Young Musicians' Learning of Expressive Performance: The Importance of Dialogic Teaching and Modeling

Abstract

Until recently little was known through systematic research about effective teaching methods to enhance children's expressiveness in music performance. A previous experimental study indicated that a dialogic teaching approach, consisting of questions and dialogue, improves pupils' expressive performance. Developing from this, a participatory action research study was conducted with the following objectives: (1) To explore how dialogic teaching and learning of expressiveness can be used in weekly individual instrumental lessons; (2) to investigate whether instrumental tutors find a dialogic teaching approach useful for facilitating pupils' learning of expressiveness; and (3) to explore what other complementing instructional modes tutors would like to employ. (4) To investigate pupils' views on their learning of expressiveness; and (5) pupils' views on the instructional strategies used for teaching expressiveness. Five instrumental music tutors participated in this research with two or three of their pupils (11 girls in total, aged 8-15, playing various instruments) for 4 months. Pupils played in informal performance sessions at the start, middle, and end of the project. Lessons and performances were video-recorded. Music diaries, questionnaires and video-stimulated recall interviews were used to collect information about participants' views. Participating tutors used mainly dialogic teaching, modeling, and playing along with pupils. Tutors thought that teaching and learning expressiveness is a complex process wherein "everything is intertwined"; several methods can be used within a dialogic teaching approach for working on various teaching aims. Aural modeling combined with dialogic teaching was seen as especially useful. Pupils' accounts indicate that they had learned to think about the musical character and how to convey this in performance. Tutors' questions had stimulated pupils' reflection and raised their awareness of the musical meaning, while teachers' modeling had helped to build up an aural picture of the music which had facilitated pupils' learning. The dialogic teaching approach supported by modeling had generated improved expressiveness in lessons and contributed to a growing sense of achievement, confidence, self-efficacy, and musical agency. These findings demonstrate the importance of dialogic teaching supported by modeling for meaningful instrumental music education as this can stimulate pupils' thinking, thus facilitating their learning and enhancing their expressiveness.

Theoretical Framework for Facilitating Young Musicians’ Learning of Expressive Performance

“…By asking open questions about the musical character and the use of expressive cues, teachers can shift young musicians’ attention from a focus on the “technicality” to an increased awareness of the “musicality” of their pieces ( Meissner et al, 2020 ) which may enhance expressiveness. Furthermore, teacher modeling or listening to a recording can provide an “aural picture” of the music which can be helpful for developing several aspects of music performance, including accuracy, technical fluency, phrasing and overall expressiveness ( Meissner and Timmers, 2020 ). The interpretation heard in an aural model can be discussed and explored via questions and dialogue and by playing a composition in different ways ( Figure 1 ).…”

“…A practical “toolkit” for teaching and learning of expressivity will be presented and a theoretical model will illustrate how teaching-and-learning of EMP is a multifaceted and interactive process. For this work, an expressive music performance is defined as a performance in which the musician conveys their interpretation of the compositional structure and musical character convincingly to a listener ( Meissner, 2018 ; Meissner and Timmers, 2020 ). Musical character refers to the affects, atmosphere, emotions 4 , ideas, imagery, or motions that may be associated with a musical work ( Shaffer, 1992 , 1995 ; Brendel, 2011 ).…”

“…In contrast, it does not seem practical to discuss the expressive intensity or musical tension with a young child, as these concepts might be difficult to comprehend for children under 10. Although music does not necessarily communicate emotions, it can be helpful to describe music’s expressive character with metaphors referring to emotions, feelings, imagery or ideas during the learning process (see Langer, 1957 ; Leech-Wilkinson and Prior, 2014 ; Meissner and Timmers, 2020 ).…”

“…Although participants thought that pupils’ expressiveness had improved in lessons, this was not noticeable yet in performances, probably due to performance anxiety and the difficulty level of pieces. Nevertheless, participating teachers and students thought that the repeated performance experiences had helped to develop confidence ( Meissner and Timmers, 2020 ).…”

“…Furthermore, participants from these studies reported that listening to aural models and talking about the music had been helpful for their learning. According to these students, questions and discussion had facilitated their reflection on the “musicality” of their pieces and how to convey this, whereas before they had concentrated on the “technicality” of instrumental playing and viewed their music as “just notes” ( Meissner, 2018 ; Meissner and Timmers, 2020 ). Participating teachers reported that questions and discussion combined with aural modeling had been useful for facilitating various aspects of students’ music performance, including expressiveness.…”