Correspondence should be sent to. Derek Moore, Department of Psychology, University of East London, Romford Rd, London, E15 4LZ, d.g.moore@uel.ac.uk Acknowledgements: We gratefully acknowledge our earlier collaborations with John Sloboda and the sadly missed Michael Howe who provided many conceptual insights into the original data set. We also thank those who participated in the study eight years ago and more recently to help us understand how musical expertise is developed and sustained to a professional level. This paper brings together extensive data from 257 children to explore the relative importance of social environmental factors during critical periods of children's musical development. The paper also presents preliminary findings from a follow-up of 20 of the most successful children eight years later to determine which childhood factors predict differences in success as adult performers. Those children who continued to play an instrument started at an early age, had higher parental support in lessons, and had first teachers who were friendly but not too technically able. However, these factors alone were not sufficient to predict relative success in childhood. Successful childhood musicians appear, in addition, to need teachers who are 'not too relaxed' and also 'not too pushy' and they still also need to do substantial amounts of practice. The follow-up study suggested, though, that successful adult performers were not those who did the most practice, rather the successful adults were those who took part in more concert activities in childhood, did more improvisation, and who had mothers at home in their early years.The results are discussed in relation to theories of musical development and the changing influences of parents, teachers and peers.3
The aim of the current study was to investigate events that have in uenced the careers and lives of a group of talented musicians. This research followed up a study carried out by Davidsonto discover what has happened to some of participants 8 years after being involved in the original study, examining in particular the transitional phase from training to professional life. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 18 of the 'specialist' musicians, and these were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The analysis revealed several themes that seem to be of key importance in determining the successful transition from training to professional life, and a tripartite model of success has been proposed. The central importance of music to self-concept seems to be the primary factor responsible for successful transition to the pursuit of a professional career. Positive experiences (with others and within the music education institutions), and the development of coping strategies seem to in uence, and work with, self-concept, and so contribute to the success of transition. The ndings contradict the belief that only practice makes perfect, or, that the in uence of others is the most signi cant factor in development. This study has important implications for the education of talented musicians.
ab s t rac tThis article reports a project designed to foster first-year music students' academic study skills and to investigate their expectations and experiences of starting at university. Data gathered through questionnaires, diaries and in-class tasks reveal the change in learning strategies and musical identity the students experience in their first semester of the music degree course. Academic work and anxieties about workload and assessment challenge the focus on performing which has previously been the students' main source of musical involvement, necessitating a redefinition of what it means to be musically successful. These findings are discussed in the broader context of musicians' life-span development, and the article concludes with some implications for practice in higher education and beyond. k e ywo r d s music students, school-university transition, student/musician identity, study skills s ta r t i n g at u n i v e r s i t y Th e f i r st s e m e st e r of any degree course brings a multitude of challenges for students as they adjust to a new physical, social and educational environment. In addition, music students are faced with possibly their first experience of being amongst a large number of performers of a similar standard. While this can bring new opportunities for making music, the loss [ 2 8 9 ]
Purpose -This article seeks to understand how audience members at a live jazz event react to one another, to the listening venue, and to the performance. It considers the extent to which being an audience member is a social experience, as well as a personal and musical one, and investigates the distinctive qualities of listening to live jazz in a range of venues. Design/methodology/approach -The research draws on evidence from nearly 800 jazz listeners, surveyed at the Edinburgh Jazz and Blues Festival and in The Spin jazz club, Oxford. Questionnaires, diaries and interviews were used to understand the experiences of listening for a wide range of audience members, and were analysed using NVivo. Findings -The findings illustrate how listening to live jazz has a strongly social element, whereby listeners derive pleasure from attending with others or meeting like-minded enthusiasts in the audience, and welcome opportunities for conversation and relaxation within venues that help to facilitate this. Within this social context, live listening is for some audience members an intense, sometimes draining experience; while for others it offers a source of relaxation and absorption, through the opportunity to focus on good playing and preferred repertoire. Live listening is therefore both an individual and a social act, with unpredictable risks and pleasures attached to both elements, and varying between listeners, venues and occasions. Research limitations/implications -There is potential for this research to be replicated in a wider range of jazz venues, and for these findings to be compared with audiences of other music genres, particularly pop and classical, where differences in expectations and behaviour will be evident. Practical implications -The authors demonstrate how existing audience members are a vast source of knowledge about how a live jazz gig works, and how the appeal of such events could be nurtured amongst potential new audiences. They show the value of qualitative investigations of audience experience, and of the process of research and reflection in itself can be a source of audience development and engagement. Originality/value -This paper makes a contribution to the literature on audience engagement, both through the substantial sample size and through the consideration of individual and social experiences of listening. It will have value to researchers in music psychology, arts marketing and related disciplines, as well as being a useful source of information and strategy for arts promoters.
In recent years, the benefits of social interaction have been recognised in learning and working environments, the impact of social support on individual confidence and creativity being widely reported. In many domains including music, ability, personality, gender and friendship relationships have been identified as influencing the success or failure of group interactions. Despite the assumption in educational practice that group work can improve individuals' performance, however, social facilitation literature indicates the presence of others can sometimes be a hindrance (Hunt & Hillery, 1973). The main aim of the current paper is to investigate how various groupings of individuals (here, children) influenced creative musical tasks. In particular, friendship as opposed to random, single and both male and female sex groups were contrasted. It was hypothesised that quality of musical outcome would be influenced to some degree by the standard of social interaction and thus impact on individual sense of self within the task context. Fifty-nine children aged 11 participated in the study. All sessions were video-recorded. A researcher and class teachers observed the children's musical interactions using a check-list and a detailed structured questionnaire to guide observations whilst the children worked in groups of six participants in the following configurations: Randomly assigned, friendship based single and both sex, non-friendship based single and both sex. In each context, the children completed a compositional task, which was then assessed by independent, experienced assessors. The children were all individually questioned post-task about their experiences. The results suggested that social grouping did not influence the standard of the creative product, but it did affect the children's social interaction and thus their personal sense of achievement and enjoyment on task.
In recent years there has been growing interest in the use of a range of electronic technologies in music therapy. However, there remain no empirical investigations into the clinical applications of these tools, nor guidelines for their use. This article draws from a recent research study which explored how music therapists are using technology in practice with children, adolescents and adults across special educational, community, hospice and rehabilitation settings in the UK (Magee & Burland in press). Particular focus was given to technology requiring switches and sensors. The purpose of this article is to make clinical recommendations regarding the opportunities and limitations of using technology in music therapy, using illustrative data extracts from therapists experienced in using technology in practice. The study shows that music therapists turn to technology to enable a client to participate actively or to widen the client's musical expression. Technology offers improved access for people with complex physical needs to engagement in active methods of music therapy. Using technology in music therapy has benefits for the client, the therapist and the wider interdisciplinary treatment team. Despite its positive role, technology is experienced as offering a lesser aesthetic experience than acoustic instruments. Finally, clinical indicators and contra-indicators are offered to guide clinicians in understanding when technology may be helpful and when it might be avoided in the clinical context.
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