Frances Clark
Born(1905-03-28)March 28, 1905
Goshen, Indiana, United States
DiedApril 17, 1998(1998-04-17) (aged 93)
Hightstown, New Jersey, United States
NationalityAmerican
Alma materKalamazoo College

Frances Oman Clark (March 28, 1905 – April 17, 1998) was an American pianist, pedagogue, and academic who authored, co-authored and edited many widely used piano method books, most notably The Music Tree series.[1] Her 1955 publication, Time to Begin, introduced the concept of teaching music reading by pattern recognition, thus pioneering the "intervallic method," which "revolutionised" the teaching of music reading.[2]

Biography

Clark received a bachelor's degree at Kalamazoo College in 1928 and also completed graduate work at University of Michigan, The Juilliard School, The Paris Conservatory, and The American Academy at Fontainebleau.[3] She went on to serve on the faculty at Kalamazoo College from 1945–1955, before joining the faculty of Westminster Choir College and eventually co-founding The New School for Music Study in 1960, the first graduate school devoted to the study of music pedagogy.[4]

References

  1. ^ Chen, Yieng Chyi. "A Comparison of The Music Tree, Piano Adventures, and Hal Leonard Student Library For Beginning Piano Teachers" (PDF). University of Alabama. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  2. ^ Bruno Emond and Gilles Comeau, "Cognitive modeling of early music reading skill acquisition for piano", In N. Rußwinkel, U. Drewitz & H. van Rijn (eds.), Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Cognitive Modeling, Berlin: Universitaetsverlag der TU Berlin.
  3. ^ "In Memoriam: Frances Clark". Clavier Companion. Archived from the original on November 5, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  4. ^ "About Frances Clark". The New School for Music Study. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
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