Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T05:43:05.420Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Continuity, change and mature musical identity construction: Using ‘Rivers of Musical Experience’ to trace the musical lives of six mature-age keyboard players

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2011

Angela Taylor
Angela Taylor*
Affiliation:
Institute of Education, University of London, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL, UKartaylor8@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

‘Rivers of Musical Experience’ were used as a research tool to explore the wide range of musical experiences and concomitant identity construction that six amateur keyboard players over the age of 55 brought to their learning as mature adults. It appears that significant changes in their lives acted as triggers for them to engage in musical activity which had meaning for them, often further prompted by the interest and actions of family, friends and acquaintances. Lifelong engagement with music was not only a source of pleasure and social enrichment but also pain, disappointment, liberation and empowerment.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , July 2011 , pp. 195 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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

ATCHLEY, R. (1989) A continuity theory of normal aging. The Gerontologist, 29 (2), 183–190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
BROCKI, J. M. & WEARDEN, A. J. (2006) A critical evaluation of the use of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) in health psychology. Psychology and Health, 21 (1), 87–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2004a) Reflecting on music learning and rethinking contexts. In Bartel, L. (Ed.), Questioning the Music Education Paradigm (pp. 244–257). Alberta: Canadian Educator's Association.Google Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2004b) Using image-based approaches for reflecting on creative practice. The Mountain Lake Reader: The Study and Practice of Teaching, Spring, 34–35.Google Scholar
BURNARD, P. (2006) Telling half the story: making explicit the significance of methods and methodologies in music education research. Music Education Research, 8 (2), 143–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHIODO, P. A. (1998) The development of lifelong commitment: a qualitative study of adult instrumental music participation, Dissertation Abstracts International, 58 (7), 2578.Google Scholar
COFFMAN, D. D. (2002) Adult education. In Colwell, R. & Richardson, C. (Eds.), The New Handbook of Research on Music teaching and Learning (pp. 199–209). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
COPE, P. (2005) Adult learning in traditional music. British Journal of Music Education, 22, 125–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CONDA, J. M. (1997) The late bloomers piano club. Dissertation Abstracts International, 58 (2), 409.Google Scholar
COOPER, T. L. (2001) Adults’ perceptions of piano study: achievements and experiences, Journal of Research in Music Education, 49 (2), 156–168.Google Scholar
CRABTREE, B. F. & MILLER, W. L. (1999) Doing Qualitative Research (2nd edition). London: Sage.Google Scholar
CRAFTS, S. D., CAVICCHI, D. & KEIL, C. (1993) My Music. Hanover: Wesylan University Press.Google Scholar
CRESSWELL, J. W. (2003) Research Design (2nd edition). Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
CROSS, S. & MARKUS, H. (1991) Possible selves across the lifespan. Human Development, 34, 230–255.Google Scholar
DENICOLO, P. & POPE, M. (1990) Adults learning – teachers thinking. In Day, C., Pope, M. & Denicolo, P. (Eds.), Insights into Teachers' Thinking and Practice (pp. 159–169). London: Falmer.Google Scholar
GAVIN, H. (2001) Reconstructed musical memories and adult expertise. Music Education Research, 3 (1), 51–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GEMBRIS, H. (2008) Musical activities in the third age: an empirical study with amateur musicians. In Daubney, A., Longhi, E., Lamont, A. & Hargreaves, D. (Eds.), Musical Development and Learning, 2nd European Conference on Developmental Psychology of Music. Roehampton University, London: GK Publishing.Google Scholar
HARRÉ, R. & LANGENHOVE, L. V. (1999) Reflexive positioning: Autobiography. In Harré, R. & Langenhove, L. V. (Eds.), Positioning Theory (pp. 60–73). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
HENDRY, L. B. & KLOEP, M. (2002) Lifespan Development: Resources Challenges and Risks. London: Thomson Learning.Google Scholar
MACDONALD, R., HARGREAVES, D. & MIELL, D. (2009). Musical identities. In Hallam, S., Cross, I. & Thaut, M. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Music Psychology, (pp.462–470). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
MARKUS, H. R. & HERZOG, A. R. (1991) The role of the self-concept in aging, Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 11, 110–143.Google Scholar
MYERS, D. E. (1989) Principles of learning and the older adult music student. South Eastern Journal of Music Education, 1, 137–151.Google Scholar
PALMER, R. E. (1969). Hermeneutics. Evanston: North Western University Press.Google Scholar
PITTS, S. (2009) Routes and roots in adult musical participation: investigating the impact of home and school on lifelong musical interest and involvement. British Journal of Music Education, 26 (3), 241–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
POPE, M. & DENICOLO, P. (1993) The art and science of constructivist research in teacher thinking, Teaching and Teacher Education, 9 (5/6), 529–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
RICHARDS, H. & DURRANT, C. (2003) To sing or not to sing: a study on the development of ‘non-singers’ in choral activity. Research Studies in Music Education, 20, 78–89.Google Scholar
SMITH, J. A. (1995) Semi-structured interviewing and qualitative analysis. In Smith, J. A., Harré, R. & Van Langenhove, L. (Eds.), Rethinking Methods in Psychology (pp. 9–26). London: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SMITH, J. A. (2004) Reflecting on the development of interpretative phenomenological analysis and its contribution to qualitative research in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 1, 39–54.Google Scholar
SMITH, J. A. & OSBORN, M. (2003) Interpretative phenomenological analysis. In Smith, J. A. (Ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A Practical Guide to Research Methods (pp. 51–79). London: Sage.Google Scholar
TAYLOR, A. (2010) Participation in a master class: experiences of older amateur pianists. Music Education Research, 12 (2), 187–204.Google Scholar
TAYLOR, A. & HALLAM, S. (2008) Understanding what it means for older students to learn basic musical skills on a keyboard instrument, Music Education Research, 10 (2), 285–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
VAN MANEN, M. (1997) Researching Lived Experience: Human Science for an Action Sensitive Pedagogy (2nd edition). Ontario: The Althouse Press.Google Scholar