This article aims to consider a master-apprentice relation in music teaching, especially in piano teaching. The article focuses on the teaching of a well known Finnish music pedagogue and artist, Matti Raekallio. Most of the data was collected by observing his piano lessons and by interviewing both Raekallio and his students. It has been analysed using both content analysis and narrative analysis. The results confirmed a typical ‘master teacher’ model in which the focus is on the musical score. In contrast to some views of the master teacher model, the teacher in this research seems ’in the same boat’ as his students rather than taking a master’s ‘authoritative role.’ The teacher adjusts his teaching to suit the needs of different students and their different stages of competence. The students are taught knowledge and skills but also guided into the culture and practice of the field.
Keywords: master-apprentice relationship, music teaching, narrative inquiry, teacher-student relationshi
