The Piano Lab has developed DVDs and CD-ROMs, computer software, digital video libraries, and measuring tools in order to facilitate research and training in several areas of piano pedagogy.
- Trainor, Laurel (2006). Musical development. [DVD]
- Balasubramanian, Ramesh (2006). Music and the Brain: Perspectives from the study of human motor control. [DVD]
- Mauro, Dan (2004). Cognitive Sciences and Music. [CD-ROM]
- Desmarais, Jean (2004). The Teaching of Monique Deschaussées.
Part 1: Theory. - Desmarais, Jean (2004). The Teaching of Monique Deschaussées.
Part 2: Demonstration. - Desmarais, Jean (2004). L'enseignement de Monique Deschaussées.
Partie 1 : Théorie. - Desmarais, Jean (2004). L'enseignement de Monique Deschaussées.
Partie 2 : Démonstration. - Himes, Donald (2004). Interview.
- Himes, Donald (2004). Teaching Demonstration with Bora Plumptre.
- Himes, Donald (2004). Teaching Demonstration with Luc Martin.
- Price, Paulette (2004). « Lyrics» A Teacher's Tool for Musicianship.
- Price, Paulette (2004). Developing Mental Facility through Multi-key Technique and Tonic Sol-fa.
- Price, Paulette (2004). Props and Images for Ease and Variety in Tone Production.
- Keillor, Elaine (2004). Baroque Piano Music. Lecture and Demonstration.
- Keillor, Elaine (2004). Classical Piano Music. Lecture and Demonstration.
- Keillor, Elaine (2004). Romantic Piano Music. Lecture and Demonstration.
- Keillor, Elaine (2004). Modern Piano Music. Lecture and Demonstration.
- Keillor, Elaine (2004). Canadian Piano Music. Lecture and Demonstration.
- Holmes, Karen (2004). Harpsichord Presentation.
The MIDIator is a MIDI-based software capable of generating various graphs in order to produce a visual representation of a piano performance onto a computer screen.
The duration graph draws a relationship between musical pitch and a time axis to show the duration of each note. The volume graph displays the velocity of each piano key stroke. The data collected for the volume graph can be represented vertically, with one bar per note played, or horizontally, in a continuous connect-the-dot style line, making the data easier to read.
The right-hand and left-hand performances are represented by two separate colours in all graphs. The user can then determine the time-axis unit, beats or bars, and is able to specify the number of beats per bar.
An essential problem in teaching piano performance involves body posture. Leaning back, bending the torso over the keys, freezing the wrist and other improper positions are often noticed by piano teachers when instructing their students. Visual feedback can help the student to realize potential problems when playing the instrument.
The use of a 3D visualization of piano performance may offer a technological aid in enhancing the teaching of piano posture. This innovative application of 3D technology provides visual feedback of the position of the body from any possible view. Then, by overlaying the 3D representation of a model for desirable posture on top of a student’s video clip, visual comparisons can be made and posture adjustments can be adopted by piano students.
The Motivational Scale uses a questionnaire, designed to measure motivation using a musical-interest scale and a behavioral approach scale concurrently.
Aimed at piano students ages 7 to 15, the questionnaire retains a straightforward question/answer format. Participants are requested to read various statements and then circle a number from 1 to 7 to choose which number best reflects their thoughts or feelings. To make this activity more concrete, increasing digits are graphically illustrated by towers of increasing heights. The total time required to complete the questionnaire is approximately 25 minutes.
The Motivation Scale is available in English, French, Finish, Chinese and Spanish.
This questionnaire is designed to measure the perceptions of young piano students towards practice strategies. It includes three parts. Part one examines the likelihood of using practice strategies. Part two explores the students’ interest in using general practice strategies. Finally, part three highlights general views on practicing.
This scale is aimed at piano students from ages 7 to 12. For parts one and two, students complete the questionnaire by reading the various strategies and then circling a number from 1 to 7 to express their thoughts and feelings. Increasing digits are graphically illustrated by towers of increasing heights. As for part three, students get to circle from options for closed-ended questions, and write their comments for open-ended questions. The total time required to complete the questionnaire is approximately 25 minutes. The questionnaire is available in both French and English.