Description
The purpose of this study was to establish if there are major differences between the materials used in Recreational Music Making (RMM) lessons for beginning adult piano students and the materials for traditional private instruction of adult beginners, and if so, what the differences are. In order to demonstrate these differences, this study analyzes selected materials according to six musical categories: Reading, Technique, Repertoire, Aural Skills, Musicianship (Theory), and Creative Skills. Using these categories developed by Cathy Albergo for a study of children's materials, the analysis of each RMM or adult piano book was completed. This researcher identified the beginning section of each adult curriculum that would comprise approximately eight weeks of adult group instruction. Because each book contained a different number of pages and content, a common length of study had to be determined for the comparative element of this study. Piano Fun for Adult Beginners is designed to be used in an eight-week period. To find the beginning eight-week segment in Musical Moments, the researcher consulted the Musical Moments Teacher's Guide. The published lesson plans indicated that a class might reach page 21 within eight weeks. For Bastien Piano for Adults, the researcher received data from one of the authors of the book, who had taught a sixty-minute adult group class for eight weeks. The approximate eight-week portion of the Bastien curriculum ended on page 80, or the completion of chapter 5. Because the researcher was unable to discuss the approximate eight-week segment of Alfred Adult All-in-One with the authors, a survey was sent to teachers in the San Diego area. The teachers stated that they covered an average of four pages per week. Thus, thirty-two pages of Alfred Adult All-in-One were analyzed for this study. Although this study aimed to discuss significant differences between the four texts, differences could not be quantified because the results were unclear and inconsistent. Although one RMM text produced unique data, the same result was not found in the other RMM text. For example, Piano Fun contains far more popular repertoire than traditional methods; however, it also contains far more popular repertoire than Musical Moments. Musical Moments contains wellness exercises, which reflect the wellness philosophy of RMM. However, neither Piano Fun nor the traditional texts contain wellness exercises. Although there are elements of the RMM philosophy that concur with broader research on adult student preferences, the researcher cannot prove if RMM materials are more beneficial for adult students than traditional methods for adult students because no scientific data exists to determine which type of curriculum best fulfills the adult learner's needs.
