The impact of practical instrumental music instruction on students' psychological and sociological well-being is well documented in research literature. The extent to which these findings hold true for disadvantaged populations is unknown. Previous studies focused on young students with little to no research on disadvantaged young adults at university level. This study investigated the impact of group practical instrumental music instruction on the psychological well-being of disadvantaged university students. It particularly investigated changes in students' optimism, self-esteem and happiness after participation in a wind ensemble. The study further looked at possible relationships between optimism, self-esteem, happiness and participation in an instrumental music ensemble. Results revealed increases in participant's optimism, self-esteem and happiness and moderate to strong positive correlations between variables.

This article reports on a study that examined the effects of African drumming on the mood and demeanour of older individuals, both those with and those without dementia, in Hong Kong. Previous research indicated that music-making has a positive effect on older adults' overall health and well-being. The study participants' mood and demeanour were measured through observer and self-rating before and after taking part in one of three African drumming sessions. There was a significant improvement in all aspects of all the participants' mood and demeanour after participating in the drumming sessions. A positive impact of the drumming session was also found on the caregivers. The drumming sessions involved physical activity, skill acquisition, reminiscence, joint music making and social interaction that all could have led to the large positive changes in mood and demeanour found in the study participants.

Over the past 30 to 40 years there has been a growing body of research on the medical problems of musicians and the broader arts community. This highly specialized and innovative field has garnered international recognition with the establishment of clinical settings that address musician health in several countries, institutions focusing on research and education and an expanding body of research studies. While several studies have looked at specific populations such as classical musicians, non-classical musicians, professional musicians and student musicians, no studies were found that specifically targeted university jazz studies majors. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the performance related medical problems of university level jazz studies majors. Results indicated that a little over a quarter of the responding group indicated they experienced performance related medical problems with a mean pain-severity level of 3.58 (SD = 2.68) on a range of 1 to 10. Performance related medical problems appeared to be higher for younger musicians and tended to decrease with age. Medical problems were specific to the various instrument types under investigation.

In the spring of 2009, we started a concert band programme at a high school in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In the fall of 2011, we returned to the school to measure the impact of participating in a concert band on the students' attitude and outlook. During our initial and return visits, we measured feelings of self-esteem, optimism, positive affect, negative affect, motivation to avoid losses and motivation to seek gains. We compared participants in our music group to a group of same-age students at the same school who were not part of the music programme. At the second testing, the band members, and not members of the control group, showed increased levels of optimism and motivation to seek gains. The music programme appears to have certain psychosocial benefits, improving aspects of attitude and outlook for participants in the band.

Performing Arts Medicine has developed into a highly specialised field over the past three decades. The Performing Arts Medical Association (PAMA) has been the leading proponent of this unique and innovative field with ground-breaking research studies, symposia, conferences and journals dedicated specifically to the medical problems of performing artists. Similar to sports medicine, performing arts medicine caters specifically for the medical problems of performing artists including musicians and dancers. In South Africa there is a tremendous lack of knowledge of the field and unlike our international counterparts, we do not have specialised clinical settings that cater for the medical problems of performing artists. There is also a tremendous lack of research on performance-related medical problems of performing artists in South Africa. Accordingly the purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the field of performing arts medicine, highlight some of the significant findings from recent research studies and present a model for conducting research into the field of performing arts medicine. It is hoped that this research model will lead to increased research on the medical problems of performing artists in South Africa.

Within the literature there exists a large volume of research studies attesting to the positive relationships between studying music and various psychological and sociological variables. A close examination of these studies reveals that only a handful were conducted on disadvantaged populations. Accordingly, it remains unclear to what extent these findings hold true for disadvantaged students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the social-emotional impact of instrumental music instruction on disadvantaged South African students. The two specific questions addressed in this study were (1) what impact did instrumental music instruction have on student's self-esteem, optimism, sense of happiness and perseverance and (2) do any relationships exist between instrumental music instruction and the variables under investigation? The results indicated that there were generally increased levels of self-esteem, optimism, happiness and perseverance after participation in an instrumental music programme. There was also an increase in subject's optimism and sense of happiness. There were moderate to moderately strong positive relationships between participation in instrumental music and self-esteem, optimism, happiness and perseverance.

The current study examined the relationship between individual differences in uses of music (i.e. motives for listening to music), music preferences (for different genres), and positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA), thus linking two areas of past research into a more comprehensive model. A sample of 193 South African adolescents (ages 12–17) completed measures of the above constructs and data were analyzed via correlations and structural equation modeling (SEM). Significant correlations between affect and uses of music were tested using SEM; a model whereby PA influenced background and cognitive uses of music, NA influenced emotional use of music, and higher uses of music led to increased preferences for music styles was supported. Future research for uses of music and music preferences are discussed.

This study was designed to investigate the occupational aspirations and occupational expectations of college students majoring in jazz studies in the United States. Participants included the population of jazz studies majors ( N = 211) at a large mid-southern university known for its prestigious and internationally recognized jazz program. A response rate of 85% was obtained. Occupational aspirations and occupational expectations were measured on the Jazz Occupational Prestige Index. Results indicated that students aspired to more prestigious occupations but expected to be employed in occupations less prestigious when considering the realities of the job market. A small percentage of students (4.7%) aspired to teach while a higher percentage (15.8%) expected to be engaged in teaching as a profession. The analysis of relationships between variables revealed a low positive relationship between occupational aspiration and support from significant others. All other relationships were negligible.

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to investigate the career expectations of students majoring in jazz at tertiary institutions in South Africa. The researchers specifically sought to determine students’ expectations for performance style and income and their career plans upon graduation. The study is among the first national studies to focus on jazz majors at all tertiary institutions in South Africa.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of instrumental music instruction on the career plans of disadvantaged South African secondary school students. The study was part of the South African Music Outreach Project, a project that over the past two years has established concert bands (instrumental ensembles) at public schools in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. The findings revealed that students' participation in instrumental music instruction had a positive effect on their career plans and decisions to major in music. After participation in the instrumental music programme, the majority of students indicated they were strongly contemplating a career in music upon completion of their secondary education. Similar to previous studies on comparable populations, there were gender and racial differences in the career plans of subjects within the current sample. Follow-up studies should focus on the impact of the South African Music Project on variables such self-esteem, leadership, teamwork and motivation. Die doel van hierdie studie was die ondersoek na die effek van instrumentale musiek onderrig oor die loopbaan planne van benadeelde Suid-Afrikaanse sekondere skool leerlinge. Die studie is deel van die South African Music Outreach Project, 'n projek wat oor die afgelope twee jaar konsert bande (instrumentale groep) by openbare skole in Pietermaritzburg, Suid-Afrika gevestig het. Die bevindinge het getoon dat studente se deelname in die instrumentale musiek onderrig van 'n positiewe uitwerking op hul loopbaan planne en besluite moes groot in musiek. Na die deelname aan die instrumentale musiek program, die meerderheid van die studente aangedui dat hulle is sterk 'n loopbaan in musiek oorweeg het met die voltooiing van hul sekondere onderwys. Soortgelyk aan die vorige studies oor soortgelyke bevolkings, was daar geslag en ras-verskille in die loopbaan planne van onderwerpe binne die huidige steekproef. Toekoms studies moet fokus op die impak van die South African Music Outreach Project op veranderlikes soos selfbeeld, leierskap, spanwerk en motivering.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the occupational aspirations and expectations of students majoring in music education in Mexico. Participants (N = 83) included the entire population of music education majors enrolled at the National School of Music at the National Autonomous University of Mexico during the 2002 academic year. Questionnaires were administered by one of the researchers, with a return rate of 92%. The analysis of occupational aspirations and expectations revealed some disparities in the types of occupations subjects preferred and expected. The majority of students indicated they aspired to a combination of occupations however most students indicated they expected to be engaged in performance. Teaching was among the least aspired occupations with less than 9% of respondents indicating they would prefer to teach exclusively. This is an alarming finding when one considers that the population under investigation was comprised of music education majors. Within the context of this study one would expect students’ aspirations and expectations to be similar since it is generally accepted that a music education major would naturally aspire and expect to be engaged in teaching. Although this study is among the first to investigate the occupational aspirations and expectations of music education majors in Mexico, the data does provide baseline information for subsequent investigations. Recommendations for future research are discussed.

Studies in the social sciences imply a relationship between levels of employment and potential adverse effects on health. The lack of information regarding musicians makes it difficult to describe and prepare for the potential adverse relationships between musicians’ economic patterns and health. The purpose of this study was to characterize economic patterns of musicians and to investigate the relationships between income from performing music and college music instruction, age, and gender. A total of 4,017 subjects participated in an Internet-based musician survey. Data analysis included the use of descriptive statistics, analysis of covariance, and multiple regression analysis. Results support the view that many musicians hold multiple jobs and that income from music performance is often a secondary source of income. Musicians with ≥4 years of college music instruction earned higher levels of income from performing music compared with musicians with less college music instruction. This study recognizes the need to consider the economic patterns of musicians and how these patterns may affect health adversely.

This study examined the medical problems of musicians who primarily perform on a brass instrument. Data for this study (n = 739) were extracted from the University of North Texas Musician Health Survey data set. Subjects were included if they indicated either trumpet, trombone, French horn, or low brass as their primary instrument. Prevalence rates for one or more musculoskeletal problems were determined for the whole group and by instrument. For those subjects who reported problems at specific sites, average severity levels were derived from responses to a five-point grading scale. Additional prevalence rates for non-musculoskeletal problems were established for the whole group and by instrument. About 60% of the brass musicians reported having one or more musculoskeletal problems. The trombone group reported the highest rate (70%), followed by French horn and low brass (62%), and then trumpet (53%). Results suggest unique physical performance requirements and risks across the four main brass instrument groups and that future studies should examine each brass instrument group individually.

The primary aim of this study was to investigate how mouthpiece forces may vary as a function of the setting in which the musicians are asked to perform. Ten college-level trumpet players were assessed while playing the same pieces of music in a jazz big band rehearsal and a controlled laboratory/clinical setting. Trumpet force was measured using a custom Trumpet Sensor System that measures mouthpiece forces and angular position. Overall, the results from this study indicate that mouthpiece forces generated in the research laboratory were similar to those in the rehearsal venue. The data indicate no significant differences between the two conditions that warrant concern for collecting performance data in an experimental setting.

The purpose of this study was to identify the occupational aspirations and expectations of students majoring in jazz studies, and to investigate relationships between students' aspirations, expectations and selected variables including significant others, choice of school, instrument type, academic achievement, academic level, socioeconomic status, age, gender, and early jazz experience. All jazz studies majors enrolled at the University of North Texas during the Spring 2001 academic semester responded to a pilot test questionnaire (return rate 85%, N = 211). Frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations described the students' occupational aspirations, occupational expectations, backgrounds and training in jazz prior to entering UNT, and determined the extent to which parents, relatives, teachers, friends, and role models helped steer them into jazz (Pearson r, Spearman Rho and Point Biserial correlation coefficients provided). The low to moderate positive correlation between aspirations and expectations (r = 0.43) indicated that the two variables were different and measured different types of occupations. Fifty percent of students aspired to be jazz performers whereas 29.7% expected to be jazz performers. While 42% aspired to be engaged in a combination of occupational activities, 48% expected a combination of occupational activities. Only 4.7% aspired to teach; however, almost 16% expected to be engaged in teaching. Low positive correlations were found between aspirations and significant others, expectations and significant others, expectations and gender, and expectations and role models. Respondents indicated that role models (jazz musicians, community musicians, and college instructors) had contributed the most to their decision to major in jazz. Recommendations for educators, researchers, and improvements to the questionnaire are provided.