Pedagogy in Selected Violin Works of Frank Bridge and Amy Beach: A Narrative Study

Frank Bridge and Amy Beach were well-regarded composers during their lifetimes, which spanned the era of transition from Romanticism to the dawn of twentieth-century modernity. However, their violin works are primarily absent from standard repertoire lists and rarely used as teaching tools. The purpose of this study was to explore the backgrounds and influences of both composers, who share a rich and expressive melodic and harmonic language despite being active on opposite sides of the Atlantic (Bridge in England and Beach in New England), and to examine the viewpoints of educators regarding the efficacy of using the violin repertoire of Bridge and Beach as pedagogical resources. This qualitative narrative research study identified previously unexplored perspectives of educators of intermediate and advanced-level violin students concerning the use of violin music in the teaching studio composed by Bridge and Beach. The researcher gained insight into the development of each composer and their works’ technical and musical elements, which emerged as themes through examining the works themselves, exploring existing literature, and holding interviews with violin teachers. Research findings concluded that these works contain fundamental violin techniques deemed essential by violin instructors and could be valuable additions to applied violin curricula. Through qualitative research, the researcher explored the intersection of music history and violin pedagogy. This study of violin works by Bridge and Beach could encourage other researchers to expand pedagogical resources by exploring works of other lesser-known composers and to examine artwork or ideas to gain more profound knowledge about a movement or period in history. It could also add to possible areas of study and performance for music students by encouraging them to delve into the unfamiliar or unknown.