Evaluation of impact of fine arts high school music department program on students piano playing skills

The research is aimed to evaluate the impact of fine arts high school music department program on the piano playing skills of students. In this context, it was determined to what degree fine arts high school students thought the school program contributed to their piano playing skills and differentiation of student opinions as per their gender and class was also examined. A cross sectional descriptive design was conducted. The sample of the research consists of 356 students attending five different Music Departments of Fine Art High Schools. A questionnaire, consisting of 23 items, was formed by the researcher to collect the data. The results showed that majority of students considered that the program was insufficient to contribute to development of their piano playing skills. For example, almost half of the students thought that the school program did not adequately develop their sills which include production and performance of musical ideas, transposition and composition skills in relation to piano playing skills. On the other hand, most of the students think that the program developed their independent instrument learning skills and their skills to evaluate the pieces which they played.   Key words: Music education, high school, piano education, student evaluation, piano playing skills.