Focus on practice-relationships between lessons on the primary instrument and individual practice in conservatoire education

Abstract

This article presents the results of research into the relationships between lessons on the primary instrument and individual practice in conservatoire education. Six cases were extensively investigated through observation, questionnaires, logbooks, and interviews. Regarding the lessons on the primary instrument, we examined aims, topics, structure, homework feedback, and homework instruction; regarding the individual practice, we studied content, strategies, and direct relationships with the homework instruction. Our discussion of the results includes such issues as implicit versus explicit communication about aims, result-directed versus process-directed feedback, as well as ad hoc versus systematic approaches to teaching and individual practice. The results of our research are interpreted as marking a shift from traditional music education according to master-apprentice model, to a more reflective and methodical approach informed by educational theory.