Violin duets in instrumental teaching, performance and music-making in the UK

The violin duet has long occupied a relevant place within instrumental pedagogy, forming part of the canon of the major historic violin schools and included in recent syllabi of some music performance graded examinations. Scholarship has identified numerous pedagogical benefits from duets. This qualitative interview study explores 31 UK teachers’ perceptions of the types of duetting activity within their violin teaching and the factors influencing their inclusion of duets. These have implications for the ongoing use of duets due to their potentially limited performance visibility, associations with amateurism and contextual aspects such as provision of pianos in teaching spaces, which warrant consideration in relation to the future development of the genre.