The Analysis and Comparison of Pre-Service Music Teachers’ Attitudes Towards the Piano Lesson and Their Sight-Reading Skills in Terms of Certain Variables

Abstract

This study seeks to analyze pre-service music teachers’ attitudes towards the piano lesson and their piano sight-reading skills in terms of academic achievement in the piano lesson, year of study, and gender and reveal the relationship between their attitudes towards the piano lesson and piano sight-reading skills. Descriptive model and correlational research model are employed. The study group consists of 50 randomly-selected students from the 2nd and 3rd years taking the piano lesson during the 2016-2017 academic year in Uludağ University Faculty of Education Department of Fine Arts Music Education Program in Turkey. “Piano Lesson Attitude Scale” was used to collect data regarding the piano students’ attitudes towards piano lesson. In addition, the piano students were asked to play two sight-reading pieces selected by experts before and internationally accepted for sight-reading, to detect their sight-reading skills. The students were video-recorded, and their sight-reading levels were measured via an observation form prepared by the teaching staff specialized in their field. The collected attitude and sight-reading scores were analyzed via t-test based on the variables of gender and year of study. The correlations between the attitude, piano score, and sight-reading score variables were calculated by Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients. At the end of the study, a significant relationship was detected between the students’ attitudes towards the piano lesson and their sight-reading skills. The piano students’ attitudes towards the piano lesson have a medium level correlation with their piano lesson academic achievement and sight-reading skills. The female students have better attitudes towards the piano lesson compared to the male students. Also, the 2nd year students have better attitudes towards the piano lesson compared to the 3rd year students. The study results indicate a medium level correlation between the students’ sight-reading skills and their piano lesson academic achievement. The female students have better sight-reading skills than the male students. Lastly, the 2nd year students have sight-reading scores close to those of the 3rd year students. This study is significant as it shows the relationship between pre-service music teachers’ attitudes towards the piano lesson and their piano sight-reading skills.

Keywords: Piano lesson, sight-reading skills, attitude