Utilizing Computer Technology in the University Private Voice and Instrumental Studio
Earl Logan, Cameron University
The private lesson is the most expensive form of instruction on most university campuses. In most settings a studio professor teaches three one-half hour contact hours for each load hour the professor accumulates. This translates into an extremely low student /teacher ratio of 1:1. These types of figures do not make a profitable situation for the university.
The studio expense for the student includes the following: (a) The cost of one semester hour for each one half hour of instruction; (b) the continual and escalating expense of music and materials; (c) a "studio" fee attached to each semester hour by the university; and (d) a significant amount of time required to practice in order to meet the minimum requirements of the studio lesson.
One expense shared by both parties or borne by either is that of an accompanist. Determining who will accompany during the lesson, in a performance setting, and in the practice room can become a constant source of frustration for many students and their teachers.
In addition, many students come to college with no idea of how to practice effectively. Voice students often go into the practice room with little or no piano skills, and often no previous studio voice instruction. The instructor's expectation is for the student to return to his next lesson with the assigned repertoire prepared and ready to be critiqued.
Furthermore, many studio teachers have little or no keyboard skill, nor do they have the time or interest to acquire it. Rather they see themselves as an instructor who truly wants to be an effective pedagogue, not an accompanist. This dilemma becomes a frustration for both student and teacher and can impair the learning process. Some students may become sufficiently discouraged and discontinue their study. The "dilemma" may cause the teacher to assign easier repertoire than is consistent with the skill of the student. The repertoire assigned may become contingent upon the availability or skill of an accompanist, rather than the needs of the student.
Possible Solutions for the Accompanying Dilemma: Pros and Cons
This problem is not new. Several universities are experiencing this problem or related situations. the following is a list of several solutions. Listed below each solution are the pros and cons. In reality probably combinations of all of these solutions are used.
1. Studio teachers play their own accompaniments. Some studio teachers may possess sufficient keyboard skills to play the accompaniments required by their student's repertoire. In addition, they are willing and able to make tapes for their students to use in the practice room and to play for their students’ performances in informal recital settings.
Pros: The student has accompaniment available to them at no expense. In addition the teacher can construct the nuances of the music presented in the appropriate style. The teacher can produce accompaniments for the student to use in the practice room.
Cons: The studio teacher may conclude that they can not adequately function as a successful pedagogue while they are having to play the accompaniment, particularly if the accompaniment is complex and requires concentration. In addition the teacher may be reluctant to play an accompaniment and have it recorded for student use or to play in a recital setting. In addition, to take the limited time of a private lesson to make these recordings may hinder the potential growth of the student. If the student is in an audition setting, such as is offered biannually by certain professional groups, teachers are most often prohibited from playing. Finally, a studio instructor with limited or no keyboard skills would find this alternative would not an option.
2. The university hires a full time departmental accompanist or perhaps even more than one. The accompanist(s) are available to play for private lessons, usually on a first call basis. A staff accompanist may also be required to play for the student's performances as well as juries. Often the accompanist can come to individual student’s lessons, particularly before a student performance.
Pros: The student will usually get a quality accompanying experience. In addition most staff accompanists bring to their position vast experience in playing a variety of musical styles. This usually works to reinforce the instruction of the studio teacher. In addition when the studio teacher evaluates a rehearsal situation, the teacher can concentrate on the student’s performance and not have to be concerned with the professional accompanist. Some staff accompanists will make practice tapes for individual student use.
Cons: Most of the time schools that can afford a staff accompanist slot have a larger number of music majors. Consequently this means less time for the individual student. The studio "problem" mentioned in scenario one still will exist to the some degree. Often if the student wants more time with the accompanist they may have the option of personally hiring the accompanist. This is an additional cost that makes this option not viable for many students who are attending school on limited funds.
3. The university recruits a number of piano majors with large scholarships. The student’s awards are directly fixed to a certain amount of time devoted to accompanying. After the student accompanist has reached their required limit, they may offer their accompanying services, for additional remuneration, for further rehearsal time.
Pros: This option offers significant benefits to the student accompanist–the experience of learning to play various styles plus the additional tactical and reading skill to be gained. For the student who uses a student accompanist there will be a significant financial saving over the professional accompanist option. In addition, the schedule of the student accompanist is probably much more flexible than that of the professional accompanist.
Cons: In most cases the student accompanist or the student performer's knowledge of styles does not equal that of the teacher. It therefore usually falls as a responsibility of the teacher to coach the student accompanist as well as the student in the appropriate stylistic considerations of the music. There may be a wide range of skill encountered with the student accompanists, as well as the obvious lack of time to practice accompaniments as well as their assigned applied piano repertoire.
4. The private teachers, with the support of the university, purchase professional quality tapes and/or disks that have the needed accompaniments. These accompaniments in the last few years have developed a high degree of sensitivity. Some machines and disks are sensitive to the individual performer's rendition particularly as it pertains to tempo and dynamics.
Pros: Depending on the source of the pre-recorded accompaniment, these tools can be very useful to the private teacher, particularly those that are student sensitive to tempo. In addition, in the most advanced of these prerecorded accompaniments the score is visible on a computer screen.
Cons: The earliest of tapes and recordings provided very rigid parameters of the accompaniments. The teacher that uses these accompaniments exclusively limits the choice of repertoire to those recorded. In most cases it is illegal to copy any of these recordings. The student will then have to purchase his own copy of each accompanying tape or check them out of the library or some other holding facility. Again, with the earlier accompaniments, there is no way to adjust tempo. Of course, each time an accompaniment is needed, a new purchase is necessary. The teacher does not have the option of adding to or taking away from these accompaniments.
5. Students are required to pay an accompanying fee at the time of registration. The university assigns an accompanist to each student for a specific number of services. Another option, in this same genre, is to supply the student with a list of accompanists. The student is responsible for arranging for an accompanist for their own needs as well as negotiating payment for each service.
Pros: Since the accompanists are paid by per service arrangement, there is the inducement for the accompanist to do his best. In addition, the arrangement of the accompanist shifts to the student's responsibility.
Cons: Most college students have a difficult time paying their college expenses. To add the burden of having to pay an accompanist may be prohibitive for some students. Hence the student goes without and their learning is hampered.
6. Most teachers and students use a combination of the above methods in determining the form of accompaniment most appropriate for the situation.
The purpose of this proposal is to suggest a solution to the studio accompaniment problem in the early learning stage, both in the practice room and the studio. In addition, this proposal will suggest a formula for practice with recorded accompaniments that will be particularly helpful to the younger and/or inexperienced student in applied study.
The Computer as an Effective Tool in the Private Studio
Another possible solution is to utilize computer technology as an aid in the applied studio. The computer has influenced most aspects of university instruction. Private instrumental or vocal studios, however, have remained alienated from the computer except for occasional use as a word processor. With recent software it is now possible to utilize the computer to greatly enhance studio instruction. The following is one possible scenario for economic computer use in the private studio.
Procedure
1. Teacher and/or student determine the repertoire to be assigned for the semester.
2. Teacher enters the repertoire into the computer and saves repertoire for each student on and individual floppy disk. In addition a backup copy of all repertoire is retained on a hard drive or other drive peripheries.
3. Teacher introduces new selection in most effective manner consistent with his teaching style and student’s learning style.
4. Teacher then plays previously saved accompaniment at accessible tempo while having the computer play the student's part with a different color of instrument.
5. Teacher plays music from disk again this time recording accompaniment on student practice tape.
6. Teacher and student agree on difficult sections of selection and record those sections at perhaps a slower tempo and maybe several repetitions.
7. Teacher and student design a tape that can be used by the student alone in the practice room. This could include favorite vocalizes, extracted sections of repertoire, more than one selection of repertoire.
8. At the next lesson the teacher, using the disk accompaniment, listens to the repertoire, assigned from last week at the recorded tempo. Corrections are made and then tempo adjusted, if desired. A new tape is quickly and easily constructed for next week using the above procedures.
9. Specific corrections are made by the teacher isolating difficult or individual sections.
10. A new practice tape is constructed for next week’s individual practice sessions.
In the final analysis, nothing can replace live, sensitive accompaniment. Furthermore, students need to learn how to work with an accompanist. Computer assisted practice, however, can facilitate the early learning stages of new music by the student in the private studio. In order for this tool to be useful there must be a serious commitment by both teacher and student. However, in the initial implementation the bulk of the commitment is from the instructor.
The following is a minimal list of hardware and software needed in order to implement this program.
Hardware
(Required)
1. A personal computer with a minimum of (?) available RAM.
2. A midi converter
3. A tone generator.
4. A midi driven keyboard
5. A cassette tape recorder (with in and out cable capabilities)
6. Amplified speakers
(Recommended)
1. A flatbed scanner
2. A synthesizer with "midi" capabilities
3. An amplifier
4. A set of speakers
Software
Any computer notation program that has the following capabilities:
1. enter notation with keystroke or keyboard.
2. accurately playback entered notation
3. adjust tempo in entire sections of music or within single measures.
4. easily transpose music entered.
5. assign a particular musical sound to a staff or part.
6. establish layers of notation on a single staff (optional)
7. scan individual pages of music into the computer
8. adjust dynamics