TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND TEACHING TECHNIQUES USING STUDENTS’ MUSIC PREFERENCES FOR INSTRUMENTAL CLASSES: A CASE STUDY OF BANGKOK MUSIC AND DANCE ACADEMY

Abstract

The research aimed to 1) study teachers’ perceptions on student’s music by specific factors such as music characteristics, familiarity, age, gender, mood, social influences, and nationality. 2) collect teacher’s teaching techniques on students’ music preferences and summarize their teaching methods through specific factors. This qualitative research gathered data through semi-structured interviews with 12 instrumental teachers at Bangkok Music and Dance Academy (BMDA). The key-informants were selected by using purposing sampling. The findings revealed the teachers’ perceptions and teaching techniques on students’ music preferences followed the 7 factors of music preferences that were 1) Musical Characteristics: musical characteristics of students’ music preferences can be summarized from complexity, tempo, and favorite style. Teacher would give enough information about music styles for students to have better understanding in the styles and song they prefer. 2) Familiarity: Listening to the song frequently or repeatedly can gradually change student’s musical preferences. So, modal performance (imitation) would be one of the clear teaching techniques. 3) Age: The different ages of the group have clearly different taste of music and different way to teach by teachers own selves. 4) Gender: There are no different music preferences and teaching techniques between male and female students. 5) Mood: Most Teachers strongly believed that, student’s moods do not affect their students’ music preferences. However, students’ mood is able to affect their lessons. Therefore, sometimes, the relationship between teacher and students is important and the teacher needs to be a persuader or a negotiator. 6) Social influences: It is one of the strong factors that can affect the taste of students’ music preference. Also, teachers should include student’s favorite trendily repertoires in their lesson. 7) Nationality: The factor of nationality can be affected by students’ musical preferences because the way of teaching and materials are different from each country. Understanding different cultures from different countries would be helpful to teach students from different countries. Finally, teachers can use students’ music preferences as a teaching tool such as using students’ favorite pieces as a repertoire for repetition, imitation, learning different tastes of music, and using social media in order to engage in music learning. The teachers should know student’s music preferences, their appropriately selected repertories, and then prepare appropriate lesson plan.