Discourse on Practice of a Semi-Professional Jazz Guitarist: A Case Study of Constructive Musical Learning

Abstract

This research presents a case study of a jazz guitarist, apprentice of high level of practice with a constructivist approach to learning. The case study draws evidence from a multiple case study and it has been selected by its relevance on what it can bring to new forms of musical learning in contemporary society. We aim to explore the guitarist’s discourse about musical practice highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of both the jazz culture to which he belongs and his conception of learning. Using a structured system of deductive and inductive categories his discourse is analyzed qualitatively. We show a detailed description of learning conditions, results and psychological processes along three stages of preparing a musical piece (initial, middle and final). There is an agreement with theoretical background, and an improvement over previous research on popular music learning, qualifying significant differences in the culture of jazz regarding to other cultures, and other details of a constructive practice that differentiate it from other practices within jazz. The case study may help the comprehension of diverse ways of learning to both popular and classical musicians.

Keywords

• jazz apprentice
• constructivism
• discourse on practice
• learning conditions
• results and processes