piano class

[Don McKechnie]

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Wim,

Below are the figures that I know for Ithaca College:

How often is the class offered? every Fall semester
How many students attend the class? anywhere from three to twelve over
the last 17 years
How many undergraduate music students in the department? approx. 400
How many graduate music students in the department? approx. 100
How many undergraduate piano majors? approx. 40
How many graduate piano majors? do not know
How many piano faculty? three for piano majors, three for secondary and
class piano, one part-time for class piano
How many students do they teach? do not know

First, how do you explain that a class called "piano parts & their
functions" is not lessons in piano technology? It seems to me it would
be in at least a broad sense of the term. The faculty may be looking at
it in that way.

Over the years I rarely had ten or more students in the class. As I see
it, you will need to get that number off the screen if you ever hope to
teach a semester long class. Fortunately I have not had to deal with
budget restraints very much. Only once, in the early 90's, the class was
not offered for a year due to a bit of a squeeze. Do not expect things
to happen overnight. Most off the time, the wheels grind very slowly
with regard to curriculum changes. You have to keep plugging away. My
course is an elective but there are times I wish it could be made
mandatory for piano majors.

I disagree with Jeff that less than ten would not be worth the effort. A
small class has a lot going for it. And, there is less grading to be
done! :-) It is so much easier to get the material across and understood
with a small class. It also allows one to be less formal which the
students really appreciate. I get to know the students better and they
get to know me. We can have fun and learn a lot together.

Don


>  Subject:
>          piano class
>     Date:
>          Fri, 24 Oct 2003 10:59:27 -0400 (EDT)
>    From:
>          Wimblees@aol.com
>      To:
>          caut@ptg.org
>
>
>
> I've put forth a proposal to teach a class on "piano parts & their functions," at both the undergraduate and graduate level at UA.
> Much to my dismay, and several of the students who really wanted it, the graduate curriculum committee has already rejected
> the proposal. The undergraduate curriculum committee has tentatively approved it, but when it came up for discussion at the full
> faculty meeting the other day, one of the concerns was the number of students who would take this class, and how often it
> should be offered. The Provost, in an effort to save money, is cracking down on classes with fewer than 10 students. Although
> that would virtually eliminate a bunch of classes in the music school, it will be difficult to approve a new class, unless it can be
> shown that at least 10 student will take it.
>
> So I am asking for help, especially from those of you who teach a piano class, as described, at major state universities. We have
> about 350 undergraduate students, and 150 graduate level. There are only 4 undergraduate piano majors and 7 graduate piano
> majors, but the three piano profs together teach about 40 students all together. These are either majors, minors, or students with
> some degree of proficiency. (There is a piano lab for "non players").
>
> So that I can argue my case that this class will be well attended, to get an idea of how we compare, could you please answer
> the following questions.
>
> How often is the class offered?
> How many students attend the class?
> How many undergraduate music students in the department?
> How many graduate music students in the department?
> How many undergraduate piano majors?
> How many graduate piano majors?
> How many piano faculty?
> How many students do they teach?
>
> I would like to hear any other comments on this matter that will help my argument to teach this class.
>
> Thanks for your input.
>
> Wim Blees RPT
> University of Alabama
>

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