INSTRUMENTAL PEDAGOGY BACHELOR OF ARTS
This artistic and pedagogical course of studies qualifies graduates to work as a guitar teacher or musician, centering on intensive training in classical guitar as an artistic major subject. The way the course is organised means that at the end of the first year, students need only take a short artistic examination (20 minutes). There is no examination following the second year, but one (40 minutes) after the third year, plus the concert for the final bachelor’s examination at the end of the course (60 minutes).
This study schedule enables students to take the necessary time to develop their instrumental technique and explore creative options, without a noteworthy pressure of examinations during the first years. It also offers great freedom in regard to choice of repertoire in this first years and allows students to explore and develop their own personal inclinations in this respect.
Although chamber music is only a compulsory subject to a limited degree, it can also be studied in depth – and incorporated into the artistic major subject examinations.
The extensive university concert series and numerous rehearsal stages – performance spaces specially created to allow students to gain stage experience – offer the ideal environment to mature and develop confidence and personality as a concert performer.
A further significant aspect of the curriculum is the two-year course in teaching methodology. This includes a comprehensive analysis of the fundamental motion patterns of both hands – and provides detailed descriptions of ways to teach students of all age groups the most appropriate patterns of movement as simply and clearly as possible.
The course then takes a look at established guitar tutorials to examine how reliably they reflect these observations on instrumental technique, and how best to work with them.
The third semester is devoted to the analysis of instrumental literature: which material is best suited to a particular guitar tutorial method and which learning content is presented therein. In the fourth semester the emphasis is on the analysis of problems or errors (live and through video), in order to learn under realistic conditions how to recognize notational mistakes and deficits in the detailing of instrumental techniques and interpretational aspects in a score. This is a fundamental prerequisite for successful teaching.
During the final two years, this knowledge is put into practice by means of numerous demonstration lessons, either with pupils who take regular instruction from the student, or with persons he or she did not know previously (as a rule, the latter is more likely to reflect the situation in an actual job application process).
The next practical supporting subject is ensemble work, which is taught in all semesters. Here students have the opportunity to gain experience in directing a guitar ensemble (trio or quartet) of fellow students, where they are responsible for the entire rehearsal regime, including organising an accurate score, drafting a suitable interpretation and working out appropriate chamber musical details, as well as concert preparation.
The third accompanying subject in guitar-related studies is ’Repertoire and Historical Instruments’. Here the first two semesters offer an introduction to the standard repertoire from the Renaissance to the Romantic period. This includes a detailed study of the historical plucked instruments for which this repertoire was originally written, as well as a discussion of the problems involved in rendering this material for the modern guitar. The course also touches on the question of sources and discusses the most important aspects of customary performance practice during these eras, with a view to enabling a historically informed approach to the fundamental aspects of performing and teaching such works.
The third and fourth semesters deal with the tonal languages of the post-romantic period up to the present day.
Entrance Examination requirements:
- Classical Guitar: 10 to 15 minutes own choice programme
- Minor Subject: 5 to 10 minutes own choice programme
- Music theory and ear training test
This BA course starts in the winter term. The entrance examinations are normally held in June, but can also be taken in September.