Most higher education institutions offering programmes in music performance organise master classes for their students. It is commonly agreed that master classes offer valuable learning opportunities for the students performing, but what do they offer for students in the audience? In this article, theories of learning by observation as well as research on peer learning and assessment are used to discuss the learning potential of master classes for students who are not performing themselves. It is concluded that students can definitely benefit in many ways from attending master classes as an audience, and suggestions are given on how to enhance the learning outcome.

Research on peer learning in higher education indicates that learning from and together with peers can benefit students in a number of ways. Within higher music education in Western, classical music, however, the master–apprentice tradition with its dominant one-to-one mode of tuition focuses predominantly on knowledge transmission from teacher to student. The role students can play in one another’s learning processes is often less articulated. In this essay peer learning is discussed based on experiences from projects carried out at the Centre of Excellence in Music Performance Education, which explore peer learning as part of the students’ principal instrument study. Peer learning in music academies is not restricted to students, however. Teachers can also benefit from engaging in collaborative learning with their fellow teachers. Drawing on experiences from a series of international seminars for teachers in higher music education, the potential and challenges of peer learning among conservatoire teachers are also discussed.

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Masterclasses have a prominent place in the education of future musicians within the western classical music tradition. This chapter gives an overview of research on teaching and learning in masterclasses with a focus on how they might benefit the students, as well as how master teachers and students can optimize learning and teaching outcomes. The merits of various types and formats of masterclass and styles of interaction are discussed, as are the challenges faced by master teachers and student performers. One section of the chapter is devoted to the possible benefits for students in the audience, benefits which might be contested by the students themselves. Drawing on theories of learning by observation and of peer learning and assessment, the chapter argues that there is significant learning potential for the audience as well. It concludes by considering some implications for practice of the roles that the conservatoire, the master teacher and the principal instrumental or singing teacher can respectively play in helping both the student performing and students in the audience to get the most out of masterclasses.

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