University of Georgia Students Conduct Disklavier Piano Lessons with School in Kenya – 8,000 Miles Away

ATHENS, Ga. (September 2016) – The University of Georgia (UGA) is among a pioneering group of colleges teaching students in distant countries – remotely – thanks to groundbreaking Yamaha piano technology.

Graduate piano pedagogy students at the college's Hugh Hodgson School of Music in Athens, Georgia conduct weekly piano lessons over the Internet with aspiring pianists at the Moi Girls' High School in Eldoret, Kenya, even though they are 8,000 miles apart.

The groundbreaking classroom piano instruction is made possible through the use of Yamaha Disklavier reproducing pianos and digital pianos, which are located at each of the schools and are connected over the Internet. As Moi Girls' High School students play their instrument, their performance is recreated on the Internet-connected Disklavier at UGA – its keys and foot pedals moving up and down, while Moi Girls' students watch their instructors via a live Skype broadcast. The UGA grad students assess their students' grasp of musical concepts and offer personalized feedback – even though their young students are seated on piano benches in a remote country.

This is the first time UGA has offered formal online music instruction, and the first time the Kenyan students have received any kind of online instruction, making a dream come true for over 100 eager young music students at Moi.

Gradual Program Development and a Visit to Kenya

UGA professor of ethnomusicology, Dr. Jean Kidula, a native of Kenya, established in 2011 a beginner band program at Moi using donated instruments. Two years ago, a small group of Moi students and their music teacher visited the UGA campus. The girls were eager to learn to play piano but Moi had no piano teacher. Since a few UGA graduate students wanted to learn to do remote and online teaching, a win-win solution was proposed by associate professor Pete Jutras, Ph.D., NCTM, who is director of piano pedagogy programs.

Jutras spearheaded the distance teaching initiative using one Yamaha digital piano and a video camera at the Kenyan school and a Yamaha Disklavier upright piano, a Clavinova digital piano and a webcam in the UGA's two piano labs. In September 2015, weekly transcontinental piano lessons commenced via Skype. The Yamaha Disklavier, the modern day version of the "player piano," precisely records and plays back piano performances, allowing UGA students to receive performances from their Kenyan students directly over the Internet.

After studying together for eight months, the Kenyan students and their U.S. teachers met face-to-face for the first time this past March when Jutras and his students traveled to Kenya. They brought three more Yamaha digital pianos (two were donated by Yamaha Corporation of America) to set up a four-station piano lab at Moi School. During their week in Kenya, they taught every day, one-on-one and in small groups, and also had the opportunity to teach one large class of 120 students; to help prepare high school students for their National Music Exams; and to participate in student piano, string and band performances held in the four-station piano lab. They set up a music library donated by the Royal Conservatory in Canada that now allows the UGA students to teach using common repertoire materials. Before leaving, the UGA grad students gave two concerts using the portable digital pianos, one for a group of about 500 primary school students and another at a nearby University.

The experience inspired all the students – both teachers and learners – and strengthened the burgeoning piano program at the school. "It was a really big deal for the girls to spend time with their teachers from the U.S. On the day we left, there was a huge mob scene. The girls were crying. Everyone wanted all our autographs," says Jutras. "Bringing the instruments and working with them all week meant a lot to the girls. It had a really big impact."

Looking Ahead, in the U.S. and Abroad

The UGA students use ‘time-shifted instruction' to create a high-value distance learning environment, and rely on Skype sessions as well as videos, emails and phone conversations to overcome Kenya's technological deficiencies. Jutras anticipates that when Kenya's technology infrastructure improves, the school will be well positioned to take full advantage of their lab's state-of-the-art capabilities.

"It was a huge step for the girls to play pianos that are in tune, with evenly weighted pedal and key action. Their excitement, enthusiasm and appreciation gave my students a different perspective on life and on teaching," Jutras said. "All of my grad students were impacted by the poverty and other challenges they witnessed. Here in the U.S., we are so focused on making a perfect recording or a perfect performance with an orchestra, but music can really change lives. I'm convinced of the importance of doing this on a regular basis."

The four portable digital pianos installed at the lab in Kenya offer professional quality sound and real piano touch, and enable four students to practice simultaneously with headphones even though they're seated right next to each other in their small classroom. Combined with the sophisticated instruments and equipment in the piano labs at UGA, the piano instruction program at Moi Girls' High School is moving into the 21st century. Student-led instrumental and string ensembles rehearse and perform with an in-tune piano and someday, the young Kenyan musicians hope to broadcast their orchestral performances via Skype to their teachers in the U.S.

Jutras wants to expand the program and notes its parallels to working in rural Georgia counties where students and music teachers lack access to quality music instruction. Following the trip, one UGA grad student, Benjamin Turk, wrote, "It was very inspiring, while giving me the unique experience of teaching students who are 8,000 miles away. The girls all love music and are always eager to sing and play piano for us. I am very fortunate to be a part of this distance teaching project."

Additional information about Yamaha Corporation of America is available at http://4wrd.it/YAMAHAUSA.