Measuring Young Piano Student’s Degree of Motivation and their Interest in Piano-Related Activities

One of music education's major concerns is the challenge of motivating students to continue learning the piano. A high percentage of young students stop piano lessons within the first 18 months, before they begin to master the instrument (Sloboda and Howe, 1991). This research will measure young piano students' degree of motivation and their interest in piano-related activities by using the Survey of Musical Interest. Participants will be from the Merriam School of Music, which has agreed to be involved in this research project. The results will be representative of young students' perceptions of piano learning and their feedbacks on piano-related activities. The results will help piano teachers to understand and better assist their students, and allow the music school to evaluate and develop their program in order to raise student achievement levels with no increased investment of time or money.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Gilles Comeau

Student:

Yifei Liu

Partner:

Merriam School of Music

Discipline:

Music

Sector:

Sports and recreation

University:

University of Ottawa