Cultural context in musical instrument learning

Abstract

The importance of a cultural context for musical instrument teaching and learning is analysed in terms of situated cognition and cultural validity. It is suggested that the current cultural location of instrument teaching is often associated with a view that confines success to a minority of children, partly by retaining the notion of the concert player as the goal. The nature of this goal and its implications are discussed and compared with traditional instrument learning and playing. Given that recent research suggests that virtuoso players are the product of practice rather than innate talent, the authors argue that a more relevant cultural framework for instrument teaching would result in competent players whose facility with an instrument would be appropriate to their social context.