In numerous countries, primary school class teachers have problems regarding music teaching. It has been reported that there is a lack of both confidence and musical skills. However, the question often relates not only to a lack of self-efficacy beliefs but also to the organisation of the studies. This research looks for sources influencing the…

For many music students studying classical piano in tertiary institutions, techniques in improvisation are not included in their undergraduate curriculum. Despite the acknowledged musical benefits of improvisation, piano pedagogy curricula remain firmly rooted in the nineteenth century, focusing on the performance of the familiar canon of…

Although creativity in music performance is a global issue among music educators, it has nevertheless received less attention in China. How do piano teachers in China cultivate their students' performance creativity? This article reports on a multiple-case study undertaken in a university located in Guangzhou, China that aimed to examine the…

In this study, we investigated how musicians use descriptive imagery to perform expressively. The study's procedure was carried out by university musicians alone in a naturalistic practice environment. They recorded their performance of two melodies both before and after receiving imagery-based instruction designed to make performance of the…

Traditional music education has prioritised external over internal performance aims, leading some learners to prioritise external motivations. I facilitated a workshop series for participants who experienced music performance anxiety when improvising, to examine if free improvisation coupled with expressive art response could cultivate…

The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative study examining 'real-world' jazz performance contexts within an Australian tertiary music course. Course projects were designed to offer students opportunities to gain a better understanding of the intersections of working and performing with their teachers in an improvised music ensemble.…

The purpose of the study being reported here set out to examine the achievement goal orientations of students majoring in Music Education as predictors of their learning approaches. Set in Turkey, the study group consisted of music education majors (n = 240) in a variety of higher education settings (n = 5). The study results revealed that the…

The aim of this research was to give insight into the perceived impact of psychosocial, environmental and cultural conditions on playing-related discomfort/pain among tertiary string students. Participants, including 40 Bachelor of Music string majors at a music institution in Australia, completed questionnaire/interviews twice yearly for the…

As in many other countries, Finnish primary school teacher education has reduced substantially the amount of music studies during recent decades. From the perspective of the National Core Curriculum, there is a reason to reflect on teacher education and primary school student teachers' skills to teach music. The present study investigates 392…

With particular reference to Beijing, China, this study adopts mixed-method research to focus on Grades Seven to Nine students' perceptions of how parental cultural capital and support influence their musical instrument learning. Framed by Bourdieu's theory of cultural capital, two research questions are addressed in this article: (1) How do…

The purpose of this case study was to examine the perspectives of three Black instrumental music students related to their experiences attending a predominantly white summer music camp for high school students in the United States. Analysed through a conceptual model of culturally responsive teaching in music, data sources included semi-structured…

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…

This study aims to analyse differences in MPA (Musical Performance Anxiety) in students in five Spanish university-level music conservatories according to instrument type (solo or orchestra) and their academic year of enrolment (AYE). A sample of 476 students with a mean age of 22.59, enrolled in different specialties, responded to the K-MPAI…

This paper is based on the data collected from a longitudinal study of seven maintained, secondary schools in England that have adopted Musical Futures as an approach to teaching music. The research had a particular focus on key stage 3 (11-14). For the purposes of this paper, data gained from 18 music staff and 325 student interview…

Music performance in the higher educational context is shaped by a reciprocal chain of interactions between students, part-time tutors and full-time teaching staff, each with specific expectations about the teaching and learning process. Such expectations can provide valuable insights not only for designing and implementing meaningful educational…