Pedagogy of music: Contemporary music in the applied flute studio

There is a lack of literature on the pedagogy of contemporary music. Therefore, observing and identifying teaching strategies that master teachers use when teaching contemporary music could shed some light on an effective pedagogy of contemporary music.The purpose of this qualitative research was to discover what stances applied flute master teachers take within the context of the teaching of contemporary music by identifying issues that might be problematic to its teaching, and, teaching practices and strategies that they adopt. A multiple case study was conducted with two flute master teachers: Robert Dick and Patricia Spencer. Each participant was observed teaching and also interviewed. Students were also invited to participate in a questionnaire. The results indicated that the teaching of contemporary music could be problematic because of issues that relate to: (i) the inherent nature and characteristics of contemporary music, and (ii) the student's cultural frames of reference.The study indicated that an effective pedagogy of contemporary music was one where student-centered teaching (practice of pedagogy) and discipline-oriented teaching (pedagogy of practice) were interdependent. Furthermore, the results identified the teaching as a constructivist, student-centered and autonomy supportive practice. Some specific teaching strategies were also identified.