<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>

This study investigates how teachers of the subject ensemble in Swedish upper secondary school talk about their choices of subject content in light of their background as musicians and/or music teachers? According to current regulations and curricula (Läroplan för de frivilliga skolformerna, Lpf 94; Programmål för Estetiska programmet, ES 2000:05) the Swedish upper secondary school system can be described as goal-centered, which implies that the goals of the education are in focus and that methods and material to achieve those goals can show great variances. The aim of this study is to investigate how music teacher talk about their choices of content in relation to several background factors like music teacher education and experience and their experience as professional performers. Research questions are: * How do musicteachers talk in groupinterviews regarding choices of content in ensemble in upper secondary school? * What do musicteachers perceive as essential contents in music teaching in the subject ensemble? The conceptual framework in this study is inspired by Berger and Luckmann’s (1966/1979) theories of the construction of reality. This means that a non-essentialist approach is taken and that subject matter, content and curricula all are understood as constructs in relation to a context, historically and cultural specific (Burr, 2003). This explains the focus on the interviewees professional backgrounds in relation to choice of content. Furthermore it relies on discourse psychology (Potter &amp; Wetherell, 1987) where interpretative repertoires is used as an analytical tool. By focus group-interviews (Wibeck, 2000; Morgan, 1998) data has been collected and then analyzed. The interviewees are both professional musicians and music teachers, and they are all working as music teachers in upper secondary schools. The results of the study indicates that the teachers’ talk about choices of content is constructed mainly through their experiences of performing and professional musicianship and that didactical constructions highly relies on those experiences. This means that music as a subject (cf. Nielsen, 1998) is often seen as a product, as in a concert or a recording, and that the music teachers’ professional experiences of making music is an important ground for accomplishing that task. This raises further questions about how music teaching should be carried out and what implications the focus on a product has on musical learning from a democratic as well as a pedagogical perspective.

Digitaliseringen har förändrat stora delar av musikbranschen med nya programvaror, tjänster och hjälpmedel för att skapa och släppa musik själv. Detta har fått mig att vilja undersöka hur och i vilken utsträckning gymnasieskolan tagit hänsyn till digitaliseringens utveckling och anpassar undervisningen efter dagens kunskapsläge kring musikbransch och det som kallas independent. Independent betyder i musiksammanhang att yrkesmusiker och upphovspersoner självständigt har ansvar över samtliga delar i sin musikkarriär. Tre verksamma gymnasielärare i Stockholms län har intervjuats och resultatet i detta arbete visar deras förhållningssätt till independent i gymnasieskolan. Arbetet har använt en kvalitativ metodologi och insamlat material har analyserats utifrån ett fenomenologiskt perspektiv. Resultatet redogör lärarnas åtskilda förhållningssätt till gymnasiets kursplaner och dess centrala innehåll med hänsyn till independent. I och med digitaliseringen och internets utveckling är independent redan förankrat hos gymnasieeleverna enligt intervjuade lärare. Resultatet visar även att det kollaborativa är essensen av independent där samarbetsmöjligheterna utgör det största syftet. Att verklighetsförankra undervisningen gör att elever begriper kontentan av musikbranschens krav och är förberedda när de väl ger sig ut i sina musikkarriärer. Med verklighetsbaserade uppgifter, samarbeten och det kollaborativa skapas verktyg för att vara independent. / Digitization has changed large parts of the music industry by enabling music creators to make and release music independently with new software, services, and tools. This has made me interested in how upper secondary schools have kept up with the digitization and knowledge of today’s music industry. Independent in a musical context means that you are responsible for all parts of your music career. Three working teachers in Stockholm County have been interviewed and the result shows their perspective on independent in upper secondary school. The work has used a qualitative methodology, and collected material has been analysed based on a phenomenological perspective. The result describes the teachers' divided approach to the high school curriculum and its central subject concerning independent. According to the interviewed teachers, the development of the internet and digitization independent already is embedded in high school students. The result also shows that collaboration is the essence of independent where the opportunity for collaboration is the purpose. Reality-based teaching means that the students understand the content of the music industry's demands and are prepared when they embark on their music careers. Reality-based tasks and collaboration creates tools to be independent.

This study is an examination of how a music education that is run by a NGO, Non Governmental Organisation, in South Africa works. The organisation Arkwork for Art NPC, and their artistic programme Access Music Project, AMP, based in Grahamstown in Eastern Cape province, works as an case study. This study shows what different opportunities and challenges are of the work with the project and describes who the young participants enrolled in the project are and how they experience the music education. Further more this work explore the relationship between music education and social justice. Information was gathered through qualitative semi-structured interviews with the participants and project founder and leadership of the project. Partly information also was gathered through unstructured observations. The result shows that Arkwork for Art is filling an important gap where the government lack resources to offer music education for youth in marginalised communities. The organisation struggle with many things, most difficult for them is to get stable funding. AMP have many big future plans and want for instance to change the curriculum of music education in the future. My examination shows that the participants are very satisfied to be a part of AMP and that the project has an important role in their lifes and the community where they are based.