This study aims to increase the knowledge of what opinions freelancing and teaching musicians within the improvised music genres have on the creation of a personal expression and how they consider the subject can be handled in music education. The background chapter provides an overview of the concept of personal expression, followed by a presentation of previous research in the field. The next chapter describes socio-cultural perspective, serving as a theoretical basis.

The data material consists of four qualitative interviews with freelance improvisers with great educational experience. The result chapter presents the analysis of the musician's view of how a personal expression can be created and how they as teachers consider teaching in this area. The chapter includes how a personal expression is about to affirm ones taste and desire and that confidence, skill and inspiration are aspects to take into consideration. The concluding discussion chapter highlights aspects from the study's result chapter in relation to the socio-cultural perspective on learning and to previous research. Here the themes are among others the collective memory, musical language, musician's tools and the role and function of the school.

The study deals with the causes of creative resistance and flow. My purpose is to examine underlying causes of creating in the field of songwriter / artists. How does one deal with resistance, and is there a method to maintain a creative flow?

I have interviewed six people who are active as songwriters and artists, as well as consulting relevant texts. During the study, I have concluded that everyone in one way or another has experienced "writer's cramp", but for different reasons. What appears to be common, is that everyone exhibits a need of self-chosen solitude to attain a creative flow.

The purpose of the study is to discern how violin teachers at the Community School of Music teach rhythm and pulse. There is no extensive research in this field and we have attempted to pursue an in-depth study that addresses this issue. Our theoretical starting point is the didactic approach and the study focuses on the tools and methods teachers use.

The qualitative interview and video observation were the methods we used in order to obtain answers to our questions. The two informants involved in the study, work at the Community School of Music as violin teachers. The result demonstrates the various ways the two informants teach rhythm and pulse. The result also indicates how the two teachers adapt their teaching based on the children's ability and way of learning.

In the present study, digital tools are examined that are used by certain music teachers, how they are used, and what the underlying pedagogical intentions may be. We have also tried to interpret the attitude of the music teachers in regard to the use of these tools, and whether it can be said to be dependent on age and work experience. Five informants in five small or medium-sized Swedish cities with various types of music teaching jobs were interviewed, with the hope in gaining an overall diverse response.In our view, we discuss what makes the subject interesting and relevant: that new technologies are a major part of children’s and young people's lifestyles. We also address some aspects of learning; socio-cultural perspectives - the view of learning as dependent on the individual's interaction with his environment, and also how learning is affected depending on how the material is presented. There is also a section on the investment made in integrating computer technology in Swedish schools, a section on what is presented in the agency's governing documents, and a third section on the teachers' role in relation to ICT (information and communication technology).The result shows that digital tools are used in planning, teaching and visual / auditory memory overlap between classes. Streaming services and sequencer programs are often used. It also points to modern means of communication as being important. An important argument for the use of new technologies is the opportunity for students to learn through hearing and mimicry thanks to much access to music. We can also see that teachers' attitudes towards new technologies are largely positive, but not without restrictions. The actual performance of music and the personal encounter with students will be held as the most important aspects. The question of the teacher's attitude toward new technologies as being dependent upon age and work experience has not been proven in this study.

The purpose of this study is to attain a deeper insight in how vocal coaches view Time and Groove and in what way they use these aspects didactically. Extensive research in this area is lacking, only a few papers and research studies exist. With this in mind, my intention is to acquire a deeper insight in questions concerning various methods in how vocalists can develop their abilities in Time and Groove, and what Time and Groove, both generally and from an educational point of view, is. The theoretical starting point of this study is a socio-cultural perspective focused on how people use various tools to communicate.

I have worked with the semi-structured interview method when speaking to the informants. The informants work as vocal teachers; two are primarily teaching jazz music, whereas the other two are more oriented towards pop music.

The results demonstrate that all of the informants believe that Time and Groove in music is very important. Their approach on how to work with Time and Groove differ slightly, which can be seen in their use of a variety of tools for practicing, teaching and learning Time and Groove.

The aim of the work has been to gain advanced knowledge in vocal production by investigating different methods to raise the quality of the vocal parts in a music production. An important question has been whether the focus, to achieve a good result, mainly has to be the recording of the song or whether much can be done through post-processing in order to achieve a good result. During this project I have chosen to work with three productions where I sing the vocal parts myself. These have slightly different styles on the song and I have chosen just these to challenge myself and how to edit and produce the vocal part for at good result in the final production. For the production I have used Logic Pro X as DAW. The result is three productions where the production methods used, from my view, clearly has contributed to a better result compared with productions that I previously have performed. The methods and techniques that I have applied include the Melodyne software, which I have used to improve the quality of the song by making the song tighter and cleaner. Also equalizer and compressor have been used to improve the sound quality. However, it is important to conclude that the vocal parts in the productions, despite extensive processing with efficient editing tools, would need to be re-recorded before the songs can be published.

The aim of this study is to examine how professional singers use mental training to be able to succeed on stage and in life as a professional artist. The study is based upon research in sports psychology, (Uneståhl, 1996; 2000) but interpreted from an artistic perspective of mental training. The study is also based upon research in music psychology, where conceptions like musical expression and performance anxiety occur (Sandgren, 2005). Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted for professional singers, the questions dealing with the art of managing a stage performance, but also how the singers manage the negative stress surrounding the artistic life, such as performance anxiety and stage fright. The result indicates that mental training can be applicable in many different ways. Furthermore, musical expression is important to be able to communicate on stage and to eliminate stage fright.

This essay deals with the perception of world music and ethnic music based on three of Sweden’s culture schools. The purpose of the study is to examine how these culture schools view this genre and how, or whether they follow/ know the Council of Culture's recommendations and guidelines. In this essay, I present world music in Sweden and theconcept of world music, and assume that cultures change and evolve constantly. The datamaterial consists of three interviews with three headmasters from three different cultureschools that offer world music and/or ethnic music. Participating respondents had different opinions regarding the subject, especially terminology such as the concept of worldmusic. One of the respondents was opposed to the concept of world music, while theother respondents had no problem accepting the concept. Two of the culture schools use world music and ethnic music in order to reach immigrant groups. The discussion focuses on the terminology, influences from abroad and the cultural changes.

It is not uncommon that certain rock and other popular music is attributed with artistic ambitions or is befitted with epithets such as "artistic" or "art music-like". However, it is rarely elaborated in which way these artistic qualities are conveyed. The purpose of this paper is to investigate from an analytical standpoint what can incentivize these wordings and if they can be viewed as adequate. The material for the investigation is three pieces/songs from the rock genre which have been described with the above terms: Close to the Edge by the group Yes from 1972, Sense of Doubt by David Bowie from 1977 and Sleep by the group Godspeed You! Black Emperor from 2000. The method is auditive music analysis which means that the analysis is based upon actively listening to the music. There are two areas of focus: one is on the music itself; one is on the intentions that may lie in and with the piece/song. The analysis is based upon a definition of the terms art music and popular music that is made at the beginning of the paper. This, in turn, is based upon a rundown of term definitions made in, above all, lexicons and dictionaries, but also in musicology, and thus it can claim a certain generality. The result of the analysis shows that all music examples move outside the boundaries of the definition of popular music and, at the same time, show qualities that fall inside the boundaries of the definition of art music. Thus, the descriptions of the songs as "art music-like" and "artistic" can be viewed as adequate. However, the analysis and the preceding term discussion raise awareness about the problems that are contained in the distinction between art music and popular music, respectively. This is elaborated in the concluding discussion in which the terms are interrelated to a contexture involving the history of ideas. The distinction is shown to have its roots in the cultural debate of the 19^th century, and during the 20^th century it has been nurtured by a modernist view of culture and society. The post-modernistic trends of the last few decades, characterized by increased value relativism and loosened musical genre boundaries, have contributed to making the terms obsolete.

I mitt arbete vill jag medvetengöra sinnens betydelse. Motivationen till examensarbetets upplägg och frågeställning har vuxit fram, i takt med arbetet som blivande musikterapeut. Av den litteratur jag använt och den metod jag utbildats i, har det både stärkt och inspirerat. Människans sinne är av stor betydelse. De slutsatser jag drar är utifrån arbetet med två barn med autism, FMT-metodens grundidéer, samt faktadelar, som i citat presenteras. Det är möjligt att förstå ny kunskap utan att den är verbalt instruerad.

In this study, I will examine how violin teachers with roots in folk music teach, and if there are any areas which they prioritize and why. I chose to make a qualitative interview with five interviewees. My goal was to choose violin teachers who had studied at a colleges of music, but also with as varied a background as possible. I have set interview responses against some classical violin methods. I have not reached any new perspective or angles in folk music teaching. Instead, I see similarities between the interviewees’ teaching and the classical methods. The aim for the methods may vary. In folk music, ear training is used among all ages. The interviewees think it is important that students enjoy playing the violin and to make music. It is easier to understand and grasp the music if you begin with ear training.

The purpose of this essay is a presentation of the book, Complete Vocal Technique. One of several books on the market which examine vocal techniques, pedagogy and methods. The book has been a big topic among vocalists, and my intension is to examine and compare it both with Stora Sångguiden – Vägen till din ultimata sångröst by Daniel Zangger Borch and Sangeleven I fokus by Nanna-Kristin Arder. Books, which according to my experience are very popular within areas such as vocal techniques, pedagogy and methods, and which have been a part of my education at Ingesund. I aim to primarily examine and compare the authors’ different ways of classifying the voice by register or function. In what way do they differ or resemble each other in their thoughts of classifying the voice, and how do they relate to vocal breaks? My conclusions are that the authors’ thoughts particularly differ with regard to vocal breaks. I do find similar thoughts in all three writers’ presentation with regard to the voice containing a dark part, a middle part, and a light part in every vocalist’s range. But despite of this, Sadolin’s four functions offer more possibilities and each one of them, except for Overdrive, are able to be used in a vocalist’s entire voice without having vocal breaks.

The purpose of this study is to explore, describe and analyze the views of music teachers and their work with group dynamics in student ensembles in various musical genres. The applied method in this study is qualitative interviews according to phenomenological methodology and analysis. The theoretical perspectives are taken from Lewin, Forsyth and Blumer, and are used to define the perspectives of the informants regarding ensembles and how they affect each other regarding group dynamics. The result appertains to how the informants define the groups they are leading, and thus what they consider creates a group. It is also about the energy contained in a group, how the informants are capturing the group at a particular moment and why they believe this is important and how the make-up of a group affects the group dynamics and the learning situation. The summary of the analysis by Lewin's formula states that the energy of the groups have a prominent role for the informants, such as how some/someone’s energy affects another/another’s energy. The emotional state of teachers and students make an impact in different ways and are also affected in various ways, and that it is impossible to predict how a group lesson will be. The analysis by Lewin's formula related to the result also indicates that the ensemble depends on the composition of students. Which students who came that day, and in which mental state they are. The teacher's duty is to handle the situation at hand, and be prepared for the unexpected.

The objective of this study was to gain a greater and better insight into how clarinet pedagogues at music /culture schools can help motivate pupils in regard to their own practicing and playing. In the survey, four clarinet teachers gave qualitative interviews about various methods of motivation. The four answers turned out to be similar as regards the question of sources of motivation. The main reasons for motivation are the lesson's entertainment value, parental involvement, the importance of playing in ensembles, and performing at concerts. The personal relationship between teacher and student is analogous to a relationship between two friends because a student often has the same instrumental teacher for several years. In the last part of this study the results are compared to the original objective.   

The study aims to find out how the teachers' look at motor problems, how informed they are about pupils difficulties and how they handle motor skill problems that may arise in instrumental teaching. The background chapter presents motor skill aspects, previous studies about the subject and the study's theoretical starting points.

The research method used in this study is the qualitative interview. I have interviewed four teachers who work with brass pupils. The interviews have been transcribed, processed, analyzed and the answers came to constitute the study's results. The result describes how teachers' learn about motor problems and how they handle them. It turns out that they hardly ever get any information. The teachers have different approaches from each other. There are two distinct methods: Task -specific training where the teachers practice the students on a specific problem and the holistic approach, which is about gross motor training. The discussion compares the teachers’ responses to the motor skill aspects, research questions and the theoretical perspectives that I have chosen. I put the teachers approaches against each other, pointing out the differences between their methods. 

This study aims to create deeper insight in how professional musicians practice free improvisation. The background chapter provides an overview of the concepts of “improvisation” and “free improvisation” and then followed by a presentation of previous research in the field. The theoretical basis for the study is the socio-cultural perspective on learning and communication.

The data consists of qualitative interviews with four professional improvising musicians. The results show the musician’s view of improvisation, free improvisation and freedom, their practicing tools and their use of acquired skills. It reveals that the interviewed musicians regard it important to practice a lot, to have a personal method, to be able to disconnect the intellect when improvising and to collect experiences in a “metaphorical backpack”. In the concluding discussion chapter the results is discussed in relation to the previous research and to the socio-cultural perspective on learning. A conclusion is that the backpack metaphor is in accordance with the socio-cultural perspective on learning and that learning happens constantly. Another conclusion is that an improvisation never can be completely free. A musician´s freedom in improvisation could be described as being free to something rather than from something.

The overall aim of the study is to develop knowledge of and bring an understanding of music education in the music school of El Sistema in Sweden based on an El Sistema school in Gothenburg. One aspect is to study the methods of El Sistema and determine if these are out of the ”ordinary”, in relation to what usually is seen as ordinary music education in Swedish music and culture schools. In this case, the backgrounds of ideas and specific conditions of the schools have been a major focus.

The theoretical frame is inspired by the sociocultural perspective, and the implementation is based on the ethnographic method. The result is first of all based on qualitative interviews with four pedagogues and six students. Time, continuity and contact are three key properties that the pedagogues emphasize as fundamental in bringing success to the work of El Sistema. Music education in groups and parental contact, according to the pedagogues, are also seen as important facets in the work of musical and social development and in the aim of integration. From the perspective of the students, El Sistema brings joy to the students yet at the same time, on occasion, the result indicates the opposite.

In addition, the result of the study illustrates in many aspects that El Sistema and the traditional music education has much in common, yet at the same time, El Sistema is an operation that differs from the traditional music education. One of the conclusions for this studie is that El Sistema reaches children that usually do not attend optional music education and the work of El Sistema has an important role of youth recreational activity and musical and social development, which the school aims to do.

The purpose of this study is to explore music teachers’ views on teaching materials for music in compulsory school; the advantages or disadvantages of this material, and what might be considered as an “ideal” teaching media or teaching aid. The theoretical base of the study consists of a didactic perspective. The investigation is based on a survey among 27 music teachers, with different backgrounds and professional experience. The result shows that the music teachers consider that the printed materials they know tend to the insufficient and quickly out of date.

The vast majority of the teachers prefer therefore their own-made teaching media instead of printed ones. The “ideal” teaching media that seems to be the most desirable among the majority of the teachers is digital/IT-based, preferably in the form of some sort of database containing lessons and songs.

The study aims to gain an insight into how two nine-year compulsory schools in western Sweden choose to handle the music education. To examine this, four qualitative interviews with a music teacher and a principal at each school were completed. The study is based on theories that deal with the cultural changes in the school and how the school is governed politically. The result shows the teachers' and principals' views on how music education can be legitimized; their views on the status of the subject in the school, and how they handle the organizational and economic conditions for the subject. The subject is partly legitimized by its significant role in the coherency of the school and that it may have a therapeutic function to strengthens students' self-esteem. It also points out that the music subject complements other school subjects, which may be even more clarified by the new curriculum require-ments for subject integration. The study shows that music education and its status have changed over the years. Among other things, the development of technology means that the conditions for the music education have changed, which means that new equipment is required. This also means that changes of priorities must be done according to the schools' budget.

The purpose of this study is to highlight how music teachers who, when teaching groups of disabled pupils, relate to their own education. In approaching the teachers’ various relations to their education, I have chosen to use the qualitative interview as my research method. A large extent of the theoretical foundation in this study is based on Hanken and Johansen’s (1998) categories for the pedagogical fundamental view as a music teacher. In order to obtain a clearer understanding of the teachers’ education, I have compared and placed the teachers included in this study, into these categories.

The result clearly shows that the disabilities of the pupils do not affect the objectives in regard to the teachers’ education. That which distinguishes the education for pupils with disabilities from pupils without disabilities, is primarily the teaching method. I have concluded that, in order to meet the needs of the pupil, basic competency in music is a prerequisite and above all, a pedagogical fundamental view and an interest and commitment to the situation of each individual pupil.

The purpose of this study is to examine in what way vocal teachers in municipal schools for music and arts estimate their use of folk singing and how they view the topic in terms of vocal technique and material. In the research made for the study, data has been collected through telephone interviews with thirteen vocal teachers, working at eight schools for music and arts in geographically dispersed communities in Sweden.  The interview form was a structured qualitative interview with open follow-up questions. The data has then been analysed from a socio-cultural point of view.

The results indicate that only a few of the informants believe that folk singing occurs in their teaching. They who do not teach folk singing as a part of their teaching indicate a lack of interest among the students and low knowledge among the informants as reasons. The results also demonstrate that the informants to a certain extent are interested in the subject and to be able to provide a range of genres to the students they teach. All of the informants describe what folk singing means to them, but none claim to be able to define it. Some of the informants express a need for further education to widen the range of genres available to the students. Furthermore, this study investigates the fact that the schools for music and arts in Sweden are not required or obligated by any official documents to teach in all genres, and in what way this may affect how the vocal teachers plan their teaching.

This task is about producing songs on my own based on music and lyric by an artist. The purpose was to increase my ability to produce music, learn more about working independently and to try new ways to do it. The production is a cooperation with the artist and singer Ina Forsberg in order to find and create her own sound and high- light her singing. My role as producer also meant to be responsible for the instrumen- tal part as Ina for song and choir. Her singing has also been formed to fit the produc- tions by using eq, compressor, delay and reverb. The collaboration had to be imple- mented digitally and files were sent back and forth between Ina and myself. The final result was three songs that Ina intend to release as singles later this fall. For me the work meant better knowledge about distance working and my learning during pro- duction by repeating cycles of doing, listening and doing again. After this task is completed, I will continue my work with the songs, making them singles on Spotify.

The study aims to demonstrate a deeper understanding in how singers can use different tools to shape and communicate music, and the order of priority and functions of these tools. To attain knowledge about this, I have applied different theories of musical communication, in addition to a multimodal and social semiotic perspective with focus on communication as a social process of sign making. This has been examined through qualitative interviews with eight active and former professional singers in various genres. The results show that the singers use many different tools to shape and communicate music, of which the most predominant are voice-technique, interplay, expectations from the audience, personality and tradition. The singers usage and priority of these tools can be summarised in different overall ways of musical communication, of which tradition and personality are the most conspicuous. One conclusion is that the musical expression of a singer can be described as a weave of communicative structures, and that the singers strive to achieve a wholeness of these structures to yield meaning. Another conclusion is that singers may emphasize different aspects of the musical communication at different stages in a performance, that this may occur at different levels simultaneously, and that the musical context decides how the musical communication is being shaped. Finally, I want to describe the singers’ function as achieving completeness in the musical expression by creating, interpreting and imitating different resources by using different tools, thereby creating a meaningful musical communication to the audience, in interplay with other musicians and the singer.

In this essay I will try to determine the meaning of the word improvisation within the field of jazz music. The survey is based on five different interviews with jazz musicians. In my inquiry, I have found that the word improvisation is complex and difficult to explain. There are however, some common, key ingredients that can define quality in an improvisation. Improvisation is a social activity. It is about having a keen ear to what´s going on around you. In addition to this, you need, as a musician, good instrumental skills to be able to express the musical ideas that come to you. There are many similarities to learning a language. To be a good improviser you need to think about what you play and why you play it, in the same way that we, in everyday life, reflect on our personality and our actions.

The purpose of this study is to gain a greater understanding in how eight particular instrumental teachers utilize the potential, and deal with the challenges during group and individual instruction for the cello and recorder. Eight teachers were interviewed (four cello teachers, three recorder teachers, and one brass teacher), as part of an examination as to how they consider group and individual instruction, and the potential and challenges associated with these methods of instruction.

The results indicate that individual lessons facilitate personal contact, in addition to being more suited to the individual. The focus on technique is viewed as being both positive and negative. The relation between teacher and student during the individual lesson is often asymmetrical, but by encouraging the student to participate more actively, this may be mitigated. All the teachers participating in the study acknowledge the potential of group instruction, adding that it is easier to have fun when there is more than one student being taught. Several teachers also mentioned the importance of children challenging, teaching and influencing one another.

All of the teachers interviewed would prefer to teach each student both individually, and as part of a group. According to the study, both individual and group instruction offer specific qualities which are used by the teachers to the benefit of themselves and the students. The negative aspects of group instruction are balanced by the positive effects of individual instruction – and vice versa. In effect, these two methods supplement each other. Ultimately, it is the teacher who must decide how best to utilize the potential, and deal with the challenges associated with both methods of instruction.

During the fall 2011 a co-operation between The Symphonic Wind Band at School of music Ingesund, and the Military Wind Band in Karlskrona was started. The project offers unique possibilities to study how musical knowledge within a specific area, is mediated and developed in the meeting between these two communities of practice. The over arching aim with the study is to conceptualise and define professional musical knowledge among wind band musicians, and how these are mediated and developed in the meeting between professionals and students. The study can be defined as ethnographic, and includes interviews and video observations, combined with log book writings. The participants have been encouraged to write log books where they describe and reflect upon on beforehand defined aspects connected to identity development, based on the knowledge they develop during the period, and especially in the meeting with the professional orchestra. In addition to that, observations of common rehearsals have been video recorded. The participants will also be interviewed based upon the content in the log books, and the first analysis of the video recordings.

A community of practice can be defined as a group within a profession that is held together by common interests, a passionate aim, and which is interacting continually. Communities can be constituted within an organisation, or between organisations. They can be formal and informal and human beings can be connected to several communities at the same time. They are different from other groups as they are working for the development, education and exchange of the participants. They can also change their agendas to suit their participants and they work for development of professional competence and mediating of good practice. Hence, both individual and social identity development as well as learning is central within a community of practice. What knowledge and competence are valued as important, what forms of learning that are functional, and how activities can be organized is decided in being. A strong community is built upon mutual trust and respect, characterized by an interest in putting questions, change ideas, and listen. Frames, ideas, tools, styles, language, anecdotes, and documents create and re-create practice. New members are often peripheral and become as times runs more and more engaged in the mentioned activities. Based on these starting points the arenas that the orchestras of the investigation represent can be defined as communities of practice.

Wenger developed later the theory of communities of practice to also include the ability to learn, which underlines the individuals possibility to take care of learning outcomes from one community, and use and develop them within and between others, through learning trajectories. Learning trajectories are connecting learning of individuals to learning systems. If an education program is seen as a learning system, organisation for education can include making learning trajectories possible, and by that increase possibilities for the individual to learn and by that handle his or her life.

Participation in orchestras as a system can also be seen as connected to a larger system of social learning, where different orchestras and organisations exist and co-operate with one another. One question is how the ability to learn as a wind band musician which the education offers in the meeting with the professional orchestra to develop, function as a base for further careers as wind band musicians?

The specific aim of the study is to increase knowledge about professional knowledge within wind bands together with how that knowledge is mediated and developed within the meeting between students and professionals. To meet this aim the following research questions were formulated:

• What happens in the meeting between students and professional musicians with specific focus on musical knowledge in a holistic perspective?

• What educational approaches become visible in the meeting between peripheral and central parts of the wind band seen as a community of practice?

• What constitutes the military musical heritage and how it is taken care of  and developed in the meeting and creation of a new common musical expression?

• How is choice of repertoire treated in the project?

The presentation will communicate the preliminary results of the study.

Recent developments at the labor market for music teachers require a broader understanding of the music teacher profession than before and cause music teachers to establish themselves as versatile music workers at various levels and areas of music education. This requires music teacher education to not only offer a variety of relevant courses albeit also to secure that the student music teachers profit from the potential synergies of relating and reflecting the learning outcomes of those courses in each other. As a basis for succeeding in such an endeavor, studies into the characteristics and manifestations of the various educational traditions at play are very much needed. In addressing this need empirically we found the notion and concept of vision a possible point of departure. Drawing on Hammerness (2006) we conceive music teacher's visions to entail "images of an ideal practice" (ibid.: 1), bringing together their hopes, cares and dreams with their understandings. As such, a vision represent a reach for them that also is within the realm of possibility. In turn vision connect to their understandings, dispositions; and practices as well as notions of accessible tools. While the role and function of visions among teachers and student teachers have been scrutinized by several scholars, visions' role in the teacher education of particular subjects and the role of the teacher educators' visions have not yet been systematically studied. We hold that these visions may turn out to be equally important for the quality of teaching and learning in music teacher education that (music) teachers' visions may prove to be in the areas and schools for which the student music teachers are qualified. Furthermore, the professors' visions can be expected to influence the visions of student music teachers and teacher freshmen and thus constitute a kind of visions of second degree. Hence, in this presentation we will address the following question: What characterize the visions of Musikdidaktik professors and how do those visions relate to their notions of understandings, dispositions, practices, and tools within the Musikdidaktik subject as a learning community? The study is positioned within the field of research on higher music education and how that education can be further developed. The theoretical framework draws on teacher thinking research (e.g. Jyrhämä 2002; Kansanen 1999), questions of teaching and teacher development in teacher education (Darling-Hammond 2006; Darling-Hamond & Bransford ed. 2005) and the understanding of teaching and learning in musikdidaktik (e.g., Ferm & Johansen 2008, Juntunen 2007). The study is a shared project of three researchers from Sweden, Norway and Finland each examining one music teacher education program of their country educating both classroom and instrumental music teachers. Data consist of four semi-structured interviews of musikdidaktik professors from each country representing musikdidaktik for classroom, voice, piano and strings. The results will be presented and discussed in connection with Professors visions of good practice, Professors visions of an ideal graduate, and Professors visions of the musikdidaktik subject as a whole. The ways in which similarities and differences between countries and musikdidaktik traditions emerge from the visions will be discussed in relation to music teacher education, as well as music teaching practice.  

The purpose of this study is to examine how music is being used and how it is taught in the small village of Berefet in The Gambia. During our first visit to the village, it seemed to us that both children and adults used music in a very natural, knowledgeable and, at the same time, joyful way. We, as music teachers from Sweden, would like to learn from the citizens in Berefet and find new methods of teaching music in a more intuitive and enjoyable way.

The research has been conducted through qualitative interviews with both teachers and inhabitants of the village. We have analyzed the collected data from a music ethnological perspective and compared our results with findings from other studies and literature concerning music ethnology and pedagogy.Our study indicates that a daily practicing of music in Berefet isn’t as widely spread as initially assumed. It appears that the children in the village learn and practice music primarily in their home environment, and that they learn from their older relatives and family members.

This study aims to highlight educational elements, as well as the musical and technical training, which, as part of a professional vocal study program, prepares the student for a professional career as a vocalist. This in turn, should help ensure a degree of satisfaction for professional vocalists. The study has its theoretical basis in hermeneutics and social psychology, and has been performed with the qualitative interview method. Four professional vocalists have served as informants.

The background section presents both facts and previous studies of the voice used as an instrument, the employment situation of the professional musician, job satisfaction, vocational vocal training, the instructor’s ability to influence the music student, and also the health risks associated with professional musicians.

The study’s findings support previous research as several themes are consistent. The results, as opposed to previous research that more broadly describes the musician’s professional situation, is here specifically related to the daily life of a musician. The study also highlights specific suggestions for educational elements applied to professional vocal training in a way that has not been shown in previous research. Examples of vocational objectives, which, according to the study may be suitable for the vocal instructor, are creating confidence in the student in a safe learning environment, creating self-sustaining students, and providing the student with insight and professional experience in the profession.

The aim of this work is to increase an understanding of how the division between a technical and personal expression in teaching the drums in the genres of rock, pop and jazz, and how teachers work around or with the concepts of personal expression and technique. I have interviewed four teachers and used the qualitative interview method. The following research questions are the basis of the work: Is there a clear division between the elements that focus on a technical and personal expression in teaching the drums in high school and school of music and arts - and if so, what is the relationship between those elements? How do drum teachers handle these two concepts in their teaching? The results indicate that all the informants include elements that revolve around both a technical and personal expression in drum lessons. They sometimes combine these two, but the results also show that the use may depend on the nature of teaching rather than an active choice made by the informants. The participating teachers define self-expression as anything that relates to the musical side of playing as opposed to the technical, which has to do with technical expertise. Focus on the lesson tends to lean more to the personal expression, as long as the student has reached a certain basic level of technique. Common to all informants is that the focus has shifted from a more technical and craft-oriented focus to a more individual emphasis with a focus on expression, with an increase in work experience. The informants who have worked at both the high school and school of music and arts level believe that grades may constrain the choice of focus, as self-expression may seem more difficult to assess than technical skills.

The purpose of this study is to examine if there is a connection between the diminishing knowledge of music theory of applicants to colleges of music, and the offering of music theory in the Swedish music and culture schools. In order to reach this goal, I conducted a survey of the prevalence of music theory among the Swedish music and culture schools, and how this is organized. I have used a questionnaire in which the principal or the teacher of music theory has responded to, and I have examined the entrance examinations (C-test) in basic theoretical knowledge and harmony from different years at The Music Academy of Ingesund. Survey responses indicate that a third of those who answered, offer music theory as its own subject. These schools can be found in both large and small municipalities, with a varied number of students. Music theory does not seem to have decreased significantly over the past nine years. Among the schools that do not offer music theory, the main reason given for this is a poor economy. But among schools who offered music theory but were forced to discontinue, the main reason given were the students' lack of interest. I have also investigated the structure of the lesson, certified teachers, integration of music theory in instrumental lessons and the marketing of the subject. In the section where I discuss the results, an explanation may be found as to why there appears to be a declining knowledge of music theory. The responses indicate that while music theory is still generally offered as before, there is a reduction in demand, which may cause the knowledge level to decrease.

The purpose of this study is to investigate those approaches to knowledge that exist in music in the Swedish curriculum, and how these approaches are related to the recommendations about content and judgment for teachers in aesthetic subjects written by the National Agency for Education.   

The study is a literary and conceptual study presenting analyses of selected documents from the National Agency for Education in how to make judgements of knowledge in school, and the curriculum for instrumental and voice instruction in the upper secondary school.

The theoretical framework of the study is based on three different perspectives concerning the concept of knowledge. In the chapter on background there is also a presentation regarding methods on judgement as applied by current professionals in the field of music education.

The chapter containing the findings presents analyses in how a knowledge of music is represented in the documents from the National Agency for Education. It is clear that music is actually a consolidation of several types of approaches to knowledge. To categorize knowledge it is necessary to clarify what type of judgment that is best suited for a specific occasion. This study calls attention to the fact that judgments often used are an effective tool for teachers in encouraging students to improve their performance.

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into how different teachers in ear training consider and work with theoretical and practical elements, in their teaching in Swedish and Norwegian high schools. Furthermore, the study also focuses on how the teachers consider the relationship between ear training and instrumental playing and singing. Prior research on this topic shows that there are differences among ear training teachers, between the purpose of their teaching, and what is done practically.

With this in mind, my aim is to gain an insight in how different teachers work with these aspects in their own teaching. I also wish to get more knowledge of how they view these aspects in relation to the general teaching of ear training. The study has its theoretical basis in a multimodal perspective, which means that people  acquire knowledge through multiple forms of signs and modalities. Furthermore, the study also has a didactic-pedagogical perspective, focusing on the pedagogical and didactic methods of different teachers in the subject of ear training.

The survey has been conducted in the form of qualitative interviews with various teachers, as well as observations of their teaching. The results indicate that all the informants consider it important to have balance and coherence between theoretical and practical work in ear training. Furthermore, all informants consider the relationship between ear training and instrumental music and singing as very important. Inclusion of the students own instruments in ear training lessons, is emphasized as a beneficial method for working with this aspect. The degree to which this method is utilized, is however expressed as different among the informants. Working so, however, requires certain conditions, that are sometimes missing.

I detta examensarbete har jag studerat hur omgivningen, det vill säga lärare och föräldrar, upplever att fem skolbarn i grundskolans lågstadium har utvecklats under ett år med FMT. För att kunna göra det har jag skriftligen frågat några av barnens lärare samt barnens föräldrar/vårdnadshavare hur de ser på barnens utveckling. Jag har ställt den öppna frågan, hur har x utvecklats, i dina ögon, under året med FMT? och jag har bett respondenterna att tolka begreppet utveckling som de själva vill. Alla respondenter har blivit erbjudna att få se ett videosammandrag av barnens utveckling i FMT under året. De svar jag fått in pekar entydigt, om än i skiftande ordalag, mot att FMT har bidragit till barnens utveckling och stärkt deras självkänsla.

Min slutsats är att FMT har en plats i grundskolans lågstadium. Med FMT som resurs skulle skolan kunna fånga upp, och stödja många av de barn som inte riktigt passar in i normen för hur ett nyblivet skolbarn ska fungera. Då skulle fler kunna följa och ta till sig skolans undervisning, fler skulle lyckas med att närma sig sin potential och därigenom nå skolans mål.

The study aims to identify and describe contemporary folk singers’ interpretation in the case of recording old songs from Centre for Swedish Folk Music and Jazz Research. To learn more about the process of interpretation, I have compared songs from three archive recordings and four modern recordings of the same songs. By transcriptions and “soundstories” I have analyzed the factors of change which has appeared in the process. The study is based on theories about “silent knowledge”, culture heritage and tradition.

The result shows that factors like the attitude towards pulse, embellishments and melody variations and the use of the voice and instruments are changed in the modern recordings. Elements like text and structure are unchanged. An overall tendency in the result is that the contemporary singers have a more nuanced manner of performing the songs than what is exposed of the traditional singers, most evident in the use of instruments and in the attitude towards pulse.

Detta examensarbete beskriver FMT (Funktionsinriktad musikterapi) historiskt, teoretiskt och praktiskt. Mitt syfte har varit att ta reda på hur arbetet med FMT kan påverka människans fysiska stabilitet. Jag beskriver arbetet med två adepter och resultatet av detta arbete.

Min slutsats är att arbetet med FMT påverkar stabiliteten på ett positivt sätt. Detta har visat sig i att mina adepter fått bättre kroppskontroll, vilket bl.a. lett till ökad koncentrations-förmåga och uthållighet. Adepterna har fått en stabilare grund att stå på, en grund som de kan utvecklas vidare från.

The purpose of this paper is to gain a greater knowledge of how guitar teachers in different genres teach. My aim is to determine if teachers in different genres use various methods or ways of teaching. Tension has existed for years between classical guitar instruction and the tradition in teaching the electric guitar. The most visible conflict has been the question of sheet music vs. pitch based. However, there is no previous comparison between the different traditions. I have examined if there are differences between classical guitar teaching methods, which have a long tradition, and the younger electric guitar tradition. My questions have revolved around how teachers think in different genres when it comes to focusing on different musical areas, if there are any specific reasons why the teaching is done in a certain manner, and if it is possible to combine the two methods.I have used the qualitative interview method to gather the material. The interviews were transcribed word by word and then carefully read through and later ordered by themes. The results of the study were very positive as it turned out that the two guitar traditions have approached each other with great strides and are now closer than ever before in history. Both classical and electric guitar teachers are working towards the same goal, yet with different approaches in arriving there.

Denna uppsats handlar om Suzukimetoden. Syftet med arbetet är att beskriva metoden med dess styrkor och svagheter samt att få förståelse för hur tidigare suzukielever ser på sin tid som suzukielev.

Den teoretiska bakgrunden utgörs av Lev Vygotskijs och Howard Gardners teorier. Utöver litteraturstudier har jag genomfört kvalitativa intervjuer med sex ungdomar/vuxna som tidigare varit suzukielever. De valde alla att sluta spela när de kom upp i tonåren. Det är deras berättelser som är studiens empiri.

Resultatet visar att personerna anser att suzukitiden betytt mycket positivt för dem. Framför allt lyfter de fram gemenskapen som de upplevde som suzukielever. Läger, kompisar och grupplektioner är roliga minnen som de bär med sig och som de anser har påverkat dem positivt. De positiva omdömena av undervisningen dominerar. I studien framkommer dock några områden som lärare och föräldrar behöver reflektera över. Det berör notinlärning, överdrivet föräldraengagemang och konkurrens.

The purpose of this study is to acquire a deeper knowledge of the concept, Musical Time, and to show how experienced teachers apply this in their teaching. This study has its theoretical base in how the sociocultural perspective tools are used in teaching.

The method used to attain the results is the qualitative research interview. All of the five informants work in either Värmlands Län or Örebro Län. They are active teachers who teach in different levels from high school up to music academy. The results show that Time is about how musicians place their rhythms in relation to the pulse and that all of my informants view the topic as being important and should be taught in all forms of musical education. The tools applied are many and it is not uncommon, in cases where only one tool is used, that the teachers use it in several different ways.

I detta arbete beskriver jag FMT-metoden och dess framväxt, samt mitt praktikarbete med två elever från särskolan. En med Cerebral Pares och en med svårigheter inom autism-spektrumområdet. Jag har försökt söka svar på hur FMT-metoden kan påverka kroppsbalans och stabilitet. Min slutsats är att FMT kan påverka kroppsbalans och stabilitet, då jag observerat en märkbar skillnad hos de två adepter jag arbetat med. 

Att hantera och kontrollera sin andning är något som de flesta av oss människor gör automatiskt, men ibland kommer vi till stunder då vi behöver ge andningen lite hjälp på traven. Funktionsinriktad MusikTerapi, FMT, kan vara att utmärkt redskap att ta till, när andningstekniken behöver få en skjuts. Andningen kan bearbetas effektivt i FMT på ett lekfullt och avslappnat sätt.

Min slutsats är att kroppen behövs för att andningen ska fungera och andningen behövs för att människan ska fungera. FMT behövs!

The study aims to describe how teachers in the classroom work with artistic expression. My goal has been to gain an understanding of how teachers can encourage students to assume responsibility in their music in order to ensure that more students will continue playing even after their completed studies at music schools. I examined the views of two prominent flutists, what the governing documents (GY 11) emphasize, in addition to selected instrumental teachers.

I have chosen to use a hermeneutical perspective in my study, due to a desire for a deeper analysis and interpretation of the informant’s professional situation. I chose the so-called half-structured interview that resembles an everyday conversation, yet has a decided purpose: in my case, to discern what flute teachers refer to in regard to playing with a personal touch, and also the methods used to help their students achieve a personal style of playing. The results demonstrate that the respondents consider it important to integrate other aspects such as technique and tone. They use various teaching methods: some informants use almost identical methods, while others are more focused on individual methods. A key concept emerges, one that problematizes teaching, what is to be taught to whom, and in what way.

The purpose of this study is to identify differences and similarities in various piano teachers’ teaching approach, and investigate whether their approach and methods relate to the respective genres they teach. In research and literature, contradictions that can be linked to ”afro” and ”classical” have been investigated and described in contrasts like ear for music versus sheet music or improvisation versus reproduction. Contractions like that form the basis to this study’s area of interest.

The study is based on a socio-cultural perspective, which means that learning is seen as a social activity, where knowledge exists in communication and the tools that have been developed in the community. The data consists of qualitative interviews with four more or less active musicians/piano teachers (two “afro” teachers and two classical teachers) with different work situations.

The result shows that personalization, musical meaning and joyfulness are highly valued in all their piano teaching.  The goal seems to be the students´ experiences of joy in making music, rather than that they should become "great" and famous pianists. It is considered that the student has the primary responsibility in evolving and staying motivated. Focus on technique and training is connected to the student's needs. Musicality will always be in focus. “Unmusical” exercises are considered to be inhibiting the expression and motivation. To include improvisation in teaching is seen as important. The informants have somewhat different approaches and goals with improvisation. The classical music teachers work with rhythmic and tonal templates designed to get students to evolve and/or get courage to play without sheet music. “Afro” teachers focus more on playing a particular song and finding personal expressions in improvisation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the national policy documents regarding gender perception and how teachers are dealing with this in ensemble education in jazz and popular music in the Swedish upper secondary school. I have chosen to analyze the attitudes and actions of ensemble teachers from a gender perspective. This study is based on the perception of gender as a social construction,, where gender patterns are generated in the interaction between people, through constant repetition of action and behavior.

In an attempt to answer these questions, I conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with four current teachers at four upper secondary schools. After analyzing the interview material, the result shows that all the participants believe that the perception of gender and human equality is fundamental in the field of education. The procedures for how educators handle equality in ensemble teaching differ slightly. They highlight various aspects of the subject linked to policy documents governing the various ways. The teachers agree that perception of gender affects the educational work, both through interaction with the students, as well as on a collegiate level.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore my own learning in the process of appropriating the kind of ornamentation that is a central part of the Irish trad music culture. The purpose is supported with these following reserch questions: Which tools do I use as an apprentice to appropriate the ornaments from the Irish traditional music culture? and To what degree have I appropriated the Irish ornamentation after a period of ten weeks? The thesis is based on a sociocultural perspective with a strong emphasism on master – apprentice teaching. This is included in the background chapter together with relevant litterature and earlier studies on this area. Explanations about specific ornaments and a brief description about the Irish trad culture are examples of what is brought up in the background chapter. The thesis is based on video observations of myself and by a written journal. The result is presented with several themes, for example different tools during individual fiddle lessons, adopting of professional identity and me and my master. In the conclution the results are discussed compared to the litterature and earlier research where my ethnical background and unspoken rules during sessions are mentioned. The discussion also include variation and improvisation together with which tools that have contributed the most to my process of learning. 

The aim of the study was to gain greater insight into how teachers can help their students to get motivation to their own musicianship and joy of playing. With a phenomenographic approach and through qualitative interviews with four woodwind teachers at various music and culture schools, their views are analyzed of how they see their students' motivation and how they in their teaching can inspire students to continue playing. The result shows, that the major sources of motivation are goals, interactions, group membership and “I-can!” esteem. In conclusion I have categorized and discussed all interview responses in relation to the concepts of motivation and education.

The purpose of this study is to acquire a better understanding of how folk musicians and jazz/pop musicians view the concept of groove. To answer this, four research questions were used;

How do we create groove? What does a musician focus on in the creation of groove? Are there differences between folk musicians’ and Afro-musicians’ opinions on groove?

And if so, how do the opinions differ?

I have interviewed six musicians; three Swedish folk musicians and three Afro-musicians. The study is based on their opinions, in addition to research and literature in this subject.

The material is broken down into different themes; beat variations and rythm, beats, timing, dynamics and communication. The study demonstrated that there are certain differences and similarities between the two genres and the opinions of those interviewed on the subject. Among other things, the study showed that the musicians had different ways in relating to the beat, and different ways to apply dynamics in their music to achieve groove. The musicians are unanimous in their view of the importance of syncopations in relation to the beat.