Andragogy as a science of adult education is one of the younger sciences in Slovenia and is relatively unexplored in the field of music education. In recent years, more and more researchers have been focusing on andragogy topics and issues, based on the interpretations of Knowles, Lindeman and Savićević. Their works also form the basis of the ideas of Ana Krajnc, who is considered the founder of andragogy in our country.
Adult music education in Slovenia takes place in formal and informal forms, but its accessibility is limited due to the low offer of programs and the required conditions for enrollment. In the 2025/2026 school year, thirty (30) institutions offer adult music education, of which four (4) are public and twenty-six (26) are private, with the highest concentration in the Central Slovenia region. The offer for learning an instrument is the largest for piano (25), guitar (22), transverse flute (21) and singing (19), while the least represented are electric keyboards, zithers and ukuleles (3), oboe (2) and electric organs, tamburica, mandolin and bassoon, which can only be learned at one institution. Twelve (12) private and two (2) public music schools provide group music theory classes, while most schools provide the latter subject in parallel with instrumental lessons, two (2) institutions do not provide lessons. We note that seven (7) institutions provide publicly recognized music programs for adults with the possibility of obtaining publicly recognized certificates.
For the subject of music theory classes, we found that there are no teaching materials suitable for adult students. We conclude that existing teaching materials designed for younger learners are less suitable for adult education. The findings of this work are therefore an incentive for further studies of music education for adult learners and an opportunity to develop the design of new teaching materials and expand the offer with less represented instruments, thereby increasing adult interest in music education.
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