Music Education between Mechanistic Learning and Reflective Thinking A Metacognitive Analysis of Piano Adventures Level 1 Theory Book by Nancy and Randall Faber

Introduction

Piano education in its early stages represents the cornerstone for developing the beginner student’s technical and intellectual skills, as the learner faces fundamental challenges such as reading musical notation, understanding rhythmic values, and mastering hand coordination techniques. To overcome these challenges, reliance on traditional methods alone is not sufficient; rather, students need modern teaching approaches that foster conscious and independent thinking. The framework of Metacognition is considered one of the most prominent of these approaches, as it focuses on the learner’s ability to plan their practice, monitor their performance, and continuously evaluate their progress. Studies in music education have proven that enhancing these skills increases students’ motivation, promotes their independence, and improves the quality of their artistic performance, unlike some traditional methods such as those of Hanon and Czerny, which mainly emphasized mechanical repetition and muscular training.This research is divided into two main frameworks:

First: The Theoretical Framework, which includes:

1. Previous studies related to the research topic.

2. Theories of metacognition in music education.

3. The biography of Nancy and Randall Faber.

Second: The Practical Framework, which includes:

The theoretical and performance analysis of the research sample selected from Piano Adventures Level 1 Theory Book by Nancy and Randall Faber, consisting of five units from the book.

The research concludes with the results and their interpretation, followed by a list of references and a summary of the study in both Arabic and English.