Project beginning to connect area piano teachers

“Private piano teachers have a unique opportunity to shape the future of music education in our area,” said Dr. Jim Margetts, associate professor of music and coordinator of piano studies at CSC. “The piano is often the first instrument studied by young children, and their experience in those early years builds skills and attitudes that shape their future involvement in music.”

Along with teaching specific techniques related to keyboard playing, private piano teachers traditionally provide instruction in other fundamental skills such as music theory and ear training. Acquisition of these skills at an early age can make a tremendous difference for children, Margetts said.

“Research shows that children who study music at a young age develop a natural aptitude for academic success at the same time that they’re developing their musical skills,” he said.

Unlike public school educators, who have an established support system of administrators and colleagues, private piano teachers often face these unique educational challenges alone, Margetts said. In large metropolitan areas, piano teachers form co-ops and meet frequently to lend mutual support and exchange teaching ideas. That is something that has historically been difficult in largely rural locations such as the Nebraska panhandle. However, with the Internet having reached even the most remote areas, Margetts believes the time is right for the creation of an online piano teacher network here.

“We’re going to call it the Panhandle Piano Teachers Alliance, or PPTA for short,” he said. “The goals for the organization will be to provide recognition of the efforts and achievements of young pianists within the Panhandle, to increase communication between private teachers and other education professionals, and to provide a framework of support for teachers who desire the opportunity to exchange ideas.”

Membership in the Panhandle Piano Teachers Alliance will be open to any interested parties free of charge.

Margetts expresses enthusiasm for the project in relation to how such an organization impacted his own piano training.

“My first piano teacher belonged to a piano teaching co-op,” he states. “As she participated, she got all kinds of new ideas for teaching sight reading and music theory, and she tried them out on us. At the time, of course, I didn’t realize that it was anything special. I was 6 years old, and I thought it was the way everyone experienced piano lessons. But later, before she passed away, my teacher confided that the co-op supported her and made her a better teacher than she could have been on her own.”

The founding of the PPTA is timed to coincide with the commemoration of the Chadron State College centennial in 2011. The college, says Margetts, has a vested interest in promoting and supporting the cause of independent music education throughout the region.

“The students who come to us to continue their musical education are primarily from our own backyard,” he said. “We know that in order for them to compete successfully against those from larger metropolitan areas for jobs, they must come to Chadron State having already acquired and mastered a significant number of skills, skills that are most effectively taught, in my opinion, through private instruction at the keyboard.”

The CSC music department also is sponsoring two events to kickoff the creation of the PPTA, one for area teachers and the other for young piano students. On Friday, Oct. 8, an event titled Piano Teachers’ Day Out will be in CSC’s Memorial Hall.

Co-sponsored by the CSC Collegiate Chapter of MTNA (Music Teachers National Association), Piano Teachers’ Day Out will feature a series of workshops and clinics aimed at providing private piano teachers with new instructional ideas and materials.

Two guest artists, Dr. Margaret Perry from University of the Pacific, and Ruriko Osawa, a doctoral candidate from the Peabody Conservatory of Music, will assist Margetts with the event and will also present a free duo-piano concert that is also open to the public at 6 p.m. that evening in the Chicoine Atrium of the Sandoz Center at CSC.

Then, on Saturday, Oct. 9, the same parties will host a Piano Day Camp for Young Pianists from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in Memorial Hall. At this event, area piano students are invited to participate in interactive sessions with guest clinicians and CSC students, including an introduction to the instruments of the band and orchestra titled “Instrument Petting Zoo.”

To sign up for information on the Panhandle Piano Teachers Alliance, interested teachers and others are invited to contact Margetts by phone at 308-432-6319 or by e-mail at jmargetts@csc.edu.

To request more information on either Piano Teachers’ Day Out or the Piano Day Camp for Young Pianists, parents or teachers may contact the CSC Music Office at 308-432-6375 or e-mail Margetts at the address listed above.

Registration for Piano Teachers’ Day Out is $20 per teacher, and includes both lunch and dinner between sessions. The cost to register for the Piano Day Camp is $5 per student, payable at the door on the day of the camp. Proceeds from both events will be used by the CSC MTNA organization to provide opportunities for future music education training to its student members.