Group teaching is rapidly spreading across the world, but little research has been conducted to investigate its impact on students' musical abilities in comparison to inclusion in group tuition contexts. This article investigates how music teachers from the classical orchestra instrumental tradition discuss group tuition. Three focus group…

'Simultaneous Learning' (SL) is a pedagogical approach aimed at fostering enjoyable and proactive music teaching. Developed by the British educationalist Paul Harris, SL has been taught worldwide for the past two decades but has not yet been investigated by a scholarly publication. We thus focused our research on the first usage of SL in the…

This study aims to shed light on the motivation governing instrument choice. To collect data, we designed, piloted and administered a survey to a population of students enrolled in a music teacher education programme in Sweden. In line with previous, Anglo-centred research, we identify the instrument's timbre and parental influences as relevant…

Although entrance test criteria seem decisive for accessing higher music education programmes, and problems and challenges with the assessment process are reported, the area is largely unexplored. This article concerns how entrance auditions, specifically primary instrument auditions for Swedish specialist music teacher programmes, are examined…

Multi-instrumental musicianship appears in various musical traditions, also frequently figuring in systems of music teacher education. Multi-instrumentalism covers forms of musical creativity and versatile professionalism that differ from ideologies of specialization often emphasized in instrumental music education. Thus, it is relevant to ask…

Following a music philosophy debate deriving from the 1990s, this article puts the extra-musical and social outcomes of situated music educational practices at the fore. The Swedish replica of the choir and orchestra school El Sistema, a programme globally asserting social change and social impact, appeared useful for elaborating such outcomes in…

This study aimed to empower piano students and explore their understandings of how teaching and learning of musical interpretation of Western classical music could be developed to foster autonomy and a personal, authentic artistic voice. Two research questions were formulated: How have students experienced teaching and learning of musical…

Earlier research has stated that there is a risk that traditional gender roles are conserved in non-formal popular music education, which might challenge teachers when it comes to offering equal learning opportunities. This article presents results from an interview study regarding the situation of female electric guitarists in popular music…

Both genes and the environment are important for individual differences in expertise, but little is known about gene-environment interactions underlying domain-specific achievement. Here we explored this issue in a large Swedish twin cohort (N = 6,610), using moderator modeling with musical expertise as a model domain. Specifically, we tested…

The aim of this article is to highlight what opportunities a six year old in preschool class in Sweden might have for participating in and being inspired by music. We ask the following question: What factors determine how music teaching is conceived and carried out in preschool class? The present study is quantitative in character, and data were…

In this study we investigated the visions of 12 music teacher educators who teach pedagogical courses called instrumental pedagogy and classroom music pedagogy in three music academies in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The data were collected through individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews. Drawing on Hammerness' concept of "teachers'…

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the music educational program of El Sistema Sweden is advertised and legitimized through moving images. The films are a major part of the information on the Swedish national website of El Sistema and are supposed to contribute to the picture that the organization and its founders wish to market. The use…

This article is about the way in which and to what extent digital media and tools are used in the teaching of music in Sweden. Through interviews and observations, teachers' and pupils' experiences and expectations of digital media and tools are presented. The investigation considers eight municipal schools with pupils in the ninth form. The…

The purpose of this study was to explore how highly trained performing musicians, currently working in higher education conservatoires or universities, understand, categorize, and reflect on their identification as a studio music teacher. Using an online survey involving participants (N = 173) across nine western countries, respondents identified…

The purpose of this study was to explore why highly trained musicians choose to teach in higher education. An international population from nine countries of music instrument teachers was sampled via online survey, to determine their reasons for teaching in higher education. Motivational constructs from the expectancy-value framework were used,…