Music education has faced considerable challenges in trying to bridge the gap between music in young people's lives and that taking place in the classroom. The 'Musical Futures' initiative aimed to devise new and imaginative ways of engaging young people, aged 11-19, in music activities through a process of informal learning based initially on…

Music education has faced considerable challenges in trying to bridge the gap between music in young people's lives and that taking place in the classroom. The "Musical Futures" (MF) initiative aimed to devise new and imaginative ways of engaging young people, aged 11-19, in music activities through a process of informal learning based…

This paper reports on qualitative research undertaken at a conservatoire in the United Kingdom, exploring students' perceptions of how they were supported in realising their aspirations as professional musicians and making the transition to professional life. In particular, the research explored students' perceptions of the role played by their…

Research in higher education has established a relationship between student approaches to learning and their perceptions of the learning environment. This study aims to make a contribution to music education literature by investigating undergraduate music students' perceptions of the learning context and their attitudes towards learning and…

The new primary strategy in England has raised the profile of foundation subjects, including music, yet many primary school teachers lack skills and confidence in their ability to teach music. This research explores a year-long programme of training across 16 primary schools in England that sought to improve music education. The programme involved…

The aim of this study was to explore music performance anxiety (MPA) and trait anxiety as experienced by jazz music students at the post-secondary level. MPA has been conceptualised as a painful apprehension of music performance manifesting through affective, somatic, cognitive and behavioural symptoms. Although MPA has been studied extensively…

This paper is based on the data collected from a longitudinal study of seven maintained, secondary schools in England that have adopted Musical Futures as an approach to teaching music. The research had a particular focus on key stage 3 (11-14). For the purposes of this paper, data gained from 18 music staff and 325 student interview…

The aim of this research was to explore the impact of the adoption of the Musical Futures (MF) approach on secondary school music teachers working in MF Champion schools. The research took place over 3 years in 3 phases with 28 teachers completing questionnaires exploring the impact on their confidence, skills and pedagogy and 30 being interviewed…

There is now an accepted need for initiatives that support older people's well-being. There is increasing evidence that active engagement with music has the potential to contribute to this. This paper explores the relationship between musical possible selves and subjective well-being in later life. The research reported here formed part of a…

Between September 2008 and August 2010 24 KS2 classroom teachers were involved in a two-year programme of continuing professional development (CPD), delivered by the LSO in partnership with Local Authority Music Services. The teachers indicated that they embarked on the CPD programme looking forward to opportunities to share good practice, gain…

This paper, following on from our previous paper focusing on findings regarding students' approaches to learning, explores students' approaches to performance with particular focus on musical self-efficacy beliefs and experiences of performance anxiety in solo and group performances. The research design included a large questionnaire survey…

The aims of this research were to identify the ways in which parents may most constructively support their children's musical development, and to ascertain whether styles of parent-teacher and parent-pupil interaction would influence the extent to which parents engage in different types of supportive behaviours. A model of parent involvement as…

The research project "Investigating Musical Performance: Comparative Studies in Advanced Musical Learning" was devised to investigate how classical, popular, jazz and Scottish traditional musicians deepen and develop their learning about performance in undergraduate, postgraduate and wider music community contexts. The aim of this paper is to…

Historically, in the professional training of musicians, the master-apprentice model has played a central role in instilling the methods and values of the discipline, contributing to the rigorous formation of talent. Expert professional musicians advocate that certain thinking skills can be modelled through the master-apprentice model, yet its…