and rhythms on drums, which they found both fun and challenging. The second interview subject especially enjoyed playing drums, but none of them liked the guitar lessons. They did not get along with their music teachers and felt like they were very much left on their own. To get a grade in the course, they had to perform with the guitar. The second interview object found that significantly scary and uncomfortable, it did not give her any feeling of mastery at all. 

Thoughts about digital music education

None of the interview subjects have been trying out any form of digital music education. One of them said that she could picture herself using YouTube tutorials if she was a child now. She also mentioned that she thinks Duolingo Music has a cool approach, but do not think she could commit to doing it regularly. The other interview subject said that it is crucial to be truly motivated for digital music education to be efficient. It is not very social, so the students will be more left on their own. One would need to be dedicated, and she states that digital music lessons would definitely not work for her. 

Additional input

Both interview subjects told me that they love music. They consider it being a big part of their life, and a source to a wide range of emotions. They would love to be good at playing an instrument now, but they still do not consider learning one now. It is apparently too late. Even in middle school, learning a new instrument or starting a new leisure activity was considered too late. 

The first interview subject enjoyed playing around and experimenting on the piano as a child. The second one stayed with the music sheets and did not challenge herself to improvise in any way. At home, they were both allowed to play when they wanted to and was not very restricted. They also remember to like their piano instructors, and do not know if other instructors could make them stay longer. For the second interview object, it could possibly have made a difference if the concerts were voluntary instead of obligatory.  

They agreed on the fact that inner motivation is crucial. It does require a lot of hard work to become good, which is impossible if you do not enjoy practicing. It would be easier for them to stay in music education if they were surrounded by people who did the same. Both friends and family had a big impact on them. They wanted to do the same as their siblings, and not miss out on the social arenas handball and football practice offered. One of them mentioned that it would be harder to quit if the piano lessons was more collaborative and social. According to her, group rehearsals to make piano harmonies could be a good idea. 

by ingrid.hjelm-hansen -

Can Piano Tutorials Compare to Traditional Music Education?

That is what student, piano and music teacher Toril Siksjø asked herself while writing her master’s thesis at the Norwegian Academy of Music in 2015. The thesis is a comparative study of leaning effects and motivation in internet-based piano instruction for high school students. She researched the differences between piano tutorials and traditional teaching, and how it affected the pupils. The research questions were: 

  • Is there any difference in learning outcomes between students taught in a formal context at school and students acquiring knowledge in an informal context through the internet (tutorials)?
  • How do students experience the different pedagogical approaches in terms of motivation? 

To answer these questions, she concocted research in a music program at a high school, specifically in the subject area of instrument/choir/ensemble. The participants were between the age of 16 and 17, and had a basic knowledge of music in advance. She divided the class in two: Group one received traditional instruction, while group two received instruction exclusively through tutorial videos Siksjø produced herself. The content was the same and the only thing that differentiated the groups was the teaching method. Both groups were tested on their learning skills in the very beginning and at the end of the semester. The participants also had to attend interviews and answer several surveys throughout the semester, asking about their learning motivation and assessment of own skills. 

Screenshot of one of Siksjø’s self-produced YouTube tutorials. In addition to the videos, she also created a private Facebook group where students could ask questions about the content of the videos, post comments, and engage in discussions with her and the other participants throughout the project. 

Results

After the project, one of the pupils from group two stated (p. 82): 

I could take it home, and then I could work on it alone. I could go at my own pace. I found it very enjoyable to be able to rewind because it’s not very fun to ask the teacher many times about what this and that is; instead, I could just rewind and watch it again a few times. 

On the other hand, another pupil said (p. 83): 

The day I went home, I thought I would really excel at this, but then I watched the video, and I have a bit of difficulty keeping up. I will never learn what’s in the video, and then I bring myself down, lose concentration, put it aside, and think, if I relax, I can do it later, but I didn’t. Then, there was very little time left, so I actually postponed it quite a bit.

I general, the motivation in group two was declining throughout the semester. Oppositely, the answers from group one was mainly positive, and most of the pupils were satisfied with their own effort. 

When it comes to the theoretical outcome, there was no big difference between the two groups. On the test, they scored on the approximate same level. However, this was not supported by their own feeling of mastery and self-esteem. The participants on group one rated their own level as significantly higher than group two. Siksjø concludes: 

My conclusion is that students who do not receive feedback on their learning process evaluate themselves lower than those who have traditional instruction, which can affect their self-efficacy in future learning processes.

This is a very interesting finding, that I will take in consideration when further exploring the use of different music teaching methods. 

Reference

Siksjø, T. (2015). ”Kari lærte å spille piano da hun sluttet i kulturskolen” .

Musikkpedagogikk, Norges musikkhøgskole, Oslo, Norway. Retrieved from https://nmh.brage.unit.no/nmh-xmlui/bitstream/handle/11250/2379133/Toril_Siksjø.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y