Previous research into adolescents' musical role models has shown that young people are more likely to identify a celebrity figure due to their image and perceived fame, than because of their musical ability. The current research is a development of Ivaldi and O'Neill's (Adolescents' musical role models: Whom do they admire and…

Educational institutions, conservatoires remain largely unresearched and, crucially, relatively unchallenged. In particular, research has paid little attention to in-depth studies of culture, so that not enough is known of the cultural practices that characterise and shape a conservatoire education. This article addresses this gap through seeking…

The purposes of this study were to investigate the musical backgrounds, self-expressed reasons for participation and possible implications for music education of collegiate recreational music makers ("N"=19) and their practices as they exist in two contrasting modes of musical engagement on the campus of a large urban research…

Group piano courses for undergraduate music majors have been charged with developing the piano skills used by professional musicians; however, the only information available on the use of piano skills by professional musicians has been limited to one profession: public school music teachers. No one has attempted to identify the piano skills used…

This paper reports on qualitative research undertaken at a conservatoire in the United Kingdom, exploring students' perceptions of how they were supported in realising their aspirations as professional musicians and making the transition to professional life. In particular, the research explored students' perceptions of the role played by their…

This article examines one possible approach to teaching music in higher education with regards to creative rights and copyright. The author shares theoretical ideas underlying changes in content, creativity and culture brought about by the rise of new media and the Internet. Comparing examples of professional and student works, the author details…

Despite the increasing number of students in music education graduate programmes, attrition rates suggest a lack of success in retaining and assisting them to the completion of their degree. Based on the expectancy-value theory, the aim of this study was to examine students' motivations (values and competence beliefs) and their complex interaction…

Within a theoretical framework drawn from Bourdieu, this article explores the relationship between undergraduate students' experiences of music in higher education and their musical backgrounds and prior music education experiences. More critically, this study aims to discover whether ideologies surrounding musical value impact on the student…

In this study, one-to-one tuition in higher music education (HME) was theorised as a culturally and historically grounded activity system consisting of relationships between musicians, instruments, music-making traditions and audiences. The "skills paradox", as seen in the inherent conflict between musicians' need for long-term artistic training…

This article argues that an approach to jazz improvisation pedagogy based on negative dialectics may provide a viable solution to the threat of codification of the jazz language as a result of the academisation of improvisation studies at the post-secondary level. Some tentative means of incorporating such an approach into the design of university…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate instruction in individually mentored piano classes in nursery and kindergarten teacher training programmes. Questionnaires were developed and administered to piano class students; using the resulting data, relationships among the variables that affect student's satisfaction with piano classes and their…

Between September 2008 and August 2010 24 KS2 classroom teachers were involved in a two-year programme of continuing professional development (CPD), delivered by the LSO in partnership with Local Authority Music Services. The teachers indicated that they embarked on the CPD programme looking forward to opportunities to share good practice, gain…

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the wind band classroom as a social context and examine its influence on middle-school students' identity constructions. The integration of sociologically based identity theory and social identity theory from social psychology suggested by Deaux and Martin as well as Stets and Burke proved…

Research into musical practice has over recent decades focused on the technical and organisational strategies employed by novices and experts. What has been less studied are the background factors or influences on the quality of this music practice. Drawing on interview data collected from 66 children and adults from a mixed methods project, we…

The purpose of this study was to describe and discuss the way students of the Latvian Academy of Music teach before having entered a teacher training programme. Five hours of students' teaching work was video-taped, analysed and discussed with them between the spring of 2010 and the winter of 2011. The descriptive and analytic results of this…