Systematic use of folk songs in piano education

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of original piano etudes composed by using maqam scales -and to be played by undergraduate level students- on developing the skills necessary for playing folk song arrangements for the piano. For this reason, one of the real experimental designs, pre-test/post-test design with a control group is used.The study began with a review of related literature and in accordance with the experts? opinions, three Turkish folk songs selected and arranged to be suitable for undergrade students? skill levels. After that, three original etudes were composed by using the maqam scales of those folk songs.In the experimental phase of the study, an experimental group (n=12) and a control group (n=12) -which were composed of students with equal piano skill levels- were formed. In the first phase, 30 minutes of sight reading performances (pre-test) of the students were videotaped and sent to the experts. In the second phase, the experimental group and the control group were trained in different methods for 8 weeks. In the third and the last phase, all students? folk song performances were videotaped and sent to three different experts. SPSS 17.0 software bundle was used in analyzing the collected data which was obtained from the scores given by the experts and Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon test was used to obtain the results.Results of the study showed a significant difference between 2 groups on behalf of the experimantal groupKey Words: Education to the piano, Modal Etude, Folk Song, Turkish Folk Music