The aim of this thesis is to obtain a deeper understanding of students’ approaches to musical knowledge as it is distributed through one-to-one tuition in higher music education (HME). With a cultural-psychological perspective according to Bruner, the project was designed as a longitudinal, qualitative study of eight students in the performance program that concludes with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music. Two main musical genres were represented: Western classical music, and jazz and contemporary music. The students had one-to-one tuition on violin, classical guitar, saxophone and electric guitar, and were observed at three consecutive lessons per semester during one academic year. Many-sided data were collected: video recordings of instrumental lessons, semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, and the participants’ diary notes in connection with the observed lessons. In the analysis, the students’ approaches to knowledge of music cultural tools were focused. The results show that the students use three main approaches in relation to one-to-one tuition: adaptation, reflected navigation and indifference. These approaches vary and overlap, and are connected to the local cultural situations that are being studied, as well as to differences by instrument and genre. The different strategies used by the students are discussed in relation to apprenticeship in higher music education, and in relation to the consequences for students’ musical learning and knowledge development. The results are also connected to the Bologna process and the development of research-based teaching in HME. Methodological considerations and suggestions for further research are put forward.