This study investigates how a class of university music students who engaged in a "lived" experience of informal learning adopted methods and strategies to complete a self-learning "aural copying" performance assignment in a musicianship class in Hong Kong. Data were collected from observations of the performances and the…

This study is the result of a two-year experimental collaboration with children from my piano class. Together, the children and I designed a method that uses visual expression as a starting point for composing and visualising music-theoretical concepts. In this method various dimensions of musicality such as listening, creating, noting down and…

Repertory grids were used as a research tool to explore 73-year-old James' musical development over two years. Choosing two music learning cultures for his instrumental learning, James learned the piano in a college workshop and the Appalachian dulcimer in his local folk group. There were clear changes in his musical skills and attitudes,…

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,…

A survey of final-year music students at the University of York for the Investigating Musical Performance research project found that 45% (23 of the 51 students in the year group) regularly gave instrumental or vocal lessons. Semi-structured interviews with 16 students revealed a range of teaching activities including workshop leading, one-to-one…

This paper is one of the first presentations of research into brain gym's effectiveness in learning musical instruments. Brain gym (or Edu-K) is the popular, over-arching name for a system of exercises, approaches, and techniques intended to improve mental and physical performance. We explain the basic concepts and activities of brain gym and…

This paper discusses a project in which third-year undergraduate Performance majors were asked to assess their second-year peers. The impetus for launching the project came from some stirrings of discontent amongst a few students. Instead of finding the assessment of their peers a manageable task, most students found the breadth of musical focus,…

How can we use practice time in the best possible way? Do we, as performers, have a keen enough awareness of the workings of our mind and body to be sure we are learning in the optimum way for secure performance? If not, how can we readily convey to others good habits for learning and memorisation? By demonstrating aspects of how experienced solo…