Music Appreciation in Piano Performance Teaching: A Critical Pedagogical Analysis

Abstract

Music appreciation can inform decisions about phrase direction, voicing, articulation, and pedalling in piano lessons. Its practical difficulty lies in translating listening into technically attainable and musically convincing performance. A critical synthesis of scholarship on expressive instruction, modelling, imagery, metaphor, and feedback connects these approaches with illustrative teaching situations. Listening tasks address specific problems and lead to attempts at the keyboard, where interpretations can be heard and reconsidered. Comparisons with recordings require attention to differences of instrument and acoustic, alongside the musical choices within each performance. Emotional labels and verbal explanations remain useful only when their consequences can be assessed in sound. Appreciative judgment develops through opportunities to notice a difference, attempt an adjustment, and decide whether it serves the phrase. Assessment should recognise this judgment while allowing coherent alternatives to the teacher's interpretation.