Individualization of piano teaching: comparative effectiveness of traditional and innovative pedagogical methods

Abstract

The abstract highlights the problem of individualization in piano education as a key challenge for music pedagogy amid the shift of sociocultural values from normativity to personal self-realization; its relevance is justified through the phenomena of declining motivation, «musical burnout», and the conflict between canonical tradition and the diversity of interpretations. The purpose of the study is to critically compare traditional and innovative pedagogical approaches and to identify their philosophical and ontological foundations, criteria of effectiveness, and pedagogical risks. Methodologically, the research employs hermeneutic analysis of sources, comparative-historical analysis, conceptual modeling, and elements of discourse analysis of the corpus of classical methods (Neuhaus, Hoffmann, Czerny), conservatory curricula of the 19th-20th centuries, and modern authorial systems (Orff, Suzuki, improvisation-oriented practices). The analytical framework is built along three axes of comparison: «subject-object», «canon-dialogue» and «norm-uniqueness». The results reveal a systemic opposition: the traditional paradigm conceives knowledge as an objective canon, the student as a recipient, and the teacher as a transmitter; its effectiveness is measured by external, easily verifiable indicators (speed, accuracy, competition success). The innovative paradigm interprets knowledge as a dialogical process, the student as a co-subject, and the teacher as a facilitator; its effectiveness is linked to intrinsic motivation, creative self-realization, and depth of experience, which complicates the formalization of criteria. The discussion situates this conflict in the context of the transition from industrial hierarchies to a network society and information abundance, where the teacher's mission and the language of legitimizing success are being redefined. Conclusion: the opposition is unproductive; a model of dialectical synthesis is proposed that combines discipline and freedom, external and internal metrics, technique as a means of artistic meaning, and the role of the teacher- mentor as a mediator of the individual learning trajectory and guardian of academic continuity.