ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the relationship between formal and non-formal learning amongst musicians who play music within the rock and pop genre. The research which is described concerns music students and semi-professional rock musicians who do not primarily make their living from their music. A central and perpetually current question for research into music teaching is what happens when a type of music, which by tradition exists outside of and in some cases in opposition to society's institutions, becomes the object of formal teaching. The learning of rock music usually takes place in a completely different context to formal music teaching. The chapter investigates whether and, if so, how jazz and rock students differ from non-formally trained rock musicians in their approach to creating a rock song from a tune and text they have been given. Special attention is directed at possible differences in methods of working and the learning processes.
