The effect of benefiting from popular music in viola education on students' academic success

Under the general curriculum change that was implemented in the 2017-2018 academic year educational programs have been re-updated, and coursebooks and lesson plans have been prepared in accordance with this new curriculum. The instrumental education that is implemented in the viola education program of high school of fine arts comprises a phase of four years. With the effect of the viola being an instrument of western music, education is provided within a period in which scale practices, studies and methods based on western music are utilized. The viola education program, which has been updated, has been prepared in accordance with the changing education system, anticipated outcomes, students' needs and interests, and requirements of the modern era, as it should be in any new program. In this context, one of the differences pertaining to the repertoire in the program is that there is a heading named "popular music". In addition to the methods and ways that are utilized in viola education, this study aims to contribute to instrumental education at large by making use of popular music repertoire adapted to viola education in order to have students show more interest in their instruments and increase their academic success, and use their instruments effectively and productively in daily life. Thus, determining the effect of the use of popular music in viola education on students' success is important in that it will possibly contribute to a repertoire that is likely to be created in the field of viola education. It is thought that the study will enable the anticipated outcomes of today's viola education to be realized. The working group of the study is comprised of 7 high schools of fine arts located in different parts of Turkey and students attending these high schools for at least a year and whose main instrument is the viola. The test and control group of the study is comprised of 46 students who were chosen with the application of an equivalency test. The study is descriptive in character and a mixed experimental design with a test control group was used while conducting the study. As the data collection tool, the subject of individual instrumental training was used as a performance measuring tool aimed at determining the musical, technical and overall development of students under the subcategories of the study. A feedback form was used to collect the views of the teachers and students who participated in the study. In the analysis of the data, in order to analyze the data that was collected through the feedback form, content analysis and statistical analysis models such as frequency (f), percentage (%), arithmetic mean , the Mann Whitney U test, etc. were implemented. According to the data collected at the end of the study, it was found that the popular music repertoire used in practice contributes to the technical and musical development of students and it is more effective in terms of their development in instrumental performance in a general sense. Thus, we arrive at the conclusion that the use of popular music in viola education has a positive effect in increasing and supporting students' development in instrumental performance. In this study that was conducted, it is safe to say that teachers and students in general have a favorable opinion regarding the use of popular music in viola education. Therefore, we must bear in mind the fact that the use of popular music in viola education is likely to increase the success rates of students in general and in class.