Page 77 - How to Shine on Stage

ing mainly the role of a motivator; in the second stage (ages 10–13), the
teacher should assume the role of a technical and interpretive expert;
and in the third stage, a first-rate teacher becomes a role model, help-
ing the learner to form a musical identity. Many authors have reported
on the importance of the teacher’s role in pupils’ musical performance
(Harris, 2017; 2021; Kavčič Pucihar, 2019; Pucihar, 2016; Rotar Pance,
2006).
Jane W. Davidson et al. (1998, in Hargreaves, 2009) examined four
specific areas related to the first teacher and the current teacher: a child’s 75
perception of the teacher’s characteristics; the role of gender in the per-
ception of the teacher’s characteristics; the frequency and reasons for
transitioning to another teacher; and the relationship between individu-
al and group lessons. According to the research, the pupils who received
individual lessons were more successful, and significant differences re-
garding the perception of the teacher existed between groups of pupils.
Successful students perceived their first teacher as friendly, relaxed, talk-
ative, and encouraging. It is also interesting that the specified attrib-
utes were even more noticeable in the current teacher. It was observed
that children used more adjectives related to “personality traits” when
describing their first teachers, and more adjectives referring to “profes- Indirect Factors of Musical Performance Success
sional traits” (e.g. good teacher, good performer) when describing a cur-
rent or recent teacher. We can therefore conclude that the first phase
of a child’s learning of an instrument is mainly influenced by the per-
sonal traits of the teacher, whereas later it is the professional traits that
become more influential. MacDonald (1992, in Hargreaves, 2009) also
reached similar conclusions: successful young musicians at the initial
stage of learning an instrument form a “family-like” relationship with
their teacher. Such relationship is characterized by warmth, intimacy,
and affection. At a higher learning stage, the professional qualities of the
teacher become more important to the young musician.
The teacher’s competence is perhaps the most important item in
defining the teacher-student relationship (Gardner, 1983; Hargreaves,
1997; Stefani, 1987; in Davidson, 2011). Competence is a multidimen-
sional concept that can be addressed in terms of skills and prowess or
in terms of how competence is attributed to another person, how com-
petence is achieved through imitation and learning by modelling, and
how competence is valued and experienced in a specific context. Tae-
bel and Joan G. Coker (1980) investigated the relationship linking teach-
er competence to student achievement and behaviour. They concluded
that a competent teacher connects the learning objectives with the inter-
ests and needs of the student, that the student is the instigator of the ver-