Piano instruction abounds with methods and mnemonics. But while devices like “Every Good Boy Does Fine” (the lines on the treble staff) may be helpful, learning the piano is a big challenge for students. The majority give up during the first year.
To find out how and why some people master the piano and some don’t, Dr. Gilles Comeau has put together the world’s first lab focused exclusively on the scientific study of piano pedagogy.
The University of Ottawa facility brings together researchers with expertise in a variety of disciplines. “For every project in the lab,” explains Dr. Comeau, “there’s usually a team of three or more researchers coming from different fields: music, education, psychology, health sciences, information technology, bio-engineering, neurosciences.”
The cross-disciplinary approach is opening up promising new lines of inquiry. “Dyslexia, for example, touches over 15 percent of populations in schools,” says Dr. Comeau. “That means it must affect music students as well. But no one has ever studied that.”
Scientists at the lab work with a suite of high-tech tools provided with the help of an investment by the Ontario Innovation Trust. Video cameras in the lab’s studio are networked with digitally-enabled grand pianos, electronic keyboards and sophisticated software to track and analyze every aspect of the learning experience.
Researchers are also taking advantage of the high-tech environment to explore the idea of teaching piano at a distance, using broadband video-conferencing. Piano lessons are already available on the Internet in simple form, but Dr. Comeau and his colleagues are adding the powerful elements of sight and sound. “If you look at the traditional approach—working on posture, tone production, quality of sound—video conferencing is a natural tool.” The lab is currently involved in a project with First Nations children aged five and six in northern Quebec. Dr. Comeau is also conducting a high-tech experiment with students in Finland. Sensors on his digitally enabled piano are connected through a special phone line to a similar instrument overseas, so that when he demonstrates a technique, the piano at the other end replicates his actions exactly. In the same way, he can also monitor and evaluate the performances playing in Finland.
When asked about the value of the research, Dr. Comeau has several answers. First, and most important, work at the lab will result in better strategies and tools for more effective teaching. More students will be successful in learning to play the piano, and the experience of learning will be more positive. Studies in the lab also promise to reduce repetitive stress injuries often suffered by piano students. And there’s an economic rationale, too. Piano is one of the top extracurricular activities parents select for their children. Better teaching methods could help maximize the large investment Canadian families make in lessons every year.
But Dr. Comeau also has a broader perspective on the lab’s contribution. “Every time we study how learning happens in one field, it has impacts in others as well.”
