Concert Musicians as Teachers: On Good Intentions Falling Short

Teachers in institutions of higher musical training are experts in their field of performance, but frequently have limited knowledge of the dynamics of individual teaching and learning. Seven performance lecturers with little or no formal training as teachers, together with their students, took part in the present investigation. The seven cases were studied by means of participant observation and informal interviews. The qualitative data were subsequently submitted to a content analysis. The results showed that the lecturers’ inflexibility, insensitivity to individual needs, unreasonable demands and dominance, along with an unsatisfactory balance in their instructional strategy were all potential inhibitors of artistic development, and were therefore also potential stressors for musicians to be.