Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Research Publications
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ItemIntra-individual change and variability in intentional self-regulation: A concert cellist optimizing performance(The International Symposium on Performance Science, 2019)
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ItemMotivation, engagement, and performance in elite musical training: A longitudinal study(Listaháháskóli Islands, 2017)Background Musicians training at the highest levels in university music schools and conservatories face considerable challenges. They need to undertake enormous amounts of practice—an activity which requires substantial effort and can be lonely, difficult, and boring. They also face considerable motivational challenges: studio teachers are renowned for their demandingness, conservatories can be hotbeds of competitiveness and pressure, and the uncertainties and risks of pursuing a music performance career require resilience and adaptability. Little systematic research has examined the motivational dynamics of music training at this level, and the style of studio instruction—a consistent tradition largely unchanged for many centuries—has rarely been scrutinized. Aims We aimed to understand the role motivation plays in cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of musicians’ practice, and the subsequent effects that motivation and practice quality have on performance. Method Music students (N=611) from four conservatories and university music schools in three countries participated in the research. A longitudinal survey research design was used, with data collected at four time points over an academic year. Measures were taken from the established literature on motivation in educational settings or developed for the present study, based on theoretical frameworks including self-determination theory and self-regulated learning. Performance examination grades were obtained from the relevant institutions. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling. Results Moderate to large effects were found for the role of motivation in practice quality. Students who were intrinsically motivated were more cognitively, affectively, and behaviorally engaged in their music practice, and had higher self-efficacy for their performance. The extent to which their music learning fulfilled their psychological needs impacted on important outcomes, including performance, career intentions, wellbeing, and adaptability. Controlling teaching and a poor teacher-student relationship, on the other hand, was associated with detrimental outcomes. Interestingly, the perceived competitiveness of their music learning environments was overall very low and unrelated to their motivation and practice, potentially challenging the stereotype of music schools as competitive hotbeds of pressure and anxiety. Most importantly, many of these factors were related to the quality of their music performance. Conclusions The results of this study provide strong evidence for the need to support student motivation and wellbeing, and also suggest ways in which music institutions and studio teachers might provide such support. The results also show that theoretical frameworks and approaches tested extensively in other domains—self-determination theory, self-regulated learning, and deliberate practice—are also applicable to a creative performance setting at the highest levels of training.