Umeå University's logo

This article explores three aspects of interpretation—musical interpretation of notated Western art music, hermeneutics (theoretical framework), and poetry (tool for analysis and representation)—based on ongoing music education research focusing on the learning of musical interpretation within the one-to-one context of higher music education. The broad philosophic poetic inquiry of interpretation has the form of an autoethnodrama containing both haiku and found poetry. Poetry is both used as a process of inquiry and as a means of representation. The autoethnodrama explores the author’s struggle with finding his cogito for conducting arts-based research and touches upon his personal history. Through the combination of autoethnodrama and a philosophic poetic inquiry, he finds a deeper understanding of musical interpretation, usage of poetry and autoethnodrama in research, as well as of his personhood. Concluding reflections on one possible way of interpreting the autoethnodrama in relation to teaching and learning of musical interpretation within higher music education are also presented.

Research has indicated that one-to-one teaching in higher music education in Western classical music typically favours technical over interpretive aspects of musicianship, and imitation of the teacher's rather than the student's explorative interpretation. The aim of the present study is to investigate students' and teachers' understandings of how musical interpretation of Western classical music is learned in this context. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with six piano students and four teachers in Sweden were conducted and hermeneutically analysed using haiku poems and poetical condensations. The analysis found that the conditions for learning musical interpretation centred upon students achieving a high level of autonomy, as affected by three key aspects of teaching and learning: (1) the student’s and the teacher's understandings of what musical interpretation is, (2) the student's experience of freedom of interpretation as acknowledged by the teacher, and (3) (expectations of) the student's explorative approach. As none of these aspects were reported as being explicitly addressed during lessons, there might be a need for both teachers and students to verbalise them more clearly to support piano students' development.

Master classes, arguably the pinnacle of the master–apprentice tradition, have been common within higher education of Western classical music. Although claimed to be effective, teaching and learning of musical interpretation in this setting are not well-researched. One seven day long piano master class in the form of a self-contained university course was critically analysed from a hermeneutic perspective and philosophically discussed using three components from the ancient dialogue Philopseudes concerning the learning of magic as well as my experiences of apprenticeship. The empirical material consisted of observations of and field notes from 18 master class lessons; six video-stimulated interviews with two students, master class teacher, and the students’ regular teacher; qualitative semi-structured follow-up interviews with two students and the students’ regular teacher; and scanned versions of the students’ scores. The analysis indicated that the students’ learning of musical interpretation is hindered owing to the master’s beliefs and actions; the lessons centre on the master’s privileged access to secret knowledge mediated in writing; and, the metaphors of gods, ghosts, and Weiheküsse, can be used to understand the master’s storytelling and teaching. I suggest re-negotiating the master class and the required competencies of teachers for such classes within higher music education. 

Earlier research indicates that the conservatoire tradition still influences higher music education. In the context of Western classical music, it has been criticised for unreflected use of the master– apprentice model, e.g., emphasising imitative aspects of one-to-one tuition, favouring technical over interpretive aspects of musicianship, and lack of systematic development of students’ autonomy. 

Research on group learning of Western classical music within higher music education has highlighted that although students say that group lessons are valuable, they often do not realise the inherent learning potential. Also, students need instructions for how to prepare (and actually prepare) to be able to contribute actively during lessons. 

Studies of text seminars have shown that student activity, quality of response, ownership of learning, and participation on equal terms can increase through using response models. Although growing attention is given to collaborative learning within higher music education, there is a need to better understand how learning of musical interpretation could be developed using such models. 

This paper aims to study how response guided workshops can be arranged to improve piano students’ learning of musical interpretation of Western classical music. During autumn 2019, five workshops were conducted with a group of four piano students from the bachelor programme at one institution within higher music education in Sweden. In the response model used, students, one week before the workshop, scanned their scores, audio recorded their performances, described where they were in their interpretational process, and included questions directing the desired response. All participants shared their written response, and students beforehand selected topics to focus on during the workshop. 

The produced empirical material consists of: 

●  scanned scores, audio recorded performances, and written instructions;

●  participants’ written responses;

●  transcriptions of four workshops;

●  reflective one-minute papers written at the end of each workshop; and

●  the researcher’s field notes and reflections. 

The preliminary findings indicate the importance of communicative aspects and how a response model is implemented as challenging and changing established educational traditions are complicated. The students showed a limited capacity for verbalising their thoughts about musical interpretation, selecting topics to focus on during workshops, and tended to focus on details. During the study, the students’ understanding of musical interpretation seemed to increase, and they stated that such workshops should be included in the curriculum. Consequently, further developing such workshops may contribute to increasing student autonomy and responsibility, equal participation, and multivoicedness. 

This study aimed to empower piano students and explore their understandings of how teaching and learning of musical interpretation of Western classical music could be developed to foster autonomy and a personal, authentic artistic voice. Two research questions were formulated: How have students experienced teaching and learning of musical interpretation? How do students envision a meaningful organisation of such teaching and learning? The empirical material, created during a participatory action research project with 4 piano students within an artistic bachelor programme, was hermeneutically analysed, and narratives were created and twice negotiated with the students. Their education was described as backwards-looking and not preparing for autonomous learning and musicianship. In contrast, a meaningful organisation was envisioned as collaborative, dialogical, characterised by openness, humility, honesty, and mutual understanding, where musical interpretation is viewed as a complex, ongoing, open-ended process, allowing for multiple, incompatible views, breaking from the master–apprentice model and the current restrictive ideology.