Fostering Affect, Rapport, and Care for Optimal Performance in Studio Music Instruction

Abstract

The one-to-one nature of the applied music studio environment brings both opportunities and challenges for student learning. Because of the prolonged, intense nature of this relationship, it is of utmost importance to understand the types of practices that help teachers and students to develop a healthy teaching-learning relationship. After defining and exploring the terms affect, rapport, and care ethics, we identify specific teaching practices that can help to foster positive relationships, including feedback, modeling, nonverbal behaviors, and considerations of motivation. While considering the important professional boundaries to the relational considerations of the student-teacher relationship, we also provide practical strategies for optimizing these relational considerations in applied music studio lessons. In this chapter, we argue that the affective, relational dimensions of music teaching are not just nice to have in studio lessons, but they are also essential components of optimal music learning, student motivation, and wellness.