The Changing Face of Individual Instrumental Tuition: Value, Purpose, and Potential

Abstract

One-to-one tuition is established as a continuing core activity in Western classical instrumental learning. Although learning in groups has become more prevalent, or student-led learning modeled on informal rock band development, children often begin formal engagement with one-to-one learning at an early age. At the same time, within our current social demographic context it is likely that increasing numbers of adults over the age of 50 will engage with leisure and learning. This article highlights research suggesting that individual instrumental tuition has changed very little in response to social influences, and explores the characteristics which contribute to making one-to-one tuition an enduring mode of instrumental tuition. It also considers the implications of changes within the professional music world for one-to-one tuition, as well as the influence of changing concepts of teaching and learning. The article concludes with some suggestions for maximizing the potential for transformational learning, over and above transmission of instrumental and musical skills, within the context of individual instrumental instruction.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 68 citations exist upstream.