MUE 6080 Module 7: Beethoven's "Pathetique" with Behaviorists and Cognitive Approaches

To teach the opening 16 measure of Beethoven’s “Pathetique” sonata in a behaviorist/stimulus approach a teacher has to present a stimulus. They could reward accurate playing with a reward (sticker, treat, etc) or just with a smile and a compliment. This is a straightforward process because the behavior is observable and easy to measure.

To teach the opening in a cognitivist/gestalt approach the teacher is going to focus more on how the student is processing information about the music.  The teacher may spend considerable time with the student detailing the purpose of various musical attributes that Beethoven used. For example, the teacher may challenge the student to determine the purpose of the decrescendo in the bass clef (in measures 6-7) a measure before the treble clef is instructed to decrescendo. While the internal change that happens during this approach is difficult to measure, it may provide for a deeper attachment to the music for the student (compared to the behaviorist approach).