As a practitioner in both the classroom and in the instrumental studio, I am interested in how one educational context might inform the other. Within an action research paradigm, I gave a violin lesson in front of colleagues as a means to gain feedback and to open up discussion on the concept of student autonomy within the one-to-one lesson. The enquiry was informed by recent literature within the music education field that calls for a new emphasis on informal learning principles and pedagogy for engaging students. I consider some of the key concepts of informal music learning from the influential "Musical Futures" classroom project as a means to reflect on the potential for developing student autonomy within the instrumental teaching context. Forms of knowledge and the distinction between knowledge content (the curriculum or "the what" of teaching) and the pedagogy ("the how") are identified as significant conceptual distinctions for theorizing and realizing teachers' work in the one-to-one context. I suggest that while traditional instrumental teaching models can be enhanced by informal and constructivist approaches to pedagogy, there are limits to the application of these principles because of the nature of the knowledge required in this learning context. (Contains 4 notes.)