Commentary on “Embodiment Consciousness in Music Performance Pedagogy” by Alves and Nogueira

Abstract

This commentary on Alves and Nogueira (2024) proposes a potential approach to compare expert and non-expert music teachers’ use of embodied teaching strategies in one-to-one lessons with advanced performance students. The approach is hypothesis-driven, and builds on Alves and Nogueira’s theoretical framework of expert competency domains, as well as empirical studies of musical communication and one-to-one teaching strategies. It is argued that a comprehensive definition of embodied teaching strategies should be conceptualized in terms of the quality of teacher–student interactions and the measurable outcomes of those interactions, and that it should account for the wide range of verbal and non-verbal forms of embodied musical communication that arise.