Comparative analysis of the approaches used by prospective music teachers in Turkey in practicing the piano works of contemporary Turkish composers

This study determined the levels of recognizing piano works of contemporary Turkish composers, the importance of practicing these works and difficulty in playing these works by the prospective music teachers in the Departments of Music Education in Turkey. Furthermore, this study performed a comparative analysis on the opinions of the prospective teachers who have played the works of contemporary Turkish composers during their piano education and those who have not in recognizing these works and considering their practice necessary. The sampling of the study consists of a total of 166 prospective music teachers in the first, second, third and fourth grades. The study utilized a general screening model and the data analysis of the study was performed through SPSS 21.0. 37.3% of the prospective music teachers carried out a study on the piano works of contemporary Turkish composer while 62.7% of them did not. Furthermore, the study concluded that recognizing the piano works of Contemporary Turkish Composers, considering the practice of these works necessary and having difficulty in playing these works by the prospective music teachers do not vary according to the type of high school that they graduated from and their grades and that the levels of recognizing the piano works of Contemporary Turkish Composers and considering the practice of these works necessary do not vary according to whether they have played these works before or not.    Key words: Piano Education, Contemporary Turkish Music, Contemporary Turkish Piano Works, Contemporary Turkish Piano Music.