Advanced youth music ensembles: Experiences of, and reasons for, participation

Abstract

The experiences of 72 adolescent musicians who had been members of an advanced youth symphony orchestra or concert band were investigated. An online survey explored previous participation and the importance of past experiences when making future decisions about participation. Previous experience was very positive. Enjoyment of public performances, a sense of musical satisfaction from participating, and opportunities to meet new people and spend time with other musicians were highly rated. First-time decisions to participate were primarily influenced by positive feedback from friends and peers while ongoing participation tended to be based on the positive experience of the musical and social aspects of participation rather than contextual aspects such as location or the input of significant others such as instrumental teachers or parents.This investigation, carried out in Scotland, explored adolescent musicians' experience of participation in two advanced youth music ensembles outside school. A framework for data collection was developed to evaluate key dimensions of experience of advanced music ensembles and assess whether those same dimensions were important for future participation. Our intention was to draw together aspects identified in related literature as being important in determining participation, in particular that relating to instrumental learning and extracurricular involvement.Instrumental learning is a complex process; as Welch (2007) argues, musical development does not occur in a vacuum but is a product of interaction over time between biology, developmental and environmental aspects. For example, while personal desire has been identified as an important reason for starting to learn an instrument (MacKenzie, 1991), context-oriented feelings of

On being and becoming a jazz musician: Perceptions of young Scottish musicians

“…In this case, having now left school, all of the musicians are still actively pursuing jazz and enjoying it. Numerous authors have argued that group music-making can enhance personal and social development (see, for example, Hallam, 2010;Hewitt and Allan, 2012), and this study appears to add evidence to this argument.…”

“…The benefits of personal and social development through music have been well documented. Opportunities for group performance can greatly encourage the self-confidence of a young musician (Hallam, 2010;Hewitt and Allan, 2012;Creech and Hallam, 2011;Allsup, 2003;Dagaz, 2012). Music education can therefore go well beyond technical skills and musical knowledge.…”

An Inclusive Youth Orchestra: Pedagogy, Pastoral Care and Performance

“…Los resultados mostraron un disfrute general de los ensayos, los conciertos y el repertorio interpretado, que fomentó la emoción, nervios, orgullo y sentido de logro, junto con una sensación general de felicidad y bienestar. Aspectos sociales tales como hacer nuevos amigos, socializar con los ya existentes y el desarrollo de relaciones sólidas con los adultos dieron como resultado una experiencia social positiva, mientras que el aumento de la confianza y el sentido de pertenencia eran resultados personales positivos (Hewitt y Allan, 2013).…”

Structure and agency in university-level recreational music making

“…I stratified pools to ensure gender balance, and selected four random names (2 M, 2 F) from each of the three ensembles. For the All-Campus Orchestra I delimited the pool to the string players based on the assumption that Music Education Research 43 string training is distinct from wind instrument training; I wanted to avoid redundancies with members of the Concert Band and Marching/Pep Band (see Hewitt and Allan 2012, who found differences between youth symphony orchestra and concert band members). I contacted the 12 randomly selected individuals via email.…”