Composers (and compositions) within western art music need an intermediary performer (the interpreter) in order to make the work audibly accessible for the listener. Musical interpretation is becoming a rather well researched phenomenon from the performing artist's perspective, but little attention has been given to how such general interpretative skills are developed and communicated within higher music education.The aim of this study is to describe the learning of general interpretative skills from a teacher's and student's perspective within the one-to-one context of higher music education. The following research questions were formulated to fulfill this aim:1. How do teachers and students describe and define musical interpretation and the development of general interpretative skills? (Qualitative interviews with students and teachers.)2. How do teachers and students see and describe their interaction while developing the students’ general interpretative skills during lessons?(Video documentation and stimulated recall with students and teachers.)3. What do these descriptions, definitions, and the interaction between teacher and student imply with regards to pedagogical, aesthetical, and philosophical values within higher music education?The expected outcome is a description of students’ learning of general interpretative skills within higher music education, which hopefully will be beneficial in the development of one-to-one tuition.