The time is right: a syllabus assessment program for the U.S

American Music Teacher, August-Sept, 2004 by Scott McBride Smith

Traveling is a funny thing. You think the excitement of the journey and the romance of the new will stick in your memory. They do. But what you really learn about is yourself.

My piano teaching shoes have taken me all over the world. I've found the challenges and joys of instruction are a lot the same wherever you go. Adorable little children in Lima, Peru, forget the titles of their recital pieces. Piano students in Winchester, England, play Alberti bass figures too loud. Young Hong Kong-ese pianists pound when they play big chords. And everywhere, in every living room from Tierra del Fuego to the Beaufort Sea, students practice too fast. "I have to hurry to get finished," one little boy in Santiago, de Chile, told me in Spanish. "My favorite TV show comes on at 4:00 P.M."

Human nature springs eternal and so do the problems of piano playing. Solutions, though, vary from culture to culture. There are as many directions in mode of instruction, repertoire choice, practice techniques and teacher-student relations as there are students and teachers. Each knows what they know. But there are some key differences in how they put that knowledge into practice. You might put it another way: the culturally based expectations students, parents and teachers bring to lessons are not the same in Taipei as they are in Tunbridge Wells. They are not even the same in Toledo and Toronto.

I've steered myself along many paths, across our great country and around the world. I've listened to many students. I've seen a lot of teaching. And I have come to the conclusion that countries that offer a high-quality nationwide curriculum and assessment program encourage a consistently superior level of musical accomplishment compared to those that do not. Sadly, the United States is in the latter group. There is no nationwide syllabus examination system here. I think that should change.

My first thoughts about exams came years ago, before I had been invited to teach anywhere outside the four walls of my own studio. I noticed my students worked hard to get a high score on national tests: SATs, AP tests, International Baccalaureate exams--all were the cause of intense study and preparation, usually to the detriment of piano practice. Why, I wondered, don't we have equivalent exams for students of independent music teachers--a fair, rigorous and objective measure of each student's progress, a test nationally respected and acknowledged as equal in importance to academic testing?

The answer is: many countries do. Australia has an excellent national evaluation program. Canada has two. England has four. All are valued components of a comprehensive, nationwide education that includes thorough preparation in practical music making--in cities, on farms, in all parts of the country, rich and poor. In these countries it's not the case that some states have fine programs, while others offer little. In Canada, a student may receive academic credit for her private music study; her parents can deduct the examination fee from their tax bills as an educational expense. Do you want to become a trumpet major at a Canadian university or school of music? You'll have to be a pretty good pianist, Grade 6 or better, in the Royal Conservatory of Music Examinations system. Which means you also will have studied music theory, ear training (sight singing, pitch recall and rhythm recognition) and sight reading. Canadian schools won't even consider you for admission if you don't already have these accomplishments, no matter what your instrument.

An impossible standard for American teachers and music students? Not at all. But we're going to have to pull up our shirt sleeves and start working together. Here are some issues I think should be addressed.

Establishing a fair, but challenging, standard. I was speaking with a respected colleague in another state. We were discussing this issue, and she simply wasn't interested. "You know, my students have enough to do. I don't think we really need another activity. Right now, we're getting ready for our Awards Carnival." I wasn't deterred. What do students have to do to win their awards? Silence. "Well, actually ... everyone gets an award. The student just has to show up and play."

I am a firm believer that there is a place for programs like the one she describes. Younger or less-motivated students sometimes need an event in which, basically, everyone wins. But it is not the same as having a national standard. An assessment program that wins the support of American families must recognize effort and achievement. Students who accomplish more should get a higher score; those who do less must be given the tools to improve. Should everyone pass? Not if we want music study to be a respected, educationally valid part of every student's life study.

Developing a curriculum that trains students for a lifetime of music making. Most of us agree on the broad outline of skills students need to succeed in music. They need to develop their listening, and they should be able to count and read the written score. Music making requires a pain-free, efficient technique. It demands learning and practice skills and the ability to sight read; also the knowledge of theory, harmony and history.