Online keyboard harmony: creating and assessing an online introductory keyboard harmony class for undergraduate level keyboard music majors

Online education is gaining momentum as a viable alternative to in-class tuition. However, the use of an exclusively online method presents challenges to music education because the practical ‘hands on’ approach to learning between teacher and student is lost. At the University of Newcastle, piano students were required to attend Keyboard Harmony classes as part of their degree program. The introductory keyboard harmony class taught techniques designed to assist students by developing a greater understanding of the repertoire they learn by deconstructing diatonic harmonic progressions used in the Western tonal-tradition of music. These techniques include sight-reading, transposition, improvisation and harmonic analysis. This paper discusses the development and feasibility of running a Keyboard Harmony class solely in an online environment using pre-recorded learning video and live one-to-one video conferencing with participants who have volunteered to take part. The course was delivered over a university semester for students to access online (through the University of Newcastle online learning centre, Blackboard). Participants were assessed using a pre- and post-course Keyboard Harmony test delivered using Skype, which was then recorded and analysed. Results are used to determine how effective the course was in terms of achievement, improvement and to serve as a discussion point for the effectiveness of learning keyboard online. Questionnaires, feedback and email interactions with the participants were used to determine how participants responded to the course features. It is hypothesised that the outcome of this research will help to justify continued research into music education and more specifically, piano tuition, in the online environment.