Despite the evidence of the benefits of improvisation in instrumental teaching, research indicates that many piano teachers do not include it in their lessons. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences on piano teachers' pedagogy to determine what factors impacted the teaching of improvisation. A total of 117 UK-based piano…

Higher music education institutions should continually review their curricula to ensure that their graduates are best equipped to support musical learning for children and young people. Perspectives on early careers in instrumental teaching were obtained via an alumni-led workshop and focus group at a UK conservatoire. Findings revealed that…

This research, carried out between 2020 and 2021, involves an online questionnaire and individual interviews with undergraduate music students at universities and conservatoires in the UK, to examine student experiences of receiving and delivering instrumental and singing tuition. There is no regulation of instrumental teaching in the UK, and…

Although teachers and researchers frequently acknowledge that music education can benefit pupils' academic achievement, health and well-being, and social development, classroom music-making can have long-lasting, detrimental impacts. Individuals' experiences of failure, disappointment, and exclusion in the music classroom highlight an urgent need…

This article reports findings from a study that sought to identify barriers to music and music education in the UK. Emerging from empirical research involving n = 723 participants and clarified by an evidence base of over 10,000 research participants, the key findings presented in this paper relate to "pupil and participant voice and…

In the context of falling recruitment to Initial Teacher Education programmes in the UK, this article focuses on motivators and demotivators affecting undergraduate students' attitudes towards training as a teacher and considers these under the broad headings of altruistic (such as wanting to share a love of the subject and working with young…

The focus on graduate employability for Creative Industries has tended to overlook the significance of the education sector as a destination. This article makes a case for the educational logic of music careers considered as an example of the developmental agenda embedded in the concept of 'culture'. It further supports this account by looking at…

This paper reports on the second stage of an international study exploring the future of secondary school music education. Within a discursive context that tends to regard music education as failing to meet the needs of many students, we instigated a three-step Delphi study to capture views from educators across the English-speaking world.…

Music education takes place in socio-political systems that institutionalise cultural hegemony and social stratification through perpetuating symbolically violent practices and unconscious assumptions regarding the purpose of music and music education in society. Education systems serve to perpetuate class divisions and structures, excluding the…

Improvisation is an area of interest to both music education researchers and music educators alike. The purpose of this literature review was to examine extant studies related to improvisation at the elementary level. Selected research included the nature of improvisation, the amount of instructional time and activity type used, the development of…

The motivation of teachers represents an emergent area of research within psychology, where the complex and fluid nature of practitioner engagement is increasingly recognised. Underpinned by psycho-social theories, this article explores the potential of socially-situated structures and processes to develop and maintain generalist teachers'…

Instrumental and vocal tuition is an important part of music education but relatively little is known about musicians who participate in this profession or their views on what makes someone 'qualified' to do so. An online survey was completed by 496 musicians teaching instrumental or vocal pupils in the UK. Findings focus on respondents'…

According to self-determination theory (SDT), the learning experiences of music students can be explained partly by the autonomy-supportive style adopted by their music teachers. To provide the first in-depth understanding of how music performance teachers support the autonomy of their students and how this support is related to students'…

What can be done to re-orient a field of education like music, when far too many teachers teach the way they were taught using traditional procedures that stupefy and deaden students to the subject matter, rather than working creatively to invigorate and empower them to become thoughtfully engaged, independent music makers? The essays in this…

This article offers a model to assist music teachers in reflecting on their teaching practice in relation to their aims and values. Initially developed as a workshop aid for use on a music education MA program, the model is intended to provoke critical engagement with two prominent tensions in music education: that between mastery and enjoyment,…