Research Experience

Teaching Music in the 21st Century: The Implementation of Technology into Popular Music Pedagogy Methods

Capital University, Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 2018

With the help of revolutionary music philosophers such as Jacques-Dalcroze, Kodály, Orff, and Suzuki, musicianship training and the pedagogical methods surrounding it have been strengthened over the past 100 years.  However, none of these pedagogues predicted the rise of technological advances that have occurred over the past three decades.  With these advances, it is vital music teachers familiarize themselves with the benefits of technology in learning environments, as technology often provides students with more hands-on experiences in overall musicianship training.  Numerous teachers have documented the success and benefits of technology in general music education; however, it is also important to consider implementing these devices across popular music pedagogy methods.  Using Choksy’s Teaching Music in the Twentieth Century, I outline these popular methods and the core beliefs of their founders.  Drawing from research on the implementation of technology in the general music classroom, I provide examples of how technological devices and applications can be incorporated into popular music pedagogy methods, while still keeping intact the core values of each philosopher behind them.  This implementation reflects current trends, while also exposing students to more meaningful resources, the likes of which were unattainable at the time the aforementioned music pedagogy methods were developed.

What I Learned About Group Piano Teaching from Playing Video Games: Teaching Takeaways from MMORPGs

Ohio University, MTNA Piano Pedagogy Symposium, January 2020

In an increasingly technological age, adolescents make various hobby choices, one of which includes video games.  Despite their associated stigma as a wasteful hobby, some of these games provide exposure to avenues which promote pedagogical dialogue.  MMORPGs (massive multiplayer online role-playing games) like Bungie’s Destiny franchise include multiplayer activities called ‘raids’ that require consistent communication in order to achieve goals.  In the community of players in Bungie’s Destiny and Destiny 2, some players make themselves extremely familiar with these raids and, after perfecting their strategy, become appointed ‘sherpas’ (derives from the similar terminology for guides that assist travelers up Mount Everest).  These sherpas teach and use pedagogical language for newcomers into raid activities in a manner that is reminiscent of a group instructor or pedagogue.  My research highlights the ways in which this pedagogical language is useful in both settings, most notably the nurturing and helpful nature of a beneficial pedagogue and student relationship.  Furthermore, I draw from my beneficial experiences in MMORPGs under sherpas to increase the connections I make with students in a group piano setting.  Sherpas (and other audiovisual MMORPG tutorials) formed as a means to educate the masses, much like the rules formulated from the Classical Era that are taught in music theory courses across the globe.  Raid guides and sherpas are the means by which the video game masses are educated about MMORPG raids and their encounters.  Ultimately, the best sherpas are on par in their community with great piano pedagogues of our world.

Creating Art in the Community: An Interdisciplinary Approach*

NCKP 2019, The Frances Clark Center, July 2019

Brahms, Schumann, and Wieck: Piano Romanticism

Ohio University, Graduate Lecture Recital, April 2020

The Benefits and Inclusion of the Alternative-sized Keyboard for Pianists*

Ohio University, Global Arts Symposium, April 2020

*presented in collaboration