qualitative content analysis – piano accompanists’ and collaborative pianists’ competencies linda mravunac fabijanić Muzička akademija Sveučilišta u Zagrebu lindamravunac@gmail.com Abstract: The aim of this research was to describe, explain and categorise the key com- petencies of collaborative pianists in music schools and music/arts academies in the Re- public of Croatia. A qualitative research design was applied, based on qualitative content analysis of nine interviews with collaborative pianists and an online questionnaire filled out by nine fifth-year students from the Music Academy in Zagreb. Findings have been grouped into five competence categories according to the European Polifonia frame- work: performance and artistic, planning and organisational, communication and ped- agogical, facilitation and reflective practitioner. Keywords: collaborative pianist, competencies, piano accompanist, qualitative content analysis kvalitativna analiza vsebine – kompetence umetniških sodelavcev/ korepetitorjev Izvleček: Raziskava je bila izvedena s ciljem opisa, razlage in kategoriziranja ključnih kom- petenc umetniških sodelavcev/korepetitorjev, zaposlenih na glasbenih šolah in glasbe- nih/umetniških akademijah v Republiki Hrvaški. Uporabljen je bil kvalitativni raz- iskovalni pristop, ki je zasnovan na analizi vsebine devetih intervjujev z umetniškimi sodelavci/korepetitorji in spletnega vprašalnika, ki ga je izpolnilo devet študentov pe- tega letnika pevskega ali enega izmed instrumentalnih študijev na Glasbeni akademiji v Zagrebu. Rezultati so opredelili pet kategorij kompetenc po evropskem okviru Polifo- nia: izvajalske in umetniške, planerske in organizatorske, komunikacijske in pedagoške, posredniške ter refleksivno praktikantske. Ključne besede: kompetence, korepetitor, kvalitativna analiza vsebine, umetniški sodela- vec qualitative content analysis – piano accompanists’ and collaborative pianists’ competencies Musical collaboration of two or more musicians is inevitable in both artistic performances and music education of vocalists and instru-mentalists. Accompaniment involves two persons: vocalist/string/ wind/brass/percussion instrumentalist and pianist. Who are collaborative pi- anists and piano accompanists and what are piano accompaniment and musi- cal collaboration? Izvirni znanstveni članek ◆ Original Research Paper https://doi.org/10.26493/2712-3987.17(34)29-46 g la sb en o pe d ag o šk i z bo r n ik ◆ le t n ik /v o lu m e 17 ◆ št ev il k a /n u m be r 34 30 A collaborative pianist is a pianist with a degree in piano performance with significant artistic experience, who takes part in accompaniment class- es at music/arts academies, plays with vocal/instrument students and regularly performs before an audience. They most often play pieces originally written for the piano, and adapt compositions not originally written for the piano for con- cert performances (D. Domitrović, personal communication, March 31, 2009). A piano accompanist is a pianist who gives accompaniment classes in pri- mary and secondary music and dance schools in Croatia, takes part in the ed- ucational process and publicly performs with students. According to a defini- tion in the Croatian Encyclopaedia, however, a piano accompanist is an artist who practices music sections or roles with soloists or choirs. They can be pia- nists or conductors, employed at the theatre, opera or ballet, and do not per- form pieces originally written for the piano, but instead play orchestral piano reductions. According to the Cambridge Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, n.d.), accompaniment is music that is played with someone who is sing- ing or playing the main tune. In Croatia, the term piano accompanist used to be used for all artists pro- viding accompaniment in primary and secondary music and ballet schools, and at the Music Academy, as well as those employed in theatres. At the re- quest of piano accompanists at the Music Academy, their name was changed so as to differentiate between the different roles that accompanists and collab- orative pianists have in practice. Collaborative pianists, senior collaborative pianists and artistic advi- sors-collaborative pianists at the Music Academy and piano accompanists working for music schools are the only public service employees whose job de- scription involves both teaching and artistic performance. In this article, the term collaborative pianist will be used to cover all of the above. In other words, what differentiates piano accompanists and collaborative pianists employed in music schools and academies from accompanists in the broader sense of the word is their artistic and educational engagement. The Collaborative Piano programme is a course at numerous music academies and conservatories but is currently non-existent in Croatia. Competencies denote a dynamic combination of one’s practical and theo- retical knowledge, one’s skills and abilities to perform a role as well as personal independence and responsibility in how one behaves and applies that knowl- edge, always with good ethics and values. Students’ educational achievements are closely linked to teacher quality (Commission of the European Commu- nities, 2007) and there is a range of competencies that teachers need to devel- op (Lončarić & Pejić Papak, 2009; Ljubetić & Kostović Vranješ, 2008; Vizek Vidović, 2009). Teachers who have a developed sense of self-efficacy will invest greater efforts in the teaching process (Vidić & Miljković, 2019), and ‘good quality activity depends on whether teachers possess the required competen- cies’ (Svalina, 2015, p. 184). Assuming that there is a close link between teach- lin d a m rav u n ac fa bija n ić ◆ q ua litativ e c o n ten t a n a lysis – pia n o ac c o m pa n ists’ a n d c o lla bo rativ e pia n ists’ c o m peten c ies 31 er competencies and student competencies, if we know what competencies we want to develop in students, we will know which competencies in teachers we need to work on. The Erasmus project called Polifonia (Association européenne des con- servatoires, académies de musique et Musikhochschulen, 2010), aimed at har- monising the higher music education system with the Bologna Process, plays an important role in defining competencies in music as it concerns the educa- tion of future instrumental and vocal teachers. The INVITE working group has published a handbook explaining the conceptual framework behind desir- able instrumental and vocal teacher competencies, which have been divided into six competence categories: performance and artistic, planning and organ- isational, communication and pedagogy, facilitation, reflective practitioner, and advocacy, networking and collaborative. In artistic piano accompaniment, a pianist should have specific collabo- rative piano skills if the rehearsal process is to be efficient and the final per- formance beautiful and professional. Many a pianist has spoken about sight reading, score reading, orchestral reduction, transposition, sense of rhythm, and repertoire development and maintenance (Adler, 1965; Baker, 2006; Foley, 2005; Hoblit, 1963; Katz, 2009; Lindo, 1916). Moore (1943; 1962) has, as a prac- tising piano accompanist, pedagogue and writer, had a great impact on raising public awareness about the role of piano accompanists, earning himself the ti- tle ‘the greatest of accompanists’ (Baker, 2006, p. 144). Numerous studies have been conducted in Croatia on the competencies of various profiles and involving actual or future primary music education teach- ers (Nikolić, 2017; Šulentić Begić, 2013a; 2013b). Fewer studies focused on the competencies of instrument teachers in music schools and academies (Novak, 2016; Sabljar, 2019; Sesar, 2016; Svalina, 2017; 2018; Šimunović, 2012), and even fewer are the studies about collaborative pianists, none of which were conduct- ed in Croatia (Baker, 2006; Kiik-Salupere & Ross, 2011; Lee, 2009; Lee, 2016; Lippmann, 1979; Rich, 2002; Rose, 1981; Roussou, 2017), and most of which are also about competencies. Roussou (2017) states that collaborative pianists should possess special musical, social and other skills specific to performing with another musician. Since accompaniment classes are a ‘one-to-one type of class’ (Opić, 2016, p. 439), achieving student-tailored goals is the responsibility of collaborative pianists. Naturally, since they are in charge of the interaction it is their duty to coordinate such activities (Bryan, 2004; Hanken, as cited in Chmurzyns- ka, 2009, p. 44). According to Bryan (2004), however, the roles of players in dyadic interaction change little or not at all over time, even though Bronfen- brenner (1979, pp. 56–57) stresses that the optimal situation for acquiring inter- action competencies is that in which the student ‘is given increasing opportu- nity to exercise control over the situation’. In accompaniment, things get even more complicated since classes sometimes entail a triadic interaction composed g la sb en o pe d ag o šk i z bo r n ik ◆ le t n ik /v o lu m e 17 ◆ št ev il k a /n u m be r 34 32 of student – vocal/instrument teacher – collaborative pianist, especially with younger students. Triadic interaction will be discussed in more detail later on. Collaborative pianists have an important role to play in young musicians’ education and in the development of their taste in music. Rojko (1987, p. 21) finds that acquiring technical profficiency is ‘more of a skills than a knowl- edge acquisition’ process, thus highlighting the importance of technical, artis- tic and musical skills, and consequently expecting the same competencies from collaborative pianists. However, in the educational process, teachers should be well aware of the pedagogical and psychological fundamentals, as well as of the basics of general and developmental psychology of music (Bačlija Sušić, 2016, p. 39). Further research is needed to determine what other competencies col- laborative pianists should possess if they are to work in schools and academies. methods Taking the interpretive/constructivist approach to inquiry, and assuming that there is no one objective truth, the author opted for a qualitative, inductive research design, which ‘practitioners find particularly attractive’ (Mejovšek, 2013, p. 166). the aim of the study This is the first study aimed at describing, explaining and categorising the key competencies collaborative pianists should have in order to be able to provide quality accompaniment classes in primary and secondary music schools and music/arts academies in the Republic of Croatia from the theoretical stand- point of qualitative content analysis. researcher’s background It is worth noting that there is a risk of researcher bias concerning the aim of this study as she already has a personal opinion based on years of experience as an artist/musician and teacher in primary and secondary music schools and the Zagreb Music Academy. It was therefore all the more important to give the participants an opportunity to express their opinion, to be heard and to get an insight into a problem as seen from their perspective. participants A purposive sample of collaborative pianists experienced in working at all lev- els of music education in Croatia was chosen for this research, regardless of lin d a m rav u n ac fa bija n ić ◆ q ua litativ e c o n ten t a n a lysis – pia n o ac c o m pa n ists’ a n d c o lla bo rativ e pia n ists’ c o m peten c ies 33 current employment status/position. In fact, to be able to give accompaniment lessons, they can be employed as piano teachers, piano accompanists, collabo- rative pianists, senior collaborative pianists and artistic advisor-collaborative pianists. Such a sample provided opportunities for analysing a whole range of competencies. Since the research is a qualitative one, the number of partici- pants was not predefined. The targeted population was also that of fifth-year students of the singing/instruments department of the Zagreb Music Acad- emy, not just because of their regular cooperation with collaborative pianists throughout their music education, but also because they are about to become professionals who themselves will have direct cooperation with collaborative pianists in their work as educators and/or musicians. data collection Various data collection strategies have been used, including semi-structured interview for collaborative pianists and an online student questionnaire. data analysis Qualitative content analysis was applied, which includes personal research- er involvement and enables the systematic description and explanation of the meaning of the materials (Schreier as cited in Cho & Lee, 2014). In order to achieve an advance in knowledge, a theoretical orientation was applied (May- ring, 2014, p. 59) and the object of analysis was observed in the context of cur- rent competence frameworks and research. The unit of analysis is composed of all parts of collaborative pianists’ interview transcripts concerning competen- cies and all student answers submitted through an online questionnaire. procedures Phase One The interview being the main data collection resource with a direct impact on research goals (Cohen et al., 2007), four semi-structured interviews were conducted with collaborative pianists between January and June 2020. In this context, participants are seen as ‘experts for a certain field of activity’ (Flick, 2009, p. 165). They were informed of the purpose of this research, the principle of voluntary participation, the right to withdraw and to remain anonymous, and that their personal information would be used only for academic purpos- es, after which they signed a statement agreeing to take part in the study. They were asked an open question: ‘What competencies should a collaborative pia- g la sb en o pe d ag o šk i z bo r n ik ◆ le t n ik /v o lu m e 17 ◆ št ev il k a /n u m be r 34 34 nist working in music schools and academies possess?’, aimed at encompass- ing specialist and practical expert knowledge using the naive researcher tech- nique. Interviews were recorded with the participants’ consent, after which the audio recording was manually transcribed (pure verbatim protocol), with in- complete sentences, pauses, repetitions, laughter, etc. (Mayring, 2014) and cod- ed with one letter of the alphabet. The inductive category formation was ap- plied, whereby only the script passages referring to the research objective were analysed (Mayring, 2014). What ensued was a fine, artistic process of category formation (Krippendorff, 1980). Such an inductive category assignment proce- dure is very practical when existing theories or literature on an issue are limit- ed, and the research objective requires a deeper understanding and description of the object of analysis (Mayring, 2014), which is also why it was selected for this research. Phase Two Following the approval of the dean of the Zagreb Music Academy, in June 2020, all 5th year vocal/instrument students working with collaborative pianists got an email invitation to take part in the research. A Google Forms question- naire was open for polling for 10 days and, in addition to questions concerning participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, included the following open question: ‘What competencies should a collaborative pianist working in music schools and/or academies in all aspects of accompaniment classes possess?’ The purpose of the study was explained to participants, and they were informed that their participation would be voluntary, anonymous, that they could with- draw from the research at any time and that their information would only be used for academic purposes. Once the answers were collected, they were cod- ed, and each participant was awarded a number. Of the 44 students who were sent the invitation, 9 filled out the online questionnaire which means that the response rate was 20%. Participants were aged between 23 and 25, or 23.6 on average. Among them were two students of singing, two students majoring in string and five in wind/brass instruments. Six were female, and three male. Phase Three Interviews continued with collaborative pianists during the period between June and December 2020, when four more semi-structured interviews were held. When saturation was achieved, since no new element concerning com- petencies emerged, it was decided that the last interview would be held in Jan- uary 2021. Overall, 9 collaborative pianists from 4 counties took part in the inter- view. All of those who were contacted via telephone and asked to take part in the research accepted the invitation. Three interviews were held at the Music Academy in Zagreb, one in a participant’s home, one in the researcher’s home lin d a m rav u n ac fa bija n ić ◆ q ua litativ e c o n ten t a n a lysis – pia n o ac c o m pa n ists’ a n d c o lla bo rativ e pia n ists’ c o m peten c ies 35 and 4 by phone. Participants were aged between 28 and 55, or 41.8 on average. Seven were female, and two male. Six had a degree in piano (level 7.1 accord- ing to the Croatian Qualifications Framework, n.d.) and three a Master’s De- gree (level 8.1). Four were employed as piano accompanists and piano teachers, two as piano teachers, two as senior collaborative pianists and one as artistic advisor-collaborative pianist. One participant does not give accompaniment lessons, three work with singers, one with string instrumentalists, one with wind/brass instrumentalists and 3 with different instrument players. Accom- paniment experience among the participants ranged between 1 and 25 years, or 18 on average. Overall participant experience is between 5 and 33 years or 18.8 on average. In this study, triangulation (Cohen et al., 2007; Denzin & Lincoln, 2005) was achieved by applying different data collection strategies (interview and on- line questionnaire), by involving different informants (collaborative pianists and students) and by verifying alternative theoretical competence frameworks. The list of competencies thus prepared was sent to a person from the student group of participants so that they could check content validity. Although no true cognitive interview was conducted, that person carefully reviewed the list and presented their remarks concerning the content. After that the list was re- turned to all participating collaborative pianists for feedback and sent to two experts in music pedagogy and psychology for verification. findings In the first and second phase of this research, which involved reading inter- view transcripts and student responses as well as coding and analysis, induc- tive reasoning led to emerging theoretical categories and subcategories. In the third phase, different theoretical models on competencies were compared. As the Polifonia project (Association européenne des conservatoires, académies de musique et Musikhochschulen, 2010) concluded that knowledge and skills are inseparable, and that the same applies to music and pedagogy or to isolat- ing specific attitudes and values, it is clear that different teacher roles will over- lap in practice and that the same applies to vocal/instrument or, in this case, accompaniment teacher competencies, since they cannot be divided into sepa- rate areas independent of one another. The Polifonia framework encompasses a whole range of collaborative pianists’ competencies needed if they are to work in music education and the teaching-learning environment, recognises the in- teractive character of accompaniment classes, and best fits the data obtained from the materials. Re-coding was done by applying a deductive approach, pro- viding for a revision of existing categories and another review of existing mate- rials in a new way. Applying the constructivist paradigm of subjectivist episte- g la sb en o pe d ag o šk i z bo r n ik ◆ le t n ik /v o lu m e 17 ◆ št ev il k a /n u m be r 34 36 mology, this research concluded that collaborative pianists’ competencies can be grouped into 5 categories: - performance and artistic; - planning and organisational; - communication and pedagogical; - facilitation; - reflective practitioner. performance and artistic competencies Findings show that both students and collaborative pianists recognise the im- portance of musicality, of the ability to adjust rhythm and tempo and to rec- ognise music styles and compositions as musical wholes. They also appreciate pianistic as well as solo and ensemble performance skills, but collaborative pi- anists describe these in much more detail than students. In other words, excel- lent performance is appreciated by both collaborative pianists and students. How important overall artistic competencies are, is also seen in the number of statements given under each code, the greatest number of which were under ‘Knowledge – Profession’ (12 overall) and ‘Pianist – Artist’ (9). Only collabora- tive pianists mention expressive melody and phrase performance, bass support, mastering harmony, technical skills, sight-reading and transposition, as well as a broad general education and thorough repertoire familiarity. They were also the only ones to compare different competencies, and there is a general opin- ion that technical proficiency is not crucial, which is best demonstrated by par- ticipant C: ‘[P]iano playing skills are not that crucial for someone to be… like, I don’t know, Carnegie Hall material [laughter]’. However, there are also those who believe that pianistic proficiency is more important than any other com- petency when it comes to collaborative pianists. Adaptation to learners is also mentioned by collaborative pianists, like participant E: ‘all the things you have to think about when playing with someone else’ and Z: ‘an all-encompassing job’, while the students talk of the need to know the technical aspects of vocal/ instrumental performance. planning and organisational competencies More students than collaborative pianists find that collaborative pianists play a major role in the formation of students’ professional identity, like participants 5: ‘I believe that piano accompanists play a very important part of our educa- tion’, and Z: ‘[W]e need to prepare the new generations, those who will sooner or later start doing that job’. Students recognise the importance of pedagogical lin d a m rav u n ac fa bija n ić ◆ q ua litativ e c o n ten t a n a lysis – pia n o ac c o m pa n ists’ a n d c o lla bo rativ e pia n ists’ c o m peten c ies 37 skills of collaborative pianists in planning for the best learning and teaching situations that facilitate learner development, like ‘being able to judge how to approach which student’ (participant 2). Collaborative pianists describe musi- cal collaboration, like P: ‘[I]n other words, it is not enough to play well, you re- ally have to listen, you really have to be all in it; you have to be a team player’. communication and pedagogical competencies Both students and collaborative pianists recognise the value of verbal commu- nication in the student – vocal/instrumental teacher – collaborative pianist triad, thus the ‘Communication’ code contains 7 statements. Only collabora- tive pianists describe non-verbal communication, like participant C: ‘In a way, as a piano accompanist, I am the conductor because with my breath or my head or any other sign whatsoever I send out signals about what we are about to do, and when, and how’, and musical collaboration, again like C: ‘However, of- ten we see colleagues who are excellent pianists but are not that good piano ac- companists because they lack the collaborative element, you know, when with one ear you’re listening to your own part and with the other to something that someone else is playing.’ General pedagogical competencies are mentioned by the students. Collaborative pianists, on the other hand, focus more on specific approaches to teaching, like Z: ‘[B]e they on stage or in class, we try to explain some things that they don’t understand’. As for the characteristics needed to strike the right balance between pedagogical approaches, collaborative pianists mention being ego-free and patient, a characteristic mentioned by students as well. Both students and collaborative pianists described desirable pre-stage be- haviour, like Y: ‘[W]hen you are about to go on stage with a student and play something, and you see the student is insecure, you have to be the one to say the right words and in the right way.’ facilitation competencies General knowledge of psychology is mentioned by both students and collab- orative pianists. One element that has been highlighted is emotional support during classes and on stage and the connection between the students and the collaborative pianist, as in the example of participant C, who said: ‘[T]hey are highly dependent on their piano accompanist and they find it very important to play with that very person’. Collaborative pianists recognise the importance of taking an individualised approach, of being sensitive to other people’s emo- tions and of adapting their behaviour to the students’ needs. Most think that a personalised approach and interpersonal relations are much more important than playing competencies, while one participant finds both equally impor- g la sb en o pe d ag o šk i z bo r n ik ◆ le t n ik /v o lu m e 17 ◆ št ev il k a /n u m be r 34 38 tant. Concerning musical support, both groups speak of the same thing from different perspectives: collaborative pianists provide assistance, and pupils/stu- dents expect to get it. Participant 5 stated that ‘such collaborations can be an inspiration and an encouragement to younger musicians to keep on creating’. Personal character traits were described by both participant groups, as in the case of Z: ‘[they should be a] beautiful person, excellent instrumentalist, musi- cally engaged, a musician of excellence, a professional’, and 5: ‘[I]t should be a person you can trust’. competencies of a reflective practitioner This category is mostly related to reflection and progress of collaborative pi- anists, which is why their answers are predominant. On the one hand, they highlight love for their job, and on the other the pressure that they must al- ways be available and meet expectations. It is quite obvious that collaborative pianists believe that the necessary competencies are acquired with experience and practice and they see an additional value in studying and adapting to new situations, such as participant C: ‘In our job if you, I don’t know, get the score and you’re thrown into the circle of fire, you just have to find your way out any way you can’, or B: ‘I’ve had to learn how to listen to them as I play along with them’, and again C: ‘[Y]ou adapt, you learn for goodness’ sake, that too is part of that life-long learning, I guess’; they should also know when to lead and when to follow. Students, too, think that it is important that collaborative pianists be quick, flexible and resourceful in adapting to new situations. Both groups of participants believe that the precondition for musical collaboration is a natural predisposition that cannot be learnt, which is why the ‘Talent for collaboration/accompaniment’ code had eight statements. discussion and conclusion In line with the research objective, research findings provide a more extensive insight into the competencies that collaborative pianists should possess in or- der to be able to provide quality accompaniment lessons in music schools and academies. The explained competencies have been grouped into the 5 catego- ries of the European Polifonia Framework (Association européenne des con- servatoires, académies de musique et Musikhochschulen, 2010): performance and artistic, planning and organisational, communication and pedagogical, fa- cilitation and the reflective practitioner. The findings of this study, just like prior research findings, indicate that high-level performance and art competencies are a fundamental precondition for collaborative pianists, and that the same applies to artistic interpretation, lin d a m rav u n ac fa bija n ić ◆ q ua litativ e c o n ten t a n a lysis – pia n o ac c o m pa n ists’ a n d c o lla bo rativ e pia n ists’ c o m peten c ies 39 sight-reading and transposition (Baker, 2006; Lippmann, 1979; Rose, 1981; Roussou, 2017). Interestingly enough, participants’ opinions concerning pia- nistic skills are ambiguous: some believe that excellent skills are very impor- tant, which is in line with Baker (2006), Lippmann (1979) and Rose (1981), while others believe that being a good player is enough. Even more interest- ing is the finding that one person ranked the same competencies in a differ- ent manner, stating first that piano playing skills are more important and then that those skills are just as important as psychological affinity. Such a dichot- omy is not surprising given the fact that the collaborative pianists’ role is in practice dual: they are pedagogues and psychologists in the classroom and art- ists in the concert hall. Previous research (Sabljar, 2019; Svalina, 2017) shows that most Croatian music instrument teachers consider their pedagogical role more important than their artistic one, which is why it would be good to con- duct a research into what competencies students and collaborative pianists ap- preciate more. Participants explain verbal communication, like Jurčić (2014) and Lee (2016), and non-verbal communication in their playing together in musical collaboration, as described by Baker (2006), Lippmann (1979) and Rose (1981), which is also confirmed by Bryan (2004), who says that only one third of com- munication during one-to-one instrumental lessons takes place verbally. Com- munication pertaining to listening is the precondition for musical collabora- tion, which is in line with earlier findings (Baker, 2006; Lee, 2009; Lippmann, 1979; Kiik-Salupere & Ross, 2011; Rose, 1981). One student’s remark that collaborative pianists should be quick to react to the instrument/singing teacher’s instructions in class certainly needs to be clarified. Sometimes it is easier to organise simultaneous classes from their ma- jor and accompaniment, especially at the beginning of music education, and that is when the aforementioned student-instrument/singing teacher-collab- orative pianist triad takes place in the classroom. At higher levels of music ed- ucation, student-collaborative pianist dyads are more common in class, and when it comes to public performances that interaction is, naturally, always dy- adic. This study, just like earlier ones, reveals that maintaining good interper- sonal relations is crucial (Lee, 2016) since these are the best predictors of inner and outer music identity (Russell, 2012; Wagoner, 2015). As in earlier studies, participants mention teacher traits such as empathy, friendliness, calmness and patience (Jurčić, 2014), confidence (Šimunović, 2012) and sensitivity (Svalina, 2017), as well as psychological and emotional ties between instrumental teach- ers and their pupils (Chmurzynska, 2009). Teaching being an emotional pro- cess (Hargreaves, 1998; Vidić & Miljković, 2019), emotions are an inseparable part of the teaching profession (Sutton & Wheatley, 2003; Vidić & Miljković, 2019). It seems like good cooperation between collaborative pianists and pu- g la sb en o pe d ag o šk i z bo r n ik ◆ le t n ik /v o lu m e 17 ◆ št ev il k a /n u m be r 34 40 pils/students is indeed inspirational and encourages personal and artistic de- velopment in learners. Participants believe that a natural predisposition is crucial for musical col- laboration, which is nothing new (Hoblit, 1963; Moore, 1943). Roussou (2017, p. 6) states that ‘piano accompaniment is a specialist art which can be stud- ied, taught, and to an extent, learnt’, but that not all pianists are capable of effi- ciently collaborating with other artists. Collaborative pianists are aware of the need for personal growth and development, which includes preparation, prac- tice, diligence (as in Baker, 2006; Lippmann, 1979; Pow, 2016; Rose, 1981) and reflection, making the opinions of this study’s participants in line with Eu- ropean (OECD, 2005; European Trade Union Committee for Education & Comitee syndical Europeen de l’education, 2008) and Croatian recommenda- tions that include the need for professional training (Pavin et al., 2005), espe- cially in psychology and pedagogy. In this study, collaborative pianists speak of love for the profession, which according to Rijavec et al. (2016), is connected to greater degrees of job satisfaction, but also to the expectations that they should always be available. Whether this is just an impression of collaborative pianists or an opinion shared by the students should be further researched. limitations Although great efforts have been invested into applying the naive researcher technique in order to avoid researcher bias, it is impossible to determine the extent to which personal attitudes, involvement in the issue and subjectivity have made an impact on the construction of the meaning of data and on the interpretation of findings. A possible limitation of this research lies in the par- ticipation of a collaborative pianist who no longer provides accompaniment. Furthermore, the last interview was with a person with little accompaniment experience, employed in a primary music school and the Academy, but not a secondary school, and it remains unknown if a new piece of data would have emerged during the last interview had it been with a more experienced collabo- rative pianist. Moreover, reports of the Croatian Bureau of Statistics (Državni zavod za statistiku Republike Hrvatske/Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2020) contain no data on the number of collaborative pianists and it is not known whether these findings can be generalised to the entire population of collabo- rative pianists. implications This is the first scientific research in the Republic of Croatia tackling issues related to collaborative pianists’ competencies, the scientific contribution of lin d a m rav u n ac fa bija n ić ◆ q ua litativ e c o n ten t a n a lysis – pia n o ac c o m pa n ists’ a n d c o lla bo rativ e pia n ists’ c o m peten c ies 41 which lies in describing, explaining and classifying key competencies, provid- ing new scientific facts based on the theoretical orientation concept, and rede- fining existing terms from the teacher competence arena by transposing them to that of collaborative pianist competencies. The grounds set by this research will serve to initiate future studies looking into the students’ and collaborative pianists’ opinions on the importance of particular competencies, how these are interrelated and whether and how they are linked to other variables. This research will have long-term implications for the area studied and can also encourage the introduction of changes in practice. Recommendations in that regard concern modifying existing or designing new programmes and courses, organising practical accompaniment lessons within the existing piano programme, designing professional development programmes for collabora- tive pianists, providing support for the induction of collaborative pianists into the profession, designing an adequate system of promotion for piano accompa- nists and organising a collaborative piano study programme. References Adler, K. (1965). The art of accompanying and coaching. University of Minnesota Press. 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Glede na to da je medsebojno umetniško sodelovanje pevcev ali instru- mentalistov in umetniškega sodelavca/korepetitorja nepogrešljivo v procesu izobrazbe in umetniškega delovanja, se ta raziskava ukvarja s kompetencami umetniških sodelav- cev/korepetitorjev, ki so potrebne za delo na vseh stopnjah izobrazbe, vključno z vsemi vidiki pouka korepeticije. Ob upoštevanju interpretativno-konstruktivistične paradi- gme je bila izbrana kvalitativna, odprta, induktivna raziskovalna metodologija s ciljem opisa, razlage in kategoriziranja ključnih kompetenc umetniških sodelavcev/korepeti- torjev, zaposlenih na glasbenih šolah in glasbenih/umetniških akademijah v Republiki Hrvaški. Kot udeleženci raziskave so bili izbrani umetniški sodelavci/korepetitorji z de- lovnimi izkušnjami na vseh ravneh glasbene izobrazbe tako kot študenti petega letni- ka pevskega ali enega izmed instrumentalnih študijev na Glasbeni akademiji v Zagrebu, g la sb en o pe d ag o šk i z bo r n ik ◆ le t n ik /v o lu m e 17 ◆ št ev il k a /n u m be r 34 46 ki neposredno sodelujejo z umetniškim sodelavcem/korepetitorjem. Tako je zahtevane kompetence v polstrukturiranem intervjuju opisalo devet umetniških sodelavcev/kore- petitorjev, v spletnem vprašalniku pa devet študentov. Po transkripciji njihovih odgovo- rov ter kodiranju in analizi podatkov z uporabo metode kvalitativne analize vsebine, so rezultati pokazali, da se skupne kompetence lahko razvrstijo v pet kategorij, predlaga- nih v evropskem projektu Polifonia: izvajalske in umetniške, planerske in organizator- ske, komunikacijske in pedagoške, posredniške ter refleksivno praktikantske. Ker gre za prvo raziskavo, ki se na takšen način ukvarja s kompetencami umetniških sodelav- cev/korepetitorjev, se znanstveni prispevek nanaša na opisovanje, razlago in klasifikaci- jo kompetenc, vpogled v nova znanstvena dejstva, ki temeljijo na teorijski orientaciji, po- novno opredelitev obstoječih pojmov iz konteksta učiteljskih kompetenc, prenesenih v konkretne kompetence umetniških sodelavcev/korepetitorjev ter razvoj podlage za bo- dočo teorijo kompetenc umetniških sodelavcev, ki trenutno manjka. Ta raziskava kaže na potrebo po novih raziskavah kompetenc umetniških sodelavcev/korepetitorjev kot tudi na potrebo po spodbujanju sprememb v praksi, ki se nanašajo na spreminjanje ob- stoječih ali oblikovanje novih študijskih programov ter organiziranje prakse iz umetni- škega sodelovanja/korepeticije pri obstoječem študiju klavirja, programa usposabljanja za umetniške sodelavce/korepetitorje, podpore pri uvajanju umetniških sodelavcev/ko- repetitorjev v poklic, ustreznega sistema napredovanja za korepetitorje ter navsezadnje organizacijo študija umetniškega sodelovanja/korepeticije.