Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T15:23:15.986Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Roots and routes in adult musical participation: investigating the impact of home and school on lifelong musical interest and involvement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 October 2009

Stephanie Pitts
Stephanie Pitts*
Affiliation:
Department of Music, University of Sheffield, Jessop Building, 34 Leavygreave Road, Sheffield S3 7RD, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper analyses a collection of musical life histories, drawn from 71 British respondents who have maintained a lifelong interest in music as regular concert-goers, amateur performers and/or music educators. These respondents reflect on the influences and opportunities which have contributed to their lifelong engagement in music, and in doing so illustrate the impact of changes in British music education and culture over the last 50 years. Particular analytical focus is placed here on the relative influence of home and school, on the ideal characteristics of each environment, and the relationship between them. The value of a long-term perspective on music education is debated, and conclusions drawn about the challenges to teachers and researchers that are evident from this study.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 26 , Issue 3 , November 2009 , pp. 241 - 256
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BARONE, T. (2001) Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes of Teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.Google Scholar
DAVIDSON, J. W. & BURLAND, K. (2006) ‘Musician identity formation’, in Mcpherson, G. E. (Ed.), The Child as Musician: A Handbook of Musical Development (pp. 475–490). Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DENORA, T. (2000) Music in Everyday Life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ERICSSON, K. A., KRAMPE, R. T. & TESCH-RÖMER, C. (1993) ‘The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance’, Psychological Review, 100, 363–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GAVIN, H. (2001) ‘Reconstructed musical memories and adult expertise’, Music Education Research, 3, 51–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOODSON, I. & SIKES, P. (2001) Life History Research in Educational Settings. Buckingham: Open University Press.Google Scholar
GREEN, L. (2002) How Popular Musicians Learn: A Way Ahead for Music Education. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
HOLT, J. (1978) Never Too Late: My Musical Life Story. New York: Merloyd Lawrence.Google Scholar
HOWE, M. J. A., DAVIDSON, J. W., MOORE, D. G. & SLOBODA, J. A. (1995) ‘Are there early childhood signs of musical ability?’, Psychology of Music, 23, 162–176.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MANTURZEWSKA, M. (1993) ‘A biographical study of the life-span development of professional musicians’, Psychology of Music, 18, 112–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCADAMS, D. P. (2001) ‘The psychology of life stories’, Review of General Psychology, 5, 100–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCADAMS, D. P., REYNOLDS, J., LEWIS, M., PATTEN, A. H. & BOWMAN, P. J. (2001) ‘When bad things turn good and good things turn bad: sequences of redemption and contamination in life narrative and their relation to psychosocial adaptation in midlife adults and in students’, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 27, 474–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MCPHERSON, G. E. (2009) ‘The role of parents in children's musical development’, Psychology of Music, 37, 91–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MUSIC MANIFESTO (2005) http://www.musicmanifesto.co.uk/ [Accessed 28 July 2008].Google Scholar
PAYNTER, J. (1992) Sound and Structure. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
PILLEMER, D. (2001) ‘Momentous events and the life story’, Review of General Psychology, 5, 123–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PITTS, S. E. (2005) Valuing Musical Participation. Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar
PITTS, S. E. (2008) ‘Extra-curricular music in UK schools: investigating the aims, experiences and impact of adolescent musical participation’, International Journal of Education & the Arts, 9 (10). Accessed 6 March 2009 from http://www.ijea.org/v9n10/Google Scholar
SLOBODA, J. A. & HOWE, M. J. A. (1991) ‘Biographical precursors of musical excellence: an interview study’, Psychology of Music, 19, 3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
WINN, C. (1954) Teaching Music. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar