Det skulle kunna ingå i nån sorts ensembleledning: En studie om inkludering av stråk- och blåsinstrument i ensembleundervisningen på gymnasiet

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers include and furthermore instruct and direct string and wind instrumentalists in ensemble activities, such as western popular music and rock music. Our question at issue is how active and prospective music teachers work inclusive and thereby instruct and direct string and wind instrumentalists in the ensemble activities. We are also interested in their opinions on whether or not string and wind instrumentalists should be in western popular music ensembles. The last question investigates what the active and prospective music teachers think their education has done for them regarding including string and wind instrumentalists in the ensemble activities and if there is room for improvements in the music teacher education. Our first method of choice was a survey, which we sent to music teachers working at gymnasiums in Sweden. The second method we used was two group interviews with students at Musikhögskolan i Malmö. The result of this study is that both music teachers and music teacher students find it hard to include and in turn instruct and direct string and wind instrumentalists in ensemble activities because many of them lack knowledge about string and wind instruments and their functions. The problem comes down to absence of relevant courses in the curriculum at higher music education regarding string and wind instruments, and also the instruments declining popularity versus the western popular music’s increased popularity. The conclusion of this essay is that music teachers have been educated in a western pop music environment which has made it difficult to include other instruments than the band instruments we see in today's pop music. Many music teachers and music teacher students are excited about having string and wind instrumentalists in their ensembles, but the attitude towards string and wind instrumentalists is mostly about opportunities to switch up the ordinary ensemble lessons. The music teacher education does not provide all of the tools that are necessary for the inclusion of string and wind instruments in the ensemble activities, and this mostly because there are few who play these instruments and therefore courses that touch the subject do not get prioritized. We recommend further research into what gets prioritized in the music teacher education in the ensemble teaching courses, and how it affects the inclusion of the instruments that are not featured in these courses.