This article outlines the approach used to develop a scheme to characterize the nature and quality of specific practices of one-to-one teaching, selected on the basis of their potential significance to the development of student performance. Although the value of one-to-one teaching remains largely unchallenged at the conservatoire level, music institutions are increasingly being called to justify the need for such a cost- and resource-intensive pedagogical approach. Funding pressures combined with a lack of systematic investigation into the value and efficacy of one-to-one teaching underscore the urgent need for a rigorous, evidenced-based way to characterize related pedagogical practices. This article documents the processes of developing one such approach at an Australian conservatoire. The authors hope to encourage and facilitate the implementation of similar projects elsewhere, and thereby help lay the foundation for a systematic and credible international understanding of the value and limitations of one-to-one learning and teaching practices in the conservatoire environment. (Contains 1 table and 1 note.)