Search

Performing music at the highest levels involves great competitiveness. When each performance represents a major personal challenge, success is no longer solely dependent on a high level of technical mastery: the psychological aspects of the performance also have a decisive impact. The concept of flow is presented as a phenomenon associated with significant improvements in the musician’s performance and well-being. This work explores musicians’ positive experiences in performance situations and studies the factors that promote the emergence of flow during competitions. Eleven musicians, both professionals and students, were interviewed to consider ways of promoting the emergence of flow that help them to produce high-quality performances. Our analysis revealed several different factors promoting the emergence of flow: social standing, performance preparation, connection to one’s body, awareness of skills and self-confidence, intrinsic motivation, attentional focus, and transcendence. These findings enhance our understanding of the conditions influencing the emergence of flow. We consider work pathways which might facilitate the emergence of flow experiences and thus help musicians to produce high-quality performances while protecting them from the harmful effects of stress and anxiety.

The present paper reports data from an original qualitative study that investigates how music students reacted to novel remote teaching strategies that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. A popul...

The present article provides an in-depth look at the strategies and practices developed by a cohort of primary school music teachers in Italy to deliver online music lessons during the COVID-19 lockdown. We used a qualitative methodology based on semi-structured interviews to bring out our participants’ voices and reflections in a very personal manner and examine their perspectives on issues important to their profession and daily work. We were interested in investigating which practices and strategies were used or developed to deal with the difficulties and positive aspects characterising their experiences as teachers during the lockdown period. A focus was put on lesson planning, time management, student involvement, and information and communication technology (ICT) skills. Qualitative data were analysed using an inductive method based on grounded theory, giving rise to the five following dimensions: classroom activities; the role of the school and staff members; teachers’ interactions with children and their parents; positive outcomes; unresolved challenges. Participants discussed how they used ICT and managed their classes remotely, provided vivid descriptions of their professional relationships with colleagues and students, and reflected on the advantages and disadvantages of teaching music remotely, pointing to new ways to improve current teaching methodologies.

This study aimed to validate the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the 40-item Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory-Revised (K-MPAI-R). The certified Italian version was used and answered by 419 student musicians (aged M = 23.18 years, SD = 5.26 years) all were university-level students of a Bachelor’s or Master of Arts degree course in Italy. The revised Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory is based on Barlow’s model of anxiety and was recently validated in different languages. Regarding the stability of the scales, there were differences with the original scale and the factor loadings, because six items were smaller than .40 and for this reason they were deleted and not considered for the following analyses. However, the results are a platform for developing future research on music performance anxiety (MPA) in association with other variables in the Italian speaking contexts. The Italian version of K-MPAI-R could be useful for understanding the ways in which music students experience MPA and to examine the correlation with other variables

This study aims to investigate leadership in orchestra conducting and interrogate educational principles to improve conducting pedagogy. Effective leadership implies a set of interpersonal, communicational, and emotional skills combined with a high level of expertise, which may enable the leader to not only achieve excellent outcomes but also create a positive and collaborative working climate and vision for the performance. This work demonstrates that there are strong implications between effective leadership and orchestra conducting. We examine how orchestra conductors are perceived to be effective leaders and deduce from general leadership theories the following five parameters: charisma, stage presence, nonverbal communication, relationships with musicians, and leadership style. Interviews with orchestra conductors and performers support these five parameters for effective orchestra conducting. We perform a detailed analysis of the profiles of two renowned orchestra leaders— namely, Herbert von Karajan and Gustavo Dudamel— to test the five parameters and distill educational implications for both scholars and practitioners. The results are presented and discussed, along with implications for the education of orchestra conductors.

Specific tools to measure the cognitive benefits of music therapy and music-rehabilitation training available to music therapists are few and empirically weak: they are mostly psychometrically unrefined or based on unclear tasks and scoring protocols; they do not take into consideration distinct cognitive functions or are based on exclusively observational protocols. To overcome these limitations, we developed a 15-min cognitive screening tool suitable for music therapists, Music Cognitive Test (MCT), which assesses cognitive abilities stimulated by music-making activities (e.g., attentional, verbal, and executive functions, short- and long-term memory) by including music-based items. MCT was validated with 335 participants (aged 18–100 years old) presenting a range of cognitive levels, from healthy cognition to severe impairment. MCT correlated strongly and positively with well-known tests: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Severe Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE). MCT also displayed excellent sensitivity in identifying impaired individuals according to both MMSE and MoCA diagnostic criteria (99.4% and 93.0%, respectively), and excellent specificity in identifying healthy participants based on MMSE (93.5%) and MoCA (97.8%) criteria. Overall, results highlight the reliability of this novel brief music-focused cognitive screening test, to enable music therapists to independently and consistently monitor the effectiveness of their intervention on cognitive functions.

The recent COVID-19 health emergency has forced many music teachers to adopt remote teaching methods. The present paper investigates the practices and strategies used by conservatory-level music teachers to give lessons online in different European countries and the USA. Data from an exploratory qualitative study were collected using semi-structured interviews covering aspects such as curriculum design, lesson implementation, evaluation, examination organization, and time management skills. Interviewees offered rich descriptions of their experiences of teaching both music theory and instrumental lessons. Findings were analyzed using an inductive method, giving rise to the following categories: COVID-19 and the music school, technology, curriculum planning, managing instrumental lessons, examinations, strengths, and limitations. Participants discussed their ability to manage technology, and they employed skills such as flexibility, problem solving, and creativity in their curriculum planning and in using a variety of remote learning tools. They revised curricular activities and online teaching strategies and methods were associated with the musical instruments played. They argued that online teaching was very time consuming (e.g., planning activities, preparing materials, and exploring the new possibilities of technical tools) and that it was stressful to have lost a satisfactory work-life balance. They reported becoming more organized in the management of their activities. Internet platforms were found useful for sharing material, communicating, exchanging messages, and keeping records of all the work done. Participants learnt to use video clips systematically for modelling and teaching. They were aware of the strengths and limitations of e-learning, and they called for more institutional support and opportunities for professional development.

In the current study, 11 expert music teachers were asked to reflect on their own practice and compare their experience of individual and collective teaching settings. Adopting an approach based on grounded theory, two interrelated themes were identified in the raw data: teaching issues and professional development. In both categories, the notion of ‘presence’ emerged as a defining feature of the comparison. Teachers reported to be less present in collective settings, whereas one would expect that the higher (cognitive, teaching, etc.) demands associated with more learners would result in teachers being instead more involved in the unfolding dynamics of the lesson. Inspired by the conceptual tools offered by the Extended Mind (ExM) approach, we suggest that in collective settings teachers feel less present because they can offload the cognitive role of ‘teacher’ onto the learners, giving rise to a hybrid extended system that fosters a shared sense of responsibility, where pedagogical dynamics are functionally distributed across the whole group. In reporting excepts from music teachers, and adopting a novel perspective to frame our discussion, our research may contribute to existing literature in (collective) music pedagogy.

This pilot study analysed the learning strategies of advanced students and professional electroacoustic composers engaged in creating new musical pieces through online collaboration. The participants were divided into three groups and interacted in a virtual setting using synchronous (chat and Skype) and asynchronous tools (forum, compositional software) to perform the compositional activities. A multiple case study design was used to describe and interpret the actions of the participants. Forum discussions, Skype dialogues and e-mail exchanges were examined to explore the participants’ interactions and understand their actions during the online activities. Individual semi-structured interviews focusing on the processes and working approaches were conducted. The following themes were considered for the analysis of the collaborative compositional activity: working approach, relational model, leadership, organisation and compositional process. The participants effectively completed the compositional activities on the online platform, and based on the results, the following phases emerged as: (a) context definition; (b) planning/organising; (c) experimenting/generating musical ideas; (d) constructing and (e) evaluating. The findings are discussed regarding the educational implications of developing didactic activities based on collaborative composition.

In a qualitative study, we explored the range of reflections and experiences involved in the composition of score-based music by administering a 15-item, open-ended, questionnaire to seven professional composers from Europe and North America. Adopting a grounded theory approach, we organized six different codes emerging from our data into two higher-order categories ( the act of composing and establishing relationships). Our content analysis, inspired by the theoretical resources of 4E cognitive science, points to three overlapping characteristics of creative cognition in music composition: it is largely exploratory, it is grounded in bodily experience, and it emerges from the recursive dialogue of agents and their environment. More generally, such preliminary findings suggest that musical creativity may be advantageously understood as a process of constant adaptation – one in which composers enact their musical styles and identities by exploring novel interactivities hidden in their contingent and historical milieux.

Effective music teachers have several skills that influence the learning processes of their students. Music teachers’ effectiveness is a multidimensional construct that includes professional and personal features; it is a complex phenomenon characterized by several hidden variables that contribute in an interrelated way. Variables like professional self-efficacy could be good indicators of teachers’ effectiveness and are used to analyze professional and personal factors. The aim of this study is to examine music teachers’ professional self-efficacy and to define a predictive model based on their psychological and professional attitudes. Participants were 335 music teachers from several European countries who completed a set of questionnaires that included measures for professional self-efficacy, professional motivation, professional satisfaction, resilience, coping strategies, and self-esteem. A regression analysis was used to define a predictive model of professional self-efficacy. The results show that professional self-efficacy was positively predicted by professional satisfaction, intrinsic motivation and regulation attitudes toward teaching activity, perceived resilience, coping strategies based on planning solutions, and self-esteem. Conversely, coping strategies based on passive acceptance of critical situations had a negative impact on music teachers’ professional self-efficacy. The educational implications of these findings are discussed.

The profile of an effective instrumental and vocal music teacher includes many personal and professional dimensions. Among them, teacher self-efficacy plays a key role and influences the evaluation of music teachers’ effectiveness. Recent studies have identified several factors that affect one’s self-assessment of efficacy. However, a comprehensive model of the predictors of music teachers’ self-efficacy still does not exist. The aim of the current study was to identify factors that affect music teacher self-efficacy using a quantitative approach. Three self-report questionnaires were administered to 160 instrumental and vocal music teachers in Italy. Data about their beliefs on musical ability, teacher self-efficacy, and social skills were collected to define a predictive model of teachers’ self-efficacy using a stepwise regression analysis. In addition, an ANOVA was performed to examine group differences in music teacher self-efficacy and intercorrelations among questionnaire scales were computed. The findings have shown that a general score of music teacher self-efficacy can be predicted by a multidimensional model, including music teachers’ personal and professional traits, such as social skills, beliefs about musical ability, teaching experience, and gender. Moreover, differences in specific aspects of teacher self-efficacy emerged in relation to participants’ gender and level of expertise. The impact of these results on music teachers’ education is discussed.

The study examines the professional development of in-service advanced music teachers as a result of their participation in a three-year collaborative online course. A socio-constructivist theoreti...

This pilot study analyzed the learning activities of adult musicians during the composition of a new musical work through online collaboration. The participants interacted in a virtual environment using synchronous and asynchronous tools to develop the composition project. The study utilized a mixed method descriptive design through video observation of the participants’ interactions during the online activities. In addition, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants after the learning sessions to analyze the method of work and the processes adopted. The findings showed that (1) the participants successfully completed the composing task in the virtual environment; (2) the following five learning activities were observed during the video recording analysis: experimenting, listening/evaluating, constructing, playing and technical issues; (3) the following two themes emerged from the semi-structured interview analysis: activities and processes. The results are discussed considering the educational implications of the processes activated during the activities.

Music performance anxiety (MPA), a condition common among musicians, consists of an anxious state characterized by cognitive, psychological, and physiological arousal. Musicians often establish strategies for coping with MPA. The aim of the current study is to analyze the correlation between MPA factors and coping strategies, and to determine the relevance of coping strategies and other variables, such as gender, experience, and weekly hours of individual music practice, in predicting MPA. Data on MPA and coping strategies were collected using two questionnaires: the Performance Anxiety Inventory (PAI) and the Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced-New Italian Version (COPE-NVI). The participants were 171 musicians divided into the following two groups: 97 advanced music conservatory students and 74 professional musicians. The results indicate that coping strategies based on demand of social support and avoidance strategies have a positive correlation with MPA. Advanced students reported higher levels of MPA than professional musicians. In addition, regression analysis provides evidence that variance in MPA can be explained in part by experience (professional musicians versus advanced students), hours of individual practice per week and coping strategies based on social support and avoidance strategies. The findings underscore the importance of understanding processes involved in MPA and the need to learn adaptive strategies for coping with stressful events.

In this investigative study, the authors sought to reveal the learning strategies adopted by participants as they learned to play a 12-bar improvised blues with both hands together on a musical keyboard in an e-learning environment. There were 3 participants, 2 female and 1 male. Participants’ average age was 21 years. They worked individually in an e-learning environment with the assistance of “Blues Activities” text and supporting audio material. A remote facilitator was available via e-mail to provide advice, support, and encouragement during and after each of the learning sessions. Video observation techniques were employed, and a coding scheme emerged via a qualitative analysis procedure. A time analysis of the video data based on the emergent coding scheme revealed the percentages of time participants spent in five distinct learning activities, which were interpreted as instruction, copying, practicing, playing, and evaluating. The findings of the current study provide an insight into the learning strategies adopted by these 3 participants in this particular learning situation and provide empirical support for theories of learning to play by ear proposed in prior research reviewed in this article.

This study investigated the viability of learning to play an improvised 12-bar blues on keyboard with both hands together in an asynchronous e-learning environment. The study also sought to reveal participant approaches to and reflections on this learning experience. Participants were video-taped as they engaged with six `Blues Activities', supported by audio `guide' and `backing' tracks and a `remote facilitator'. Participants required nine or ten learning sessions, over a period of six weeks, to successfully complete the `Blues Activities'. Individual, semi-structured interviews, designed to reveal participant reflections on their engagement with the `Blues Activities' were conducted with the participants after they had completed the learning sessions. Results revealed that: (1) at the end of the learning sessions, all participants were able to play the 12-bar improvised blues; (2) participants engaged in five distinct learning behaviours; and (3) four participant `reflective themes' emerged from the semi-structured interviews. The five distinct learning behaviours were interpreted as `learning activities': `instruction', `copying', `practising', `playing' and `evaluating'. The four `reflective themes' were interpreted as: `activities', `feelings', `evaluation' and `difficulties'. Comments made by participants during interviews and email exchanges, provided support for the researcher interpretations of the `learning activities' and `reflective themes' through the process of triangulation. Implications for music education are discussed.

Prior research has revealed that non-music specialist trainee primary school teachers lack confidence in teaching music in spite of changes to teacher training and the introduction of music in the National Curriculum in England. The current study investigated the effects on non-music specialist trainee primary teachers’ confidence to teach music in the classroom after having experienced six keyboard-based ‘blues activities’ presented in an asynchronous e-learning environment. Participants were videotaped as they worked with music technology and a ‘remote facilitator’, to play a 12-bar improvised blues with both hands together. Participants also took part in individual, semi-structured interviews before and after engaging in the ‘blues activities’. Video and interview data was analysed employing inductive, qualitative procedures. This exploratory intervention study was undertaken with three participants and is reported as three individual case studies. After the ‘blues activities’ intervention, all partici...

The issue of music teacher training for primary generalist teachers is shared by many countries in the world. We know from a range of studies which factors contribute to teachers’ abilities and confidence, but there are fewer studies that document the possible training approaches and interventions that might improve the outcomes. This article describes an international educational experience addressed to 23 trainee primary teachers coming from Austria, Italy, the Netherlands and Slovenia. The Intensive Programme1 called ‘International Summer School in Educating Music Teachers’ (ISSEMT) was offered at Padova University, Italy with the purpose of fostering confidence and competences among trainee generalist teachers for teaching music in the primary school. In planning the didactic approach of the ISSEMT, methods designed to enhance participants’ understandings of teaching creatively and teaching for creativity were adopted. The entire educational activity was evaluated by students using questionnaires and discussion. In addition, a follow-up interview was conducted with students after two years and five months, at the end of the ISSEMT. Students refer to the improvement of confidence in teaching music and the application of a creative approach. They appreciated the approach, the practical teaching ideas and the way the course closely related to their educational needs. These results are discussed in the framework of confidence development of the generalist teacher in the primary school for teaching music. The key factors that contributed to the effectiveness of the ISSEMT are also discussed.

This article is a qualitative study of conductor and performer views of orchestra rehearsal strategies. Twenty professional musicians (10 conductors and 10 performers) participated in a research survey studying orchestra rehearsal strategies including organisation, rehearsal methods, rehearsal priorities and conductor/player rehearsal skills. A qualitative analysis of the answers given by participants was undertaken using an inductive method and two main themes emerged: social issues of collective study, and strategies for collective study. Analysis of this study provides evidence of orchestra rehearsal strategies employed by conductors and performers, who all showed a common orientation in the use of metacognition strategies; they also shared a goal-oriented practice approach, and awareness of rehearsal organisation. The research reveals the relationship between cognitive and social dimensions and that the ability to develop a coherent rehearsal plan was related to the importance of creating a friendly environment considering the performers’ needs. Also, management and problem solving skills were considered of great significance for a conductor as professional rehearsals are inevitably subject to restrictive time constraints.

This paper reports on the compositional processes of an Italian rock band whilst composing a new piece over seven group composing sessions. The band members were videotaped during the group composing sessions in their rehearsal room. A qualitative analysis of the video recordings was performed using the Constant Comparative Method. In the analysis, 59 different behaviours emerged, which were subsequently reduced into 13 categories. When analysing the categories, five themes (activities) were defined. The five activities were: context definition, experimenting, constructing, playing and evaluating. The activities were employed as a coding technique for time coding the videotaped data, which revealed the time percentages spent by the musicians in each of the group composing activities. Results from the joint qualitative and percentage time analysis indicate the importance of the strategies adopted by the musicians during group composing. The results are discussed by taking into account the impact of the processes employed in a group composing setting as well as suggestions for future research. The implication for music education involves the possibility to apply approaches based on the development of cognitive processes rather than the product of collaborative composing activities.

This paper reports a study investigating trainee teachers' beliefs about music abilities and learning. The study employed two questionnaires: the Music abilities beliefs questionnaire (MABQ) and the Music learning beliefs questionnaire (MLBQ) which were specially designed to reveal the beliefs of trainee teachers of primary and secondary schools (middle and high school). Internal consistency and factor structure of the two questionnaires were investigated through the application of Cronbach alphas and factor analysis techniques. For the MABQ, four factors were extracted, which were interpreted as study abilities, performance technical skills, discriminative abilities and interpretation. For the MLBQ, five factors were extracted, which were interpreted as personality, cognitive characteristics, musical factors, family and social factors, and physiological and body factors. Each factor from both questionnaires was subjected to ANOVA taking into consideration the influence of three concurrent variables, such...