I am a firm believer on intentionally incorporating music history into my piano lessons.  The following is a list of reasons that I have found to be irrefutable in why this is an important part of piano music education.

1.  To create whole musicianship.

Music history gives our students culture.  I don’t doubt they hear plenty of modern day music all the time.  But exposing them to the classics and to eras that are before the pop culture of today will help them to truly appreciate the piano in all that it can do.  The piano can be adapted to any style or era of music, depending on how they play it.  It opens up the world to the student when they are exposed to and learn to appreciate the history of the music.  Each historical era is built upon each other making all music timeless.  Understanding where our music comes from and how it has developed over time brings great understanding.

2.  To teach a principle for them to imitate.

It is so powerful to pull out a song from the past to teach our students a principle you would like them to imitate.  Hearing the way that musicians apply different principles can help a student to better grasp the concept.  For instance, I pull out Clementi’s Sonatina in C Major if I want to show my students the importance of articulation.  Rochmaninoff’s Prelude in C Sharp Minor really lets the students feel the oppressiveness of minor keys.  Hearing Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer is excellent for inspiring the students to create music that changes history.  Decide what principle it is you are trying to get across and demonstrate it to them through famous historical music.

4.  To show students that musicians are real people.

When studying the life of a composer, I try and find things that the students can identify with.  The idea is to humanize these historical figures to be someone that the student could see in themselves.  After all, our students are making history even now.  What is it about the composer that they can relate with that can help them in their challenges?

5.  To feel the spirit of historical music.

Every once in a while, we need to immerse ourselves into historical music to remember what music is “supposed” to feel like.  It is easy to get caught up in theory, technicalities, and modern day music.  Immersing ourselves into a thorough study of a historical piece of music helps bring us back to music in its pure form.  It almost transports us back to that time.  Music plays such an important role in our history.  It has shaped mankind.  Remembering the “feel” of these creations of music helps the student to be more versatile, more flexible in their own styles, and more able to see outside the box of their own imagination.

6.  To better understand the music they are playing.

Of course, understanding the who, what, where, and why of the piece the student is currently playing will naturally add to the excellence of the performance of the student.  Having that knowledge will help them to execute the piece as it is intended.  Playing a piece of music is like acting in a play.  When the student is able to jump into that role, understanding what that role is, he/she can better create that drama as it unfolds.  Its a beautiful thing to play a song, fully understanding how it came to be and how it is intended to be portrayed.

7.  To become familiar with patterns, themes, and styles.

Studying the famous songs of time will familiarize the student with identifying patterns, themes, and styles.  When one can begin to recognize these patterns, they can better apply them across all music.  Identifying these patterns can give the student a huge jump ahead in mastering their own music because they will play the patterns that have previously heard, recognized, and understand.  Understanding how music is created through patterns and themes will most certainly aid in helping them to compose their own pieces of music  Applying the musical “formulas” they have come to understand, causes students to be able to compose their own creations.

8.  Ear training.

Being exposed to historical music is excellent for training the ear.  Even if the student is listening passively to the music, the brain is logging away information that helps them to “hear” music.  Intentionally listening and studying the music will produce a better ear.  Young children or new students simply just need to be exposed to historical music to learn the ear of a musician.  Reinforcing what is heard by pointing out intervals, key changes, dynamics, etc. will help bring out those concepts to the ear.  Ear training is excellent for any student, young or old.

9.  Developing the brain.

Study after study proves the benefits of listening to classical music.  Any type of music engages the brain and creates new pathways in the brain, but classical music more particularly builds more of those brain paths.  The most beneficial way to develop the brain is to learn to play classical music.  Thus, studying it is a win-win.  We study it, in order to play it and the brain grows and grows!

 

Ways to Teach Music History

 

Incorporating music history into your lessons doesn’t have to be complicated.  It simply takes a conscious effort to do so.  Intend for your lessons to include music history and prioritize it.  It will become a habit in no time.

 

At the beginning of learning a song.

One of the best times to teach music history is when it is very applicable to what the student is doing.  Thus, if you are pulling out a new song for them to learn, pull out the history of it as well.  Who was it written about?  How does that affect the style of the song?  What do we know about the composer?  What do we know about the song?  How has the song impacted history?  How did the song come to be?

Lesson Plans

You could potentially create a whole lesson plan on a specific composer or a song.  I have done this in the past with great success.  The students consider this sort of a “timeout” from real piano lessons and they can put their mind to something fresh and different.  I am careful about making the content interesting and interactive.

Incorporated into a lesson.

If you desire, you could take part of a lesson to break off and study a part of music history.  You could input little snitches of music history when they don’t even realize it.  When they walk in the door, you could have a song be playing.  You could simply have them close their eyes, listen, and talk about it briefly before diving into the lesson.

You could add in a history lesson at the end of a lesson.  Take a principle you learned or were trying to reinforce in the lesson and give an example of it.  See if the student can identify how that musician incorporated that principle into their music  Then see if the student can imitate that in theirs.

Trading cards.

I ran into this idea from teachpianotoday.com where they gave you a free printable on composer trading cards.  I haven’t personally used this, but I thought it was clever.

Bringing the history of music to life for the student will benefit your students in countless ways.  It is an exciting part of your student’s music education!