Picture the ‘normal’ mode of chamber music instruction. A typical scenario is perhaps that groups are formed and assigned to a chamber music teacher. They meet physically and discuss what repertoire to work on and they make a rehearsal plan. They meet again after some time, and students play and the teacher ask questions and comments on interpretation, technique and the rehearsing process. This is repeated a handful of times and there is a probably a concert at the end of the semester or year. Normally, some groups are keen to work with chamber music, while other groups are less motivated to spend time on chamber music activities.

This article outlines an explorative pilot project where an instrumental teacher and five wind instrument students (one female and four male students) decided to go the extra mile in chamber music class, compared to the ‘normal’ situation. They agreed on using the digital learning management system CANVAS as a tool for sharing information, for communication, reflection and learning. They also agreed on putting extra effort into the chamber music subject. The collaboration lasted around two years.

The five students had already formed a wind quintet, and were from the start probably over average dedicated to chamber music. The same can be said about the teacher, who is an experienced wind instrument and chamber music teacher. He was also the one who came up with the project idea, and discussed the set-up with colleagues, students and the music education researcher that joined the project group in order to monitor the development from a research point of view.

There is an on-going interest in expanding the array of teaching methods, forms of organisation and ways of learning in music performance instruction (see for example Gaunt and Westerlund 2013, Carey, Harrison and Dwyer 2017, Gies and Sætre 2019, Zhukov and Sætre 2021). The current project presents another example, from the perspective of chamber music tuition in higher music education. The author of this article followed the project and conducted participant observation (online and offline), focus interviews and collected written material (Fangen, 2010). The goal was to capture what happened, to explore this particular form of chamber music tuition from four angles:

• How did the students and teacher use CANVAS?
• How did the hybrid setting influence the scope of the course?
• How did the students experience the combination of online and traditional chamber music tuition?
• How did the teacher experience the same?

Together, the four perspectives makes it possible to describe how the participants made use of the new hybrid setting, what the possible benefits and challenges of the approach may be, and to put forward some hypotheses about the ways in which technology may change and enhance the learning environment in instrumental tuition.

Broadly speaking, the students and teacher used CANVAS in three main ways. First, they allowed more people to join the chamber music class, by opening up the CANVAS room to the students’ main instrument teachers and the research staff from CEMPE. Second, they used it for information and communication purposes, and third, they used it for musical purposes. The details are summarized in Table 1:

Course assignments

I choose to present the seven course assignments or tasks, since they to me represent a study component that is not always included in chamber music instruction. Four of the seven tasks focus on musical or analytical issues. The first task was simply to upload a recording of the quintet playing two movements of a particular piece. The second task asked the students to focus on a particular musical issue of their choice. Task three and four are musical and analytical, while the three last ones are reflection tasks. These assignments were given in this chronological order.

1. Rehearsal recording

Make a recording of the first and second movement of the quintet you are working on.

2. Explore a musical issue

Agree on an issue to discuss with the teacher, and illustrate the issue with video footage.

(Includes an introductory video made by the head of chamber music.)

3. Your musical neighbour

Record an excerpt from a piece and analyse what ‘your neighbour’ is playing.

(Includes a short introductory video made by a music history teacher)

4. Musical transitions

1) Choose a part of a piece where you find a transition from one part to another. 2) Discuss, reflect on and practice the part and document the rehearse process on video, and reflect on how to improve the part. 3) Post your thoughts on CANVAS and read the other posts

(Includes a short introductory video made by an ear-training teacher)

5. Individual reflection task 1

Write and upload a text where you evaluate the learning process of the ensemble and your own learning process as a member of the ensemble. Read all uploaded texts.

6. Individual reflection task 2

What musical and practical experiences have you made from playing concerts this semester? Which steps can you take as an ensemble the coming year?

7. Individual reflection task 3

Reflect on a particular rehearsal period and a trip abroad. How can you continue working and communicating if you move to different places? Can CANVAS be used in any way?

In sum, the students and teacher used CANVAS for purposes of information, planning, communication, music analytical tasks, reflective tasks on learning and development, sharing rehearsal and concert recordings, feedback on recordings, bringing other teachers into the chamber music course and sharing pictures.