Theoretical Framework for Facilitating Young Musicians' Learning of Expressive Performance

Autonomous or controlled interpreters? Model of Werktreue internalization for classical musicians

Self-regulated learning-a cyclical process in which a learner sets a goal, monitors, and self-reflects on one's learning to set the next goal-is vital in instrumental learning. However, many conservatory students fail to initiate self-regulated learning; they take lessons passively, practice ineffectively, and fail to give satisfactory performance. These learning experiences could harm students' well-being, and physical and mental health problems are widespread among students. Nevertheless, factors contributing to self-regulated learning remain unknown. We hypothesized that musicians' autonomy in musical interpretation, which we refer to as interpretive autonomy, plays a pivotal role in self-regulated learning. Without developing interpretation, musicians fail to set personal goals, monitor, and self-evaluate their performances in terms of musicality. Although previous studies imply that interpretation plays a significant role in self-regulated learning, this has not been clearly demonstrated. Studies on interpretive autonomy are scarce due to a complicated discourse surrounding performers' freedom in interpretation. The ideology of Werktreue underpins the classical music field, and classical music performances are evaluated based on how faithfully a performer interpreted the composer's intention. Yet musicians hold various beliefs regarding the meaning of faithful interpretation, thus the degree of interpretive autonomy cannot be assessed unless its clear definition is provided. In addition, the mechanisms that promote or hinder interpretive autonomy in learning remain unexplained. To address these issues, we proposed a model of Werktreue internalization by applying self-determination theory. The model defines interpretive autonomy based on internalization types, identifies its effects on musicians' learning behavior and well-being, and reveals the mechanisms that promote or hinder interpretive autonomy in learning experiences. This model allows researchers and educators to assess the degree of interpretive autonomy, attribute impaired learning behavior and well-being to a lack of interpretive autonomy, and promote interpretive autonomy by supporting students' psychological needs in interpretation.

Expert pianists make specific exaggerations for teaching

Experts modulate their performance of actions for teaching purposes, performing slower and exaggerated movements when demonstrating novel actions to novices. The present study asked whether such modulations also occur during teaching performance of a music instrument, where subtle movement modulations are crucial for achieving artistic expression. While exaggerating performances of goal-directed actions outside of artistic contexts may be straightforward, it is an open question whether and how exaggeration for the purpose of teaching operates for actions that are expressive even when performed outside of a teaching context. Pianists were asked to demonstrate to students the techniques required for implementing notated expressions, compared to performing the piece without didactic intentions. Expressions in the piece concerned either articulation (i.e., legato and staccato) or dynamics (i.e., forte and piano). The pianists played either with the goal to perform the piece to an audience or with the goal to teach the respective techniques to novices. When intending to teach articulation, skilled pianists produced more exaggerated staccato. When intending to teach dynamics, they created a larger contrast between forte and piano. We found consistent results across a simple musical scale (Experiment 1) and a more naturalistic piece of music (Experiment 2). These findings show that teaching-specific action modulations generalise to expressive actions and suggest that action modulations serve to highlight the most relevant aspects of the actions to be learnt.

Teaching and Learning of Piano Timbre Through Teacher-Student Interactions in Lessons

The ability to play the piano with a variety of timbres requires a performer to have advanced pianistic skills. Little is known about how these skills are acquired and developed in piano lessons and what the role is of elements such as concepts, technique, sonic outcomes, and bodily movements. To investigate the teaching and learning of piano timbre, the lessons of three pairs of university-level teachers and students (two teachers and three students) were observed, during which they behaved as usual in the first two lessons and were asked to use a dialogic teaching approach in the third lesson. Verbal communications of teachers and students about timbre were coded and analyzed, aiming to gain insight into the teaching/learning process of piano timbre and the roles of embodiment and teacher–student interaction in the context of higher music education. The results suggest that piano timbre is not learned through imitation or as “fixed” and objective knowledge, but as a co-constructed conception between the teachers and the students. The meaning of timbre goals in piano lessons is enacted through “in-the-moment” bodily experience and embodied through performance actions. This study contributes to the understanding of piano timbre as a multifaceted phenomenon and illustrates the teacher's role in developing the student's mind–body integration involved in tone production.