Mastering the piano is not just about spending hours on the bench pressing keys—it’s about practicing smart. For many teachers, finding innovative ways to enhance students’ engagement and learning efficiency remains a priority. A recent study has introduced a method that could reshape our traditional approaches: the use of robots in piano practice.

The study:

In a study conducted across three music schools, 50 children engaged with a robot named Pepper in two different conditions: a self-assessment robotic condition and a non-evaluative robotic condition. Unlike ordinary robots, Pepper is designed for social interaction with humans, equipped to communicate and provide feedback, making it an ideal tool for initiating self-assessment sessions aimed at making students more active participants in their learning process.

During the self-assessment condition, Pepper began the practice sessions by introducing new music notes and offering teaching videos. As the children practiced, Pepper provided encouragement and compliments such as “Well done! Could you play that again for me?” The key here is that Pepper initiated a self-assessment process three times per session: It asked the children to play the entire music piece, recorded their performance, and then replayed the recording and prompted the children to evaluate their pitch, rhythm, and tempo and to provide justifications for their scores. Following the children’s responses, Pepper offered comments on their performance before inviting them to continue practicing.

Afterwards, Pepper asked the students to complete a questionnaire measuring their motivation. This questionnaire included questions adapted from the FunQ instrument, intended to assess children’s fun during learning activities. It covered aspects like autonomy (“I did this activity because I had to,” “I did this activity because I wanted to”), delight (“I was happy,” “I want to do something like this again”), and stress (“I felt angry,” “I felt sad”). The Situational Motivation Scale (SIMS) was also used to pose questions about focus and the perceived importance of the practice (“I could focus easily,” “I think this practice is important”).

In the non-evaluative robotic condition, while the children also played each music piece three times, Pepper’s role was limited to providing comments and compliments post-performance, without any form of self-assessment.

The results:

Children who practiced with the self-assessment robot exhibited significantly higher motivation and improved performance compared to their peers in the non-evaluative condition. These results should truly make us rethink the structure of the way we ask students to practice – keeping the the focus from mere repetitive practice to a more reflective, engaged learning environment.

So how do we do this when we don’t have robots?

While robots like Pepper can perform much of what good piano teachers do during lessons, it’s impractical to expect every student to have daily practice sessions with such technology (I wish). However, piano teachers and parents can adopt similar strategies to enhance practice effectiveness:

1. Parental involvement: Teachers can encourage parents to engage more actively in their child’s practice sessions during the week, asking reflective questions about the emotions and challenges experienced during practice. This helps integrate self-assessment naturally into the learning process. Parents do not need to necessarily be pianists themselves. They can follow up each practice session with questions like “How do you think that practice session went?” “Which part of that song do you think you’re really good at? Which part are you still struggling with?” or maybe “What grade would you give yourself for your note-reading in this piece? How about your tempo?”
   
2. Self-assessment in notebooks: Students could be asked to score aspects of their performance, such as rhythm, tempo, and note accuracy, in their practice notebooks. Setting measurable goals, such as improving a specific score within a week, can visibly track progress and enhance motivation. For example, you could tell your student “We both think this piece is around a score of 4/10 right now. Each day, practice this section 5 times and give yourself a new score. See if you can get to an 8/10 by the end of the week. 8 would mean that you have all the notes and rhythm correct, but still need to pick up the tempo”.
   
3. Mid-week reviews: Encouraging students to send recordings of their practice mid-week allows for timely feedback, keeping students engaged and accountable for their progress. This approach is particularly useful for students needing extra motivation or those who benefit from regular feedback.

The future of piano education

Integrating robots like Pepper into music education represents a forward-thinking approach to traditional teaching methods. It emphasizes personalized and adaptive learning experiences, making learning not only more interactive but also more effective. As technology continues to evolve, its integration into educational settings seems not only beneficial but inevitable. I’m all for it if it makes the piano-learning journey more engaging, effective, and transformative.

I’m eager to hear your thoughts on this study. What methods have you found effective for piano practice? Please share your insights and experiences in the comments below!

Source: H. Song, K. Tsiakas, J. Ham, P. Markopoulos, E. I. Barakova, “How would you score yourself?”: The effect of self-assessment strategy through robots on children’s motivation and performance in piano practice. Int. J. Soc. Robot., (2023).