A new piano course this year, PCL 111, is being offered at the Eastman School of Music. This class is targeted towards any River Campus student who is interested in learning about the piano, but has had no previous training on the instrument.
PCL 111 instruction will begin with basic piano and music theory concepts. The names of the notes on the staff and the names of the keys on the piano will be taught in the first sessions so that students will learn to read notation and to physically transfer that knowledge to the keyboard.
Eastman piano professor Tony Caramia, who put this program together, said that he has wanted to establish a program like this at Eastman ever since he arrived in 1990.
“I had had great success in offering a course like this when I was teaching at the University of Illinois,” he said.
“Many of the non-music majors there desired to take a class in beginning piano, so we designed one that was suited to their needs. We’ve done the same here for all non-Eastman students,” Caramia said.
Caramia hopes to increase class enrollment for next semester. This semester, there are three students in the class.
Caramia will be overseeing a group of graduate piano majors, who will be the primary instructors for the course.
“PCL 111 is a beginning class for those interested in learning about the piano and music in general,” said graduate piano student Bryan Boyce, one of the potential class teachers.
“Information presented will try to give the student not only experience at playing the piano, but will hopefully elucidate some of the basic inner-workings of music. We are excited to work with this kind of group,” he said.
The class is aimed at teaching technical knowledge of the piano in addition to lessons in music theory and music history. Caramia said the theory and history lessons will give students a contextual idea of the role of piano performance within the larger art of music.
PCL 111 will be offered this coming semester in ESM 443 on Tues. and Thurs. from 6:45 to 7:35 p.m.
PCL 112 will be offered in the same room at the same time on Mon. and Wed. This class will be a continuation of the skills taught in PCL 111 this fall. In order to register for this class, students must have already taken PCL 111. The courses are worth two credits apiece.
Both spring semester 2002 classes will be taught on the Eastman campus, but instructors are hoping to have a piano lab on the River Campus by next fall so that travel time will be less of an issue for anyone interested in the course. The class has an enrollment limit of ten.
For more information on the classes, e-mail eastman@ campustimes.org.
Additional reportingby Jennifer Weiss. Kohrs can be reached at skohrs@campustimes.org.
