Studying with a musical maestro: A case study of commonsense teaching in artistic training

Journal/Book: Creativity Res J. 1996; 9: 355 Chestnut St, Norwood, NJ 07648. Ablex Publ Corp. 33-46.

Abstract: This article reports an exploratory and descriptive study of the training of musical performers at an undergraduate level. The investigation was staged as a case study of a well-known professor of organ performance and 6 of his students. The data were gathered through participant observation, informal interviews, and questionnaires. The focus of the study is on the maestro role in an educational setting and the commonsense teaching strategy applied by such a musical maestro with no formal teacher training. The tentative findings suggest that inherent in a context of Western art music are strong expectations about how a master performance teacher should behave; this causes students to reconstrue harsh and insensitive treatment as something positive and necessary. The maestro role appears product oriented rather than person oriented, suggesting that students lacking in self-assurance and independence may fare badly under such tutelage. The article concludes by suggesting that the maestro role's potentially negative impact could be avoided if teacher training in musical performance at a higher level was given a higher priority.

Note: Article RS Persson, Jonkoping Univ, Sch Educ & Commun, POB 1026, S-55111 Jonkoping, Sweden

Keyword(s): BEHAVIOR

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