To date, little research has examined how expert musical activities are sustained throughout the lifespan, particularly in late adulthood. As musicians grow older, changes in their musical engagement are likely to occur. The current study aimed to explore the adjustments older musicians make, and to provide a holistic overview of the factors influencing these changes. Individual semi-structured interview transcripts of four Australian musicians (age range = 63–84, M = 75.50) were studied using interpretative phenomenological analysis. This process revealed two overarching themes – Challenges and Choices – which shaped the participants’ musical engagement in late adulthood. The findings reflect known influential limitations of ageing in the musical domain but go further to suggest that older age can simultaneously be a period of enhanced musical enjoyment, creativity, and autonomy. The participants drew on their accumulated knowledge of self and their discipline to adapt their musical activities to suit their personal preferences. These insights challenge oversimplified narratives of ageing as a process of decline and offer a foundation for empowering older musicians to make fulfilling, personalised choices.
Early 20th-century recordings (ER) offer a unique insight into historical performance practices, yet their role in higher music education remains under-explored. This study investigates how conservatoire teachers understand, use, and conceptualise ER in their pedagogical and artistic practices. Nine instrumental and vocal teachers from a European conservatoire took part in semi-structured interviews, the responses to which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four main categories emerged: documentary value, performance practice, educational application, and educational challenges. Findings reveal a tension between the liberating potential of ER—promoting creativity and awareness of multiple interpretive approaches—and teachers’ reluctance to use them as reference models due to the “anxiety of imitation.” The study argues that integrating ER into conservatoire curricula can enrich learner-centred and constructivist pedagogies, fostering autonomy, historical awareness, and critical engagement with performance traditions. Early recordings could be considered as meaningful resources for music training, stimulating a more balanced dialogue between historical traditions and contemporary constructivist pedagogical needs.
The diversification of concert repertoire has garnered increased attention recently, yet research on modern concert programming remains limited, focusing mainly on quotas and the perspectives of organisers and audiences. Discourses on the contextualisation and evaluation of women composers’ music have not transcended questions raised since the 1990s, and historical patterns demonstrate that change is not linear. Given the role of performers as co-creators of musical meaning and value, we need a better understanding of their practices to achieve sustainable change. This study examines the interrelation between the performer’s sense of identity and agency and their selection and programming of music by composers who are lesser-known due to stylistic unfamiliarity or their gender, race, or other demographic characteristics. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), I examined interview accounts of four professional pianists experienced in performing such repertoire. Six group experiential themes emerged: career and professional identity; aesthetic, emotions, or sociopolitical connections; interpretative strategies and commitment; contextualising lesser-known repertoire as accessible or valuable; programming agency in relation to organisers, venues, and audiences; and belonging and outsiderness. These findings bear implications for effective programming practices and conservatoire pedagogical transformations.
Over the past 15 years, researchers have examined marginalized music teachers’ perspectives, largely through small-scale qualitative studies. Recognizing the individual merit and collective potential of this body of work, we synthesized existing studies into a cohesive theory to explain how marginalized music teachers navigate their professional lives. Three research questions guided our inquiry: (1) What factors shape the professional lives of marginalized music teachers? (2) What strategies do they use to navigate their professional identities? (3) What are the perceived psychological and behavioral outcomes associated with marginalization? Through qualitative meta-analysis, five extrinsic factors (sociocultural influences, administrators, colleagues, students and parents, and personal relationships) and one intrinsic factor (internalized concerns) emerged as central influences. Participants managed their professional identities using two primary strategies: social recategorization (concealing or downplaying their identity) and positive distinctiveness (disclosing or affirming their identity). These strategies were associated with a range of perceived psychological and behavioral outcomes, including distress, professional withdrawal, affirmation, and advocacy. The resulting middle-range theory conceptualizes identity management as a dynamic, context-dependent process associated with sociocultural, relational, and internal factors.
Music listening is a universal human behaviour, increasingly recognised for its association with well-being. The mechanisms underlying how music listening influences well-being remain unclear, especially in terms of broader motivational processes. Utilising a self-determination theory (SDT) framework, we examined the extent to which popular song lyrics represented themes of basic psychological needs (BPN). Our corpus comprised the top 10 songs of the Australian Recording Industry Association’s top 100 singles chart for the period 1988–2023, resulting in 360 unique songs. Lyrics were analysed through deductive content analysis using a researcher-created application, MuseAI , which employs large language model platforms using custom media input. Our findings indicated the representation of all three BPNs across the pop song lyric corpus. Relatedness themes occurred at the highest frequency, followed by autonomy and competence, respectively. Need satisfaction occurred more frequently than need frustration. As these songs were those most listened to by audiences across more than three decades, our findings suggest that song lyrics frequently represent themes of BPN, which may help explain the motivational appeal of music listening. This exploratory research provides initial theoretical support for further investigation of music listening engagement utilising an SDT framework.
Recognizing that musical identities mediate how individuals and groups engage with and through music, this case study explored a professional mother-musician’s experience of musical parenting with her infant and the perception of her musical identity in this context. Data collection spanned 4 months and included semistructured interviews with the mother, informal discussions via a mother–researcher networking platform, digital diaries, and videos provided by the mother. Previous studies have identified the significance of infant–mother musical interaction for the care and development of the infant as well as for enhancing attachment and bonding between them. However, very few studies have focused on how this interaction impacts the musical identity of the mother. The findings of this study suggest that the mother incorporated a variety of musical activities into her infant’s care, and she perceived musical parenting as a fruitful context for negotiating and strengthening her own musical identity. The study’s findings suggest the need for further research into the issue of musical identity among professional musician parents within the context of musical parenting.
Titles play a crucial role in shaping perception in visual art, but their influence in auditory art remains underexplored. This study used two experiments to investigate how music training and the presence of music influence the perception of music titles. Experiment 1 asked participants to judge titles without accompanying music clips. The results showed that music majors showed a strong preference for concrete titles, likely due to their psychological proximity to music concepts, while this effect was absent in the no musical training group. Experiment 2 introduced music clips (classical and modern) to explore how music types affect title perception. The results revealed that abstract titles were favored for classical music, which was perceived as temporally distant, whereas concrete titles were preferred for modern music, which was perceived as closer and more tangible. These findings provide preliminary evidence that psychological distance, as proposed by Construal Level Theory (CLT), interacts with musical expertise and music style to shape title perception, offering new insights into the interpretation of auditory art.
This study investigated the relationship between flow experiences and music performance anxiety (MPA) among school-age musicians in China, with a particular focus on adolescent students (aged 13–15 years). While previous research has examined flow and MPA in professional musicians, limited attention has been paid to younger and less experienced populations. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study combined quantitative data from two validated self-report measures with qualitative insights from semi-structured interviews. Participants were students who had recently performed in a school concert and represented a range of proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, and advanced). The findings suggested that: (a) both flow and MPA were commonly experienced by adolescent students; (b) flow and MPA were negatively correlated, particularly among more proficient students; and (c) higher proficiency appeared to facilitate flow experiences while mitigating MPA, possibly due to accumulated performance experience. These results suggested that musical proficiency may serve as a buffer against MPA by promoting optimal performance states. Implications for music education and psychological interventions were discussed, and directions for future research were proposed.
Musical experience offers psychological, social, and emotional benefits, which depend on individual variability in response to music. These benefits are known as musical rewards. This article examines the musical rewards experienced by future music educators across different educational levels (primary, secondary, and conservatory) during their undergraduate and postgraduate studies. The Barcelona Music Reward Questionnaire (BMRQ) was administered to a sample of 164 future teachers. The results indicate that students score highly on musical rewards, particularly in music seeking and emotional evocation. Furthermore, differences between groups and genders were identified on certain BMRQ scales. The article concludes that understanding these rewards can contribute to improving the training of music educators at various educational levels and provides some teaching guidelines to enhance the development of these competencies.
This study investigated the relationships between bodily expression, bodily coordination, mental effort, and self-reported experiences of musical togetherness. Singer-pianist duos performed pieces of classical repertoire before and after rehearsing together. Video, head motion, respiration, and pupillometry data were collected. Afterwards, the performers watched a video of their post-rehearsal performance and made continuous ratings of how together they felt. They also provided written descriptions of the cues that informed their togetherness judgements. Our analyses showed stronger head coordination between partners and larger pupil diameter during high-togetherness phrases than during low-togetherness phrases for one of the pieces. Inhalation synchrony and quantity of head motion did not differ between high- and low-togetherness phrases. Pupil size was greater during pre-rehearsal performances than during post-rehearsal performances, suggesting that demands on attention might have reduced after players had jointly constructed a shared interpretation and grown more accustomed to performing together. A thematic analysis of written responses showed that performers’ concept of togetherness related to coherence in musical parameters, moving and breathing together, and sensations of feeling together, shared musical emotion, and effortlessness. We discuss these findings in relation to the musical togetherness model.
This study investigated the effect of task constraints on the flow experience of novice improvisers and the mediating effects of personality, musical skills, and self-regulation. In addition, we aimed to identify the environmental factors that are most indicative of flow in improvisational learning. Intermediate-level instrument students (N = 111) participated in a quasi-experiment with repeated measures during regular class hours. The students assessed their flow experience after each of the four improvisation tasks, which differed only in two types of constraints: the degree of improvisational freedom and the amount of preparation time given. Student characteristics were measured using self-administered questionnaires and teacher assessments. Hierarchical linear modeling analysis revealed significantly higher flow states under conditions with low constraints (free improvisation and preparation time). For highly self-regulated students, the negative influence of a task with high constraints on the flow experience was limited. The type of improvisation task and experience with improvisation were the best predictors of flow, followed by openness to experience, self-regulation, and class group. These results support a more process-oriented approach to teaching improvisation, in which students gain experience in improvisation through selected tasks integrated with developing self-regulation skills.
The impact of background music (BGM) on vigilance task performance remains controversial. While previous research has focused on arousal as a mediating variable, recent studies suggest that task engagement also influences the effects of BGM on vigilance performance. This study investigated the impact of self-selected BGM on arousal, task engagement, and task performance during a vigilance task. A total of 36 participants completed the Sustained Attention to Response Task (SART) and questionnaires assessing energetic and tense arousal as well as four dimensions of task engagement (emotional, behavioral, state, and cognitive). Results indicated that, compared to silence, self-selected BGM significantly increased participants' energetic arousal and task engagement, while decreasing response time variability. Furthermore, exploratory hierarchical Bayesian modeling analyses revealed that the effect of BGM on the false alarm rate was well explained by a model in which task engagement mediates the relationship between the presence of BGM and the false alarm rate. These findings emphasize the importance of considering the multifaceted nature of task engagement in future research examining the effects of BGM on cognitive performance, particularly in sustained attention tasks.
This study represents the validation of the Kenny Music Performance Anxiety Inventory (K-MPAI) for Mandarin-speaking musicians in Mainland China, examining its factor structure in two distinct populations: pre-college students (n = 287) and professional musicians (n = 453). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed consistent three-factor solutions in both groups, aligning closely with Kenny's theoretical framework of music performance anxiety (MPA). Specifically, pre-college musicians demonstrated factors labeled "MPA symptoms," "psychological vulnerability," and "negative affect/depression," while professional musicians revealed factors named "MPA symptoms," "psychological vulnerability/negative affect," and "control-trust." Measurement invariance analysis confirmed strong psychometric comparability between the two samples, validating cross-group comparisons. Notably, while core anxiety and vulnerability constructs aligned closely with international validations, culturally specific divergences emerged, such as the distinct splitting of psychological vulnerability in pre-college musicians and the unexpected emergence of a "control-trust" factor among professionals. These unique aspects highlight potential cultural nuances in how anxiety and vulnerability are conceptualized among Chinese musicians. This study affirms the K-MPAI's suitability as a robust measure of MPA in China, contributing foundational insights for culturally sensitive assessment and intervention.
The high prevalence of physical and mental health problems among music students is well documented. To address playing-related health risks, many tertiary institutions include health education programmes in their core curricula; however, the long-term impact of these programmes remains unexplored. This study investigated the retrospective reflections of 10 fourth-year music students regarding a health education course they completed during their first year. The study aimed to explore the course's perceived impact in fostering learning and behaviour change. The findings reveal that the course greatly enhanced students' awareness and knowledge of health promotion and injury prevention. Participants reported substantial positive changes in health-related and practice-related behaviours, indicating transformative learning. These findings corroborate existing literature on the benefits of health-promotion programmes for music students, underscoring the essential role such courses play in music students' education, providing valuable evidence for the long-term efficacy of musicians' occupational health education.
This study explored how adults in Turkey conceptualize musical ability through a mixed-methods design. Open-ended responses from 1,153 participants were thematically analyzed and categorized into six overarching themes. The most prevalent conceptualization defined musical ability as an innate, divinely inspired "gift from God" and an expression of the soul (32.7%), followed by themes of effort and learning (27.7%), emotional expressiveness (14.9%), privilege and specialness (9.4%), harmony with nature (8.2%), and creative freedom (7.1%). Quantitative analyses revealed significant demographic variations: women more frequently emphasized innate and spiritual qualities, while men highlighted creativity and autonomy; amateur musicians associated ability with emotion, whereas professionals placed less emphasis on this theme. Instrument players stressed discipline and learning, whereas non-players prioritized expressiveness. Regional patterns also emerged (e.g., Mediterranean participants favored spiritual definitions; Southeastern Anatolians highlighted nature-based intuitions). In contrast, perceptions were relatively stable across age, education, occupation, and socioeconomic status (SES), though subgroup trends (e.g., lawyers emphasizing effort) suggested nuanced social influences. These findings support socio-constructivist views of musical ability as both culturally situated and experientially shaped. The study contributes to cross-cultural music psychology by emphasizing the need for culturally responsive pedagogies that acknowledge diverse beliefs, experiences, and developmental trajectories in musical potential.
This study explored the impact of using a musical mnemonic device on enhancing memory retention in second-grade students (N = 132) while learning a Chinese poem. The quasi-experimental design involved two groups of students: one receiving music-based instruction (n = 65) and the other receiving traditional verbal instruction (n = 67). Students' recitation accuracy was assessed immediately after learning and 1 week later with repeated procedures. While initial findings revealed no significant difference in immediate performance between the groups (p > .05), notable improvements were observed in the experimental, music-based group after a one-week interval with a repeated procedure (p < .05), particularly for male students (p < .005). In addition, students with instrumental training outperformed their peers without such training, supporting the notion that music training could enhance working memory (p < .01). We also revealed that students' retention of Chinese poems, especially for those in the lowest 10th percentile of accuracy, was significantly boosted by incorporating music after 1 week's interval (p < .001). These results suggest that while music as a mnemonic device may not yield immediate benefits, it can potentially enhance memory retention over time.
Extending Fischoff, we used vignettes to examine people's perceptions of a hypothetical rap fan accused of murder. Study 1 (N = 300) used a 2 (murder accusation) & times; 2 (inclusion of rap lyrics) & times; 2 (fan gender) experiment, asking participants to judge how capable of murder and sexually aggressive they found the fan. The presentation of lyrics and murder accusation were associated with the fan being more capable of murder, while rap lyrics and participants' rap attitudes were associated with the fan being more sexually aggressive. Thematic analysis revealed that, in conditions containing both the lyrics and the murder accusation, participants reported greater consideration of the rap lyrics than the murder accusation when rating the fan. Then, Study 2 (N = 504) used a 3 (criminal accusation) & times; 5 (genre label) experiment to separate the influence of the lyrics from the genre label and further interrogate criminal stereotypes. Holding more positive rap attitudes was associated with the fan being less capable of murder and less sexually aggressive. Importantly, a content analysis revealed that 86% of participants ascribed the lyrics as rap, even with a different label. These findings demonstrate the pervasiveness and salience of rap-related stereotypes on character judgements.
Existing research lacks insight into music associations and preferences among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in real-world settings. This study analyzes 701 Reddit posts from r/Autism and r/Aspergers, comparing them with neurotypical (NT) discussions in r/Music and r/LetsTalkMusic. Using topic modeling and thematic analysis, 12 NT topics and 15 ASD topics were identified. NT individuals focused on themes like the cultural and social impact of music and economic and industry trends, while autistic individuals emphasized therapeutic use of music, diverse music preferences, and music as an identity. Genre analysis showed both groups preferred rock in the intense category, but autistic individuals had a higher representation of metal, likely for sensory load regulation. In the valence-arousal (VA) space, NT individuals preferred rock in high-arousal quadrants, whereas autistic individuals had a broader emotional range, balancing pop and rock. Lyric theme analysis revealed that while both groups resonated with emotional turmoil and conflict, autistic individuals showed a stronger preference for love and connection. These findings highlight the need for personalized music-based interventions, leveraging diverse genres and themes to cater to the unique preferences and therapeutic needs of autistic individuals.
Conservatoire music students experience a range of demands including performance, academic, and interpersonal demands. If not effectively managed, demands may lead to stress and negative well-being outcomes. This qualitative study explored conservatoire music students' experiences of occupational stress and well-being, informed by a transactional stress theory. Six conservatoire music students were purposively selected to participate in semi-structured interviews. Participants discussed two stressful events: one perceived positively and a second perceived negatively. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was adopted and five themes developed: (a) Performance Demands; (b) Organisational Demands; (c) Relationship Demands; (d) Academic Demands; and (e) Multiple Demands. Participants commonly appraised demands as a threat. A smaller number of challenge or benefit appraisals were reported, with few harm or loss appraisals. Key underlying properties of stress appraisal were self and other comparison, preparation, and novelty. Participants highlighted the personal resources, psychological skills and problem-solving, and the organisational resource of social support to manage stressful experiences. Well-being outcomes related to stress appraisals. This study provides insight into the intra-individual processes related to occupational stress and well-being of conservatoire music students. Findings suggest interventions targeting the conservatoire culture and curriculum need exploring to create a positive learning culture and support students to cope with demands.
Recent research indicates high proportions of individuals report they have music playing while they read. This behaviour has implications for effective comprehension, as some scholars suggest the presence of music depletes cognitive resources, resulting in a greater chance of becoming distracted. By contrast, some have claimed that listening to music can improve cognitive performance by increasing physiological arousal and improving mood. This study captured self-reported behaviours of university students regarding whether they chose to listen to music while reading for study purposes. Reasons for listening varied, with reports of increased motivation, enhanced focus, or masking external noise. The most listened to music genres while reading were Classical and Rock, and individuals preferred to listen to non-lyrical, slow music while reading. Similar proportions of respondents claimed they often listen to music while reading for study purposes (54%) and avoided it (46%), suggesting that individual differences may determine whether music is distracting or helpful to readers. Working Memory Capacity was not found to be associated with distraction from music while reading, nor was trait Mind Wandering. However, a Music Engagement rating was related to how helpful individuals perceived background music to be while reading and their decision to listen to it.
