Musical improvisation is an infinite artistic well. It helps the musician to make a personal performance and lets the music reflect the inner feelings. It is a language with which the performer can adapt the formulation to the specific situation. Yet so many have fear and respect when facing the phenomenon. In this study Dan Alkenäs discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using musical improvisation as a pedagogical method in school education. During a semester Alkenäs has, together with music teacher Bitten Löfgren and a group of pupils, studied what results are to be expected when teachers let musical improvisation have a leading role in music lessons. He discusses the creative working environment and the pupils’ ability to put theory into practice. One leading theme is the discussion of the common view of musicality. Alkenäs argues that it is important for a music teacher in a democratic school, with children from different kinds of cultures and backgrounds, to be flexible and adjust the lessons according to the individuals in the group. The study shows that this pedagogy, among other things, has a positive effect on interaction between students with different interest, levels of knowledge and potentials.

<p>Musical improvisation is an infinite artistic well. It helps the musician to make a personal performance and lets the music reflect the inner feelings. It is a language with which the performer can adapt the formulation to the specific situation. Yet so many have fear and respect when facing the phenomenon. In this study Dan Alkenäs discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using musical improvisation as a pedagogical method in school education. During a semester Alkenäs has, together with music teacher Bitten Löfgren and a group of pupils, studied what results are to be expected when teachers let musical improvisation have a leading role in music lessons. He discusses the creative working environment and the pupils’ ability to put theory into practice. One leading theme is the discussion of the common view of musicality. Alkenäs argues that it is important for a music teacher in a democratic school, with children from different kinds of cultures and backgrounds, to be flexible and adjust the lessons according to the individuals in the group. The study shows that this pedagogy, among other things, has a positive effect on interaction between students with different interest, levels of knowledge and potentials.</p>

Felix Saul (1883-1942) var verksam som körledare, musikskribent och musikpedagog, och undervisade främst i sin egen musikskola, Stockholms privata konservatorium (SPK). Syftet med studien är att undersöka den pedagogik som Felix Saul tillämpade i sin musikundervisning i barngrupper på SPK. Empirin utgörs av intervjuer med Sauls tidigare elever, och av hans egna artikelserier om musikpedagogik. Materialet har analyserats utifrån ett övergripande kulturpsykologiskt perspektiv. Resultatet visar att Sauls undervisning som syftade till att utveckla elevernas musikalitet i stor utsträckning följde Tonika-do-metoden som den beskrivs av samtida litteratur, men att han lade större vikt vid ackordfunktioner och rytmikövningar, och att lek var en central del av undervisningen. Genom undervisningen fick eleverna tillgång till en omfångsrik verktygslåda med kulturella verktyg i form av konventioner att strukturera, uttrycka och representera musik, som de i fortsatt lärande kunde kombinera till individuella strategier för notläsning, interpretation och i musiklyssnande. Av studien har också framkommit att Saul var en betydelsefull musikpedagog trots att han inte fullt ut var accepterad av etablissemanget. / Felix Saul (1883-1942) was engaged as a choiremaster, music writer and music teacher, mainly at his own music school: Stockholms privata konservatorium (SPK). The purpose of this study is to describe how Felix Saul tought children's groups at SPK, and what pedagogy he employed. The empirical material consists of interviews with students who participated in Saul's children's groups and Saul's own series of articles about his music pedagogy. The material has been analyzed from a cultural psychological perspective. The result show that the teaching methods used by Saul to a large extent followed the Tonika-do method as it was described in the contemporary literature, but with a bigger emphasis on harmonic theory and eurhythmics, and that playing games was a central part of the educational activities. The education gave the students access to cultural tool-box a variety of tools in the form of established music-cultural conventions of structuring, expressing and representing music, that they could combine to create individual learning strategies for sight reading, interpretation as well as listening to music. In this study Saul has emerged as an influential music educator even though he was not fully accepted by the establishment.