Investigating Musical Performance: Comparative Studies in Advanced Musical Learning, 2006-2007

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.Investigating Musical Performance: Comparative Studies in Advanced Musical Learning, 2006-2007 (IMP) is a mixed methods study was devised as a two-year comparative study to investigate how Western classical, popular, jazz and Scottish traditional musicians deepen and develop their learning about performance in undergraduate, postgraduate and wider music community contexts. IMP was conceived as a multi-site, mixed methods research project that drew equally on the strengths and expertise of the four partner higher education institutions (HEIs): the Institute of Education, London; Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow; Leeds College of Music and the University of York. Each HEI had significant experience in the education of undergraduate and/or postgraduate musicians in at least two of the four focus musical genres. The data available from the UKDA include quantitative data from a survey of undergraduate music students and portfolio career musicians using an innovative PDF survey instrument. The survey was then repeated the following year with some respondents. The qualitative data include semi-structured interviews with 27 selected case studies. These were selected on the basis of ensuring a representative range of experiences and backgrounds from those who had completed the questionnaire survey. They specialised in a wide range of instruments, including strings, woodwind, brass, piano/keyboard, voice, bass guitar, percussion, Scottish pipes and clarsach. Complementary data were also obtained from eight focus groups. The project was part of the ESRC's Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP). Further information about the project can be found on the ESRC award web page, and the TLRP web site IMP page. Main Topics:The quantitative survey covered the following areas:musical biographies (age, sex, musical genre, instrumental type, experience, experience of teaching)psychological and social-psychological issues related to performance experiences (performance anxiety, self-esteem, self-efficacy, musical identity, and the development of expertise) attitudes to, and experience of, learning (practice behaviours, views on teaching, social and environmental learning contexts (such as on the process of transition from undergraduate to professional career)) The semi-structured interviews focused on a range of issues related to each musician’s personal development and experiences. Questions were clustered under overarching themes that embraced early influences on their musical development, self-efficacy and confidence as performers, reflections on performance experiences, the occurrence and possible influence of performance anxiety, the influence of the institution on learning, their thoughts on the process of transition from student to professional, any experiences of teaching and, finally, their experiences and views regarding formal and informal learning in music