Research methods and participants

This study considered the impact of new-found independence on motivation for continued participation in young adults and was positioned to investigate those who had previously displayed a significant degree of commitment and motivation prior to leaving school. The three criteria for inclusion were:

• Having been at school in the UK, which allowed for a certain homogeneity of musical experience.

• Having participated in one or more musical ensembles during school years (ages 11–18).

• Being in the age range 19–25 years.Footnote ¹

Findings and discussion

Establishment of the musical identity

The participants in this study were included because of their musical commitment prior to leaving school. For most of the respondents, instrumental learning had begun at a young age with 82% (n = 84) starting to learn an instrument before the age of 11. Many played multiple instruments, with 82% (n = 84) playing two instruments and 38% (n = 39) playing more than two instruments. Table 2 shows the levels of choice respondents felt they had over the decision to play an instrument.

Table 2. Extent of Choice for Learning an Instrument

Although these ratings demonstrated high levels of individual choice in the decision to play an instrument, the qualitative data showed that family members were often nonetheless important influences in initial musical engagement. At the start of the interviews, all participants referred to family influence, providing examples of relatives as role models, decision-makers and musical experts: these included a mother who had ‘always kind of played piano’ (Gemma, LU-N) and a drumming brother who inspired the choice of playing ‘trumpet, because it was also quite loud’ (Becky, AU-Y). Having other instrumentalists in the family made the musical decision not about whether to learn an instrument but which one to choose:

So my grandad … was a professional musician … and my parents went to my grandad and were like –‘What do you think she should learn?’ and I started off on Alto Sax. Rachel, (AU-Y)

The inclusion of family when discussing their own musical background shows how the interviewees considered the formation of their musical identity to be affected by family musical history and experience.

Musical engagement while at school

As expected of these musically engaged individuals, membership of music groups while at school was high with 94% (n = 96) belonging to school ensembles, 64% (n = 65) being members of out-of-school ensembles and many associated with several groups (see Table 3). Most respondents were happy with their level of involvement, with 68% of them feeling the level of involvement was about right, 27% wanting to have done more and 5% wishing they had done less.

Table 3. Number of Groups Attended While at School

Although school music groups were a fundamental part of many respondents’ lives, feelings about the levels of commitment varied. For some, the choice to participate came from the sheer love of music: ‘I loved any musical activities while I was at school and participated in as much as possible … If I didn’t have to do lessons for other subjects at school, I would’ve quite happily spent every day in the music department’ (AU51). Others found that the musical aspect was enhanced by the social benefits: ‘Looking back I really enjoyed being involved in lots of musical activities, … and I liked going to many ensembles as my friends were there, so I wasn’t “missing out” on socialising at lunchtime’ (LU52). For these students, the quantity of opportunities was an important part of feeling immersed in musical activity, and there is a strong sense of intrinsic motivation in doing ‘as much as possible’.

However, some respondents felt the volume of activities as a pressure, with the expectations of others affecting their decisions to participate: ‘Hard to balance not doing too much and was the only social life you had time for. Lots of pressure from teachers and peers about what you should be involved in’ (NU12). The resulting sense of duty led in some cases to musical experiences that were less satisfying or enjoyable than the participants were hoping for:

Further evidence of the conflict between intrinsic motivation and external pressures to join and continue with music group membership was seen in the quantitative data, with decisions to join and decisions to continue (as summarised in Table 4) showing a high level of self-motivation.

Table 4. Motivations for Attending School and Out-of-School Groups

Note. The ‘Other’ responses all fell into a combination of the ‘musical-social’ fit.

In keeping with previous research (Hewitt & Allan, Reference HEWITT and ALLAN2013; Kokotsaki & Hallam, Reference KOKOTSAKI and HALLAM2007), the musical aspect and the social fit were the main reasons for attending both types of groups. Unlike Hewitt and Allan (Reference HEWITT and ALLAN2013), this study found that most respondents rated the musical aspect of these groups more highly than the social aspect. However, the qualitative responses showed that the two aspects were closely connected, as for the member of a musical theatre group, who ‘loved the social aspect and performing around with like-minded people’ (LU116).

Among the interviewees, Phoebe found the social aspect to be the motivation for her attendance at a Saturday morning music group:

In addition to these peer-group interactions, some respondents commented on ‘the interaction with the conductor as well as other friends in the orchestra’ (AU115), demonstrating how youth-oriented ensembles could lay the foundation for intergenerational participation in the future, provided those relationships were positive and encouraging.

Expectations versus reality

Respondents’ reflections on their musical life beyond school revealed a discrepancy between expectations for musical participation and the reality. The questionnaire asked respondents to look back at their school years and recall whether they expected to join musical groups when at university.

As shown in Table 5, of all university students, past and present (AU and LU), only 13% did not intend to join musical groups during their university years. In reality, however, 48% failed to find musical activities to join. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions on rehearsal and performance were a factor from March 2020 onwards, and 69% of respondents felt that the pandemic had negatively impacted their musical life. However, regardless of the effects of the pandemic, figures in Table 6 show that without access to structured and easily available groups, those outside the institutions of university and college were not participating in great numbers.

Table 5. Expectations Versus Reality of Joining Music Groups

Table 6. Experience of Finding a Music Group (LU and NU respondents)

When asked to reflect on their motivations for joining musical groups after leaving school, of those that had found groups, 100% rated their choice to participate at 4 or 5 (5 = totally my choice). This compares to the 82% and 77% rating their choice to join school or out-of-school groups at 4 or 5 (cf. Table 2). In addition, the level of influence held by ‘others’ over these young adults had fallen in comparison to the school years. Table 7 shows the motivations for joining and the influence of significant others.

Table 7. Extent of Motivations to Continue with Music-Making at or After University

Note. Figures include responses from AU and LU respondents, n = 50.

The data demonstrate that the influence of others is less strong at this stage, whereas issues directly influencing the self, such as the musical and social aspect and relationship with the ensemble director, were important. Although the musical aspect (I really wanted to carry on playing/singing) rated as a higher motivation than the social aspect, the gap between the two factors was narrower at this stage than during the school years (cf. Table 4), indicating the shift in motivations at different stages of life.

For these respondents, successful engagement depended on the extent to which the available activities satisfied their musical and social needs. While at school, Grace (LU-Y) had questioned her competence: ‘I’d sort of lost my way a bit with the brass world. I just felt a bit – I’m rubbish at it – I lost confidence which was really sad’. However, at university, she noticed a change: ‘I got put on the flugelhorn, it kind of brought me out of my shell a bit and boosted my confidence… I was really grateful they recognised that and just gave me a chance and it was really good fun’. For others, the effect a positive musical-social fit had on the enjoyment and satisfaction of the musical experience could be quite profound:

Not all respondents found groups that met their musical needs, with 29% of those responding to this question citing this as the main reason for not being part of musical groups. Some respondents could not find a group that fitted with the instrument they played: ‘Initially at freshers fair I didn’t find any orchestras or wind bands that I could join – all the musical societies were either for strings or jazz’ (AU95). Others found the level of the group did not match their needs: ‘I couldn’t find exactly what I was looking for – it was either too informal or too rigorous’ (AU106), or missed the familiarity of the groups they had belonged to in the past: ‘I would most likely have carried on if it was with the same group of friends/teachers who I had grown to love playing music with for so many years’ (NU21). Becky (AU-Y) found the standard of university groups was disappointing in comparison to her youth orchestra:

Finding an appropriate group could be quite a challenge for some. Respondent AU62 explained: ‘As I play such an unusual, non-orchestral instrument … very few opportunities have been available’. On discovering a group that met both their social and musical needs, almost against the odds, the positive effects were immense, with a real sense of satisfaction and of finding their place in the musical world:

The purely social aspect of being part of a group was important to many respondents. It was particularly relevant to those who had left university and wished to become established in a new location: ‘Also going to the pub after evensong, it helped me get to know people after moving to London’ (LU7). However, the type of musical group could have an impact on whether the social side was likely to be satisfactory: ‘Choral groups tend to skew much older in membership; I was the only young person in the choir I joined’ (LU118).

For some young adults, a lack of social support affected their decision whether to join a group at all. Nineteen percent of respondents cited this as the main barrier to participation: ‘I didn’t [join] in first year because I was nervous about doing it by myself, and then I never got round to it in second year’ (AU41); ‘Too busy at beginning of degree and not wishing to sort of “join alone”, so being unwilling to start after this’ (AU39). This demonstrates the challenges faced when individuals lacked the level of social support they had been accustomed to in past musical experiences. These respondents felt that the prospect of having no social support affected their motivation in the initial stages, and then having missed the moment, they were discouraged from searching for future musical opportunities.

The impact of musical-social fit on musical identity

The interviewees demonstrated the complex relationship between the musical-social fit of the groups, their musical identity and their impact on continued participation. Hannah (AU-N) had not found a group that met her musical-social needs, which weakened her sense of musical identity and in turn decreased her sense of drive and motivation to seek out further activities: ‘I don’t play a lot, I don’t even take my clarinet to Uni anymore which is so bad. […] I should be more enthusiastic and go along and try more things’. Gemma (LU-N), too, showed how the musical-social fit could affect her musical identity. She found the groups at university ‘kind of cliquey, kind of pre-established’ and did not engage in musical activity until she took part in an open mic night with a friend from home. This met her musical-social needs and helped her rediscover a musical identity outside a pre-existing group: ‘I’d definitely like to do more kind of casual open mic night kind of stuff, particularly with close friends I can sing in harmony with’. This example illustrates that although joining a group was the clearest indicator of continued musical participation after school, other modes of musical engagement were possible and, in this case, more effective.

These stories reveal the fragility of musical identity after a change in circumstances. While Hannah had some degree of acceptance of her lack of musical participation and weakened musical identity, Becky (AU-N) displayed disappointment and loss. Having been very active at school, her expectations of continued musical participation in high-quality groups at university were not met, and she struggled to find groups that achieved the musical fit she desired. Rachel (AU-Y), by contrast, had been similarly fortunate in her university experience: gigs and tours with the jazz band met her musical and social needs until she felt ‘like I spent more time doing music outside of my degree than I did actually doing my degree’. Her musical identity seems firmly established now as she contemplates leaving university: ‘I can’t see it changing. I’d like to think it won’t. My whole personality is being a musician. If I were to stop, what would I be doing with my life?’

Expectations and hopes for the future

Whether or not they were currently musically active, most respondents felt that it was likely they would participate in music-making at some point in the future. Figure 1 shows a breakdown of responses by category of the current situation and whether or not they are currently musically active. The only respondents who did not expect to carry on in the future were not currently active.

Figure 1. Expectations of continuing with music-making in the future.

These results are notably more positive than the findings from Mantie (Reference MANTIE2018) and other US scholars predicting high dropout rates after school (Bowles, Dobbs & Jensen, Reference BOWLES, DOBBS and JENSEN2014): in contrast, 38% of our respondents reported that they expected to join musical groups in the future, and 54% felt it was a possibility with 6% thinking it unlikely. Only 2% (n = 2) expressed no desire to recommence music-making. The respondents had clear expectations about what they would like from these future groups. Many individuals mentioned the desire to find future music groups that were similar to the out-of-school ensembles they had previously experienced. One respondent explained:

Phoebe (AU-COV) had similar feelings: ‘honestly I think the best option might be like a continuation of Saturday morning orchestra’. The need to be with those of a similar age was highlighted by Hannah (AU-N): ‘if there was something targeted towards 20- to 30-year-olds I would definitely be up for trying it out’. These sentiments demonstrate the challenges surrounding musical provision for young adults. The membership of amateur music groups is ageing, and Pitts (Reference PITTS2020) reports the ongoing struggle faced by the members of such groups in recruiting younger musicians. This is unlikely to be resolved if young adults are reluctant to join and poses the question of whether specific groups could be set up for this demographic to encourage participation beyond school and university. Another possibility is the reframing of intergenerational groups, which are usually viewed as being mainly of benefit to the older people involved (Creech et al., Reference CREECH, HALLAM, MCQUEEN and VARVARIGOU2013) but have the potential to give new skills and confidence to student-aged participants too (Yang, Li & Zhao, Reference YANG, LI and ZHAO2017). Relieved of the pressure to ‘fit in’ with their older counterparts, students and young adults might then find a distinctive role between school and later adult musical participation.

An interrupted journey

Although many respondents were not currently musically active, they remained hopeful that their break in music-making may be a temporary hiatus. Music was felt to be a significantly important part of the life of most respondents whatever their current situation, with Figure 2 displaying the positive response to the question posed about the importance of music in their futures. This suggests that the foundations of their music identity set during their early experiences had endured, despite any negative experiences or breaks they had encountered in the journey so far.

Figure 2. How important is it for music to be part of your life in the future?

The challenge for music educators and those running ensembles is to support and promote the concept of lifelong music-making and to make students aware of future possibilities. All interviewees commented on the lack of advice they received for future music-making, with Hannah (AU-N) feeling unprepared for possible gaps in the musical journey: ‘It would have been comforting to hear if you stop for a few years you don’t have to stop forever’. Inevitably, there might be a degree of positive self-presentation in respondents’ eagerness to say to a researcher (particularly one who they might know to be an instrumental teacher herself) that they would have liked to continue with music, even when this had not occurred in reality. However, the open-mindedness to future participation seemed genuine, and Hannah had comforting words for herself and any others facing a temporary break in their musical journey: ‘you’ll pick it up again. And, you know you won’t lose it, it’s like riding a bicycle … It won’t be gone forever’.

Conclusions and implications

This study considered the factors that affected young adults in their journey towards independent music-making, from early musical experiences and influences to their perceptions of the musical and social aspects of music-making. For those respondents who had successfully navigated the transition from school to post-school musical participation, their ensembles played a valuable role in establishing social bonds in a new community. However, the strongest deterrent to continued music-making post-school was a perceived lack of fit between the young adults’ needs and expectations and the available musical opportunities.

Beyond the structured institutional settings of school-related music groups, access and opportunity had proved to be more difficult for many respondents. There were mixed experiences of accessing university music groups, and although orchestras and other formal groups were often well-advertised and run from within music departments, less formal opportunities were harder to find. If balancing the musical-social fit for young adults is an important issue, as this study suggests, universities may need to consider offering a greater range of auditioned and non-auditioned groups and promote and support informal music-making opportunities. Students who had been unsuccessful at the audition could be given advice about alternative musical opportunities on offer. Particular attention should also be given to the issue that numerous students miss what they perceive to be the key moment for joining musical groups in the ‘Fresher’s Fair’ at the start of their university career. Many felt a lack of social support at that time, so focusing on welcoming those attending alone, as well as extending ‘Re-Fresher’ invitations beyond the frantic first few weeks of university life, may encourage more to participate.

The participants in this study had all been actively engaged in music-making while at school, and those involved with their music education might have expected that these musicians would be likely to continue beyond school. The data show that support for ways into future music-making for these previously committed players was scant; no interviewees felt they had been given guidance about musical participation as a lifelong pursuit during their time at school. Mantie’s (Reference MANTIE2021) portrayal of the undervaluing of ‘leisure education’ in schools is pertinent here: these young adults had made decisions, probably guided by parents and teachers, about whether to pursue music as a degree subject or career option, but their continued engagement with the extracurricular pursuit that had been an important part of their school years was less directly addressed and therefore harder to navigate. If schools empower students with more independence and give them opportunities for organising and marketing concerts and forging links with community groups for joint concerts, they may feel more equipped for music-making in the future.

The All-Party Parliamentary Group State of the Nation Report into music education in the UK (Daubney, Spruce & Annetts, Reference DAUBNEY, SPRUCE and ANNETTS2019) paints a gloomy picture of music education in schools and shows the limited availability of resources to facilitate links with community ensembles. Over a decade ago, Christopher Small (Reference SMALL and Wright2010) proposed a solution that now seems more urgent than ever: ‘a network of music centres throughout the country, where people of all ages can engage in musicking and dancing as and when it suits them … where older can help younger, and perhaps vice versa, and where instruction is offered as the need is felt for it’ (p. 288).

Though still perhaps an aspirational dream, such a design would arguably meet the needs of musicians of all backgrounds with a range of musical and social fits, allowing the potential for more opportunity for lifelong musical engagement.

Limitations and future research questions

This exploratory study has highlighted factors including parental influence and school musical opportunities that affect post-school musical participation. From these findings, a larger-scale study could be designed to test relationships between the factors and to investigate the experiences of a wider range of young adults including those who were less highly engaged in school. The capacity for developing musical independence in young adulthood has been shown to be key, and future studies in this field could draw on sociological research that has investigated the changing relationship between parent and child as they reach young adulthood (King, Reference KING2013).

The snowball sampling of this study meant that most respondents came from a more formal music education background; future research might target individuals from informal music backgrounds and consider the factors that affected their continued musical journey. The limited sample also meant that comparisons could not be made by gender, race or social class, but wider research points to these being substantial factors in access to musical participation (Bull, Reference BULL2019; Scharff, Reference SCHARFF2017), and a further longitudinal or retrospective study with a broader participant pool could investigate the effects of these factors at this critical point in musical transitions.

Finally, the timing of this study, with data collected between February and April 2021, meant that the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions had affected the experiences of the participants, so carrying out a similar study when musical activities are re-established might yield additional insights.

Proposed model for lifelong musical participation

In summary, findings from this study show that a balance of influences, motivations and choices from both self and others is needed to sustain musical participation. The proposed model (Figure 3) illustrates this relationship.

Figure 3. Proposed model for lifelong musical participation.

As the model shows, early experiences help form the musical identity, but during early adulthood, the individual’s perceptions of the intersections and relationships between competence, autonomy and the social-musical fit (from Self-Determination Theory, Ryan & Deci, Reference RYAN and DECI2000) play a vital part in the decision to continue with music-making. Participation beyond these years is informed by continued re-evaluation of these aspects, as well as the availability of playing opportunities and the effects of competing time commitments. The weighting of each factor and the balance between them will be different for each person, according to their experiences, influences and motivations.

The individual makes the decision to continue to participate in musical activities, but all those involved in the early stages of the musical journeys of young musicians, including parents, instrumental teachers, staff in school music departments and extracurricular music leaders, need to understand the lasting effects of the role they each play. While the musical identities of young musicians are strengthened through the opportunities and support offered in the school years, music educators at all levels need to give greater thought to laying the foundations for a transition to independent music-making in adulthood. By creating appropriate environments and providing a variety of opportunities, they will help young people sustain their musical life into adulthood and experience and enjoy lifelong musical participation where the balance of musical and social needs is met.