MENC: The National Association for Music Education

Transitions in the Early Musical Careers of Able Young Musicians: Choosing Instruments andTeachersAuthor(s): John A. Sloboda and Michael J. A. HoweReviewed work(s):Source: Journal of Research in Music Education, Vol. 40, No. 4 (Winter, 1992), pp. 283-294Published by: MENC: The National Association for Music EducationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3345836 .Accessed: 01/11/2011 16:48

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JRME 1992, VOLUME 40, NUMBER 4, PAGES 283-294 283

Forty-two students at a specialist school for able musicians and 20 of their parents were interviewed about the circumstances that led to these youngpeople's commencing instrumental

study, changing teachers, and taking up new instruments prior to the point where they were recognized as ready for specialist music education. The results showed that parents'sustained support and intervention were vital to developing excellence, and that the student's first teacher's personal characteristics had a marked effect on future levels of development. Students showed a high level of mobility between both instruments and teachers. The principal driving force for these transitions lay with the parent or the child rather than the teacher, who rarely suggested a transition. The implications of these results for understanding the process of high- level development are discussed.

John A. Sloboda, University of Keele Michael J. A. Howe, University of Exeter

Transitions in the Early Musical Careers of Able Young Musicians:

Choosing Instruments and Teachers

Musical expertise is no exception to the rule that high levels of expertise demand years of active participation in an activity, accompanied by considerable practice and training (Ericsson, Tesch-Romer, & Krampe, 1990). In a study published in 1990, Ericsson and Crutcher reported that in young adults, level of performance on the violin is positively correlated with amount of time spent practicing. Other studies, however, indicate no clear positive relationship be- tween performance level and time devoted to practicing in children (Sloboda & Howe, 1991) and that too much practice can be counterproductive (Newmark & Lederman, 1987). A study of 76 composers by Hayes (1981) demonstrated that only three of them produced major works before the 10th year of their composing careers. Even in the case of Mozart, Hayes's study established that none of Mozart's works that we now judge to be of major importance were composed prior to the composer's having experienced 12 years of rigorous musical training. The acquisition of exceptional performing skills seems to require a comparable degree of sustained dedication involving the continuing support of parents and teachers, as well as the young musician. Sosniak (1990),

The authors gratefully acknowledge the help and cooperation of the staff and pupils of Chethams School of Music, Manchester, England, and in particular the generous assistance of Paul Andrews. The research was supported by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation. For copies of this article, contact John A. Sloboda, Department of Psychology, University of Keele, Newcastle, Staffs, ST5 5BG, UK. Coauthor Michael J. A. Howe can be contacted at the Department of Psychology, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK.

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who studied 24 exceptionally able young professional pianists, found that in some cases they did not even begin to display the signs of outstanding expertise that suggested a professional performing life was a possibility for them until

they had been playing for 7 or 8 years. Sustained musical activity over many years requires a continuing environment

supportive of and conducive to musical learning. The home environment and

specific parental behaviors generally are acknowledged to be major factors in

predicting the long-term course of musical skill development (Brand, 1985; Shuter-Dyson & Gabriel, 1981). Sosniak (1985) found a very high level of

parental involvement in and commitment to the musical development of excep- tionally able young pianists.

As an individual's skill increases during the years of training to become a musical performer, a series of transitions to increasingly expert teachers and

specialized learning environments is common (Bamberger, 1986). Among young pianists, for instance, an able young performer typically moves on from the first teacher after 2 or 3 years. Sosniak (1985) observed that a child's first piano teacher typically exerted a very powerful influence, but one that depended much more on qualities of personality and temperament (which affected the nature of the relationship between teacher and child) than on the teacher's technical standards as a musician and a musical instructor.

More recently, Sloboda and I-owe (1991) studied a cross-sectional sample of 42 accomplished British adolescent musicians. Their study included various types of instrumentalists, not just pianists, between the ages of 12 and 18. Different subsets of issues are dealt with in a series of reports (Howe & Sloboda, 1991a, 1991b; Sloboda & Howe, 1990, 1991).

The study showed that although their early teachers were not, as a rule, of exceptionally high professional standard, subjects recalled them as being warm, friendly, and encouraging (Howe & Sloboda, 1991b; Sloboda & Howe, 1991). However, many subjects had learned two, three, or even four different instru- ments prior to coming to the school. In some cases, instruments were aban- doned either temporarily or permanently, and different instruments were some- times learned sequentially, but at other times concurrently. Many children took part in a wide range of learning experiences, including group lessons, orches- tras, and bands.

Career transitions are important because they mark important changes in the form and direction of musical training. The purpose of the study described in this article was to closely document such transitions, both between teachers and between instruments, and to illustrate, from the interview protocols, the participant's understandings of the reasons for and the functions of these transitions. One specific concern of the research was to observe the relative contribution of child, parent, and teachers to decisions about transitions between instruments and teachers, in a context where families typically have a wide range of options open to them.

The British instrumental study context includes a mixture of public and private provision. Public provision is through state schools and state-aided music centers. Private provision is through individual practitioners offering services on the open market. Many teachers working within the state system also offer private lessons. Thus, families are faced with what can seem to be quite bewildering choices, even at early stages of instrumental development. Even within different, more uniform systems, it is likely that the families of able young musicians will face increasing difficult choices as their children progress beyond what can be handled comfortably by local provision. It is, therefore, of

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quite general importance to understand the mechanisms by which successful choices are made.

METHOD

The subjects in this study were students at Chethams School of Music, Manchester, England. Students at this school, aged 8 to 18, are selected nationally on the basis of musical audition for a specialist education in which approximately half their learning time is devoted to music. Many students go on to professional careers as performing musicians. The 42 subjects consisted of approximately equal numbers of students in five categories of principal instrumental study: piano, violin, cello, any woodwind instrument, and any brass instrument. Half the students were judged outstanding by the high standards of the school; the other half were judged average or below.

Each subject was interviewed alone for between 30 and 45 minutes according to a semistructured format that allowed participants freedom to follow particu- lar issues in more depth according to subjects' willingness to explore particular areas. Half the students' parents were also interviewed, separately.

The focus of our investigation was on the musical lives of these young people prior to entering the school. The questions pertinent to the topic of this paper were the following (for each instrument as relevant):

1. Why did formal instrumental lessons begin? 2. How was the first teacher chosen/contacted? 3. Why did lessons end with a particular teacher? 4. How were subsequent teachers chosen?

These questions were not posed formally in all cases, as the required infor- mation often was offered spontaneously in response to a more general question. For the purposes of this paper, instrumental lessons were defined as any period of instruction, whether singly or in a group, in which the mastery of a single instrument was the purpose of the instruction. Based on this criterion, group lessons were included (e.g., school recorder class, Suzuki violin or cello class), but bands, orchestras, and chamber groups were excluded.

All interviews were tape-recorded, and verbatim transcriptions were produced by a third party not present at the interviews. Quantitative aspects of the data were coded from the transcriptions according to a predetermined schedule. A random sample of eight interviews was coded independently by both investiga- tors; the mean interrater reliability was .95.

RESULTS

Overall Pattern of Transitions

Table 1 summarizes the musical transitions in the life of each of the 42 subjects. The majority of subjects "discovered" their principal instrument after trying at least one other instrument. In only 19 of the 42 cases was the very first instrument studied the current principal study. In 10 cases, the eventual prin- cipal-study instrument was the third or even fourth instrument tried. Clear differences exist, however, between different instrument groups. Nine out of 10 of the students who were principally violinists began their musical lives on the violin. Seven out of 10 of the students who were principally pianists also started their musical lives on the piano. The only subjects to work with just one instru-

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ment throughout their pre-Chethams careers were two pianists. However, analy- sis of variance showed that the five groups of instrumentalists did not differ significantly in either the number of instruments studied [F (4, 37) = 2.36, p = .07] or the number of teachers engaged [F (4, 37) = .63].

Table 1 Instrumental and Teacher Transitions Prior to Entry in Chethams School, N = 42

Instrument by order of starting lessons: First n(t) Second n(t) Third n(t) Fourth n(t) I T

Piano Piano (2) Cello (1) * 2 3 Recorder (2) Piano (2) Cello (1) * 3 5 Piano (3) Violin (2) * 2 4 Piano (1) * 1 1 Recorder (1) Violin (1) Piano (1) * 3 3 Piano (2) Violin (2) * 2 4 Piano (2) 1 2 Piano (2) Percussion (1) 2 3 Recorder (1) Piano (2) Violin (3) 3 6 Piano (1) Clarinet (1) 2 2

Violin Recorder (1) Violin (2) Piano (1) * 3 4 Violin (2) Piano (1) *2 3 Violin (2) Piano (2) *2 3 Violin (2) Piano (1) 2 3 Violin (3) Piano (1) 2 4 Violin (3) Piano (2) Percussion (1) 3 6 Violin (3) Piano (1) 2 4 Violin (1) Piano (2) 2 3 Violin (4) Piano (1) 2 5

Cello Piano (2) Cello (2) * 2 4 Recorder (2) Piano (1) Cello (1) * 3 4 Cello (1) Piano (1) * 2 2 Recorder (1) Piano (2) Cello (1) * 3 4 Piano (1) Cello (1) Recorder (1) 3 3 Piano (1) Cello (1) 2 2 Piano (3) Cello (2) 2 5

Woodwinds Recorder (1) Piano (2) Flute (3) * 3 6 Recorder (2) Violin (3) Bassoon (1) Piano (1) * 4 7 Recorder (1) Piano (1) Flute (1) * 3 3 Recorder (1) Piano (2) Bassoon (2) * 3 5 Recorder (3) Violin (1) Piano (1) * 3 5 Recorder (1) Flute (2) 3 5 Recorder (1) Flute (1) Bassoon (1) Piano (2) 2 2

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Violin (1) Piano (1) Oboe (1) 3 3 Piano (1) Recorder (1) Oboe (1) 3 3 Recorder (1) Flute (2) 2 3

Brass

Recorder (1) Violin (1) Cornet (2) Piano (1) * 4 5 Guitar (1) Cornet (1) Trombone (1) * 3 3 Trumpet (1) Horn (1) * 2 2 Cornet (4) Piano (1) * 2 5 Trumpet (2) Guitar (3) 2 5 Piano (1) Trumpet (1) 2 2

Note. Instruments are named from left to right in order of commencement of lessons. The number in parentheses after each instrument is the number of different teachers for that instrument. The instrument underlined is currently the student's principal study instru- ment. Asterisks (*) denote pupils currently judged to be outstanding. Column I shows the number of instruments studied, and Column T shows the total number of teachers.

Another noteworthy feature of these data is the fact that 15 of the 42 subjects began their musical careers on the recorder, usually as a result of lessons provided as a matter of course through their first school. Despite the fact that only one subject continued with recorder at Chethams School, and despite the fact that several subjects did not see the recorder as a "proper" instrument, it clearly provided a very important stepping stone for stimulating musical interest and the development of basic skills for a significant minority of the subjects.

In terms of numbers of different teachers, there are no statistically significant differences between the "outstanding" and "average" group of subjects (t = 0.44, df= 40). However, the "outstanding" group learned significantly more instru- ments on average (2.6) than the "average" group (2.2) (t = 1.90, df= 40, p < .05).

Reasons for Starting First Lessons

Reasons for starting lessons fell into five main categories that are listed in Table 2. The number of subjects citing each reason is given separately for the average and outstanding students (these numbers sum to more than 42 because some subjects gave two reasons). The majority of subjects began simply because either their school or their parents thought it a good thing, irrespective of ability or interest.

In order to protect anonymity, only minimal information is provided here concerning the quoted individual participants. In the following extracts from the transcribed interviews, Y denotes a respondent aged 13 years or less, O denotes 15 years or older, and M and F refer to male and female subjects respectively. P denotes "parent of

."

[OF] I began recorder with my dad. I think it was probably his idea, you know, parents always like to introduce all sorts of things to their kids, you know, like dancing and acting and maths and all these sorts of thingsjust to see what they will eventually be interested in.

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Table 2 Reasons for Starting First Instrumental Lessons

Current ability level

Outstanding Average

Part of normal school routine 6 6

Parental instigation For general educational benefits 6 12 Specific response to perceived ability 1 0

Child's own interest in music 6 6

Child's wish to emulate sibling 6 3

It is significant that of the 18 children who began lessons because of a

parental decision, only 6 were from the "outstanding" group (chi-square = 6.46, df= 1, p < .02). It seems that there may be particular costs associated with a parent instigating a child's musical career in the absence of any clear impulse from the child. These costs apparently were not shared by those 12 children starting lessons at the instigation of a school.

The next most frequent category of responses was the child's own request. This reason was found equally often among "outstanding" and "average" sub-

jects. In some cases, this exhibited itself in a special aptitude or behavior. In other cases, the child showed a special interest in a particular instrumental sound:

[YF] I heard the sound of the flute on the radio or something, and Ijust really loved the sound of it, and I kept wanting to play, so mum said we'd have to see ifwe could find somebody. [Parent: "At an earlier age she was always interested in the flute, and from quite an early age she pestered and pestered to learn something."]

The influence of older siblings was important in nine cases. Some subjects were jealous of the older sibling's accomplishment or opportunity. Others learned to love the sound of the instrument played by the sibling, and wanted to make this sound for themselves.

Choosing the First Teacher

The left-hand figures in Table 3 show the distribution of different ways in which the first teacher was found. The sources can be divided into two broad categories. In category A, the new teacher's musical standing either was known directly to the parent, or directly supported by the judgment of a professional expert. The sources within this category are not mutually exclusive, and some- times a given case appears under two different sources; for instance, a teacher supplied through the school who was also a sibling's teacher. In category B, the teacher's likely standing was unknown, or unsupported by professional judg- ment. The overall distribution of choices did not differ significantly between the two groups of subjects (chi-square = 0.32, df= 1). In 17 cases, the teacher

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was found through the school education system, being either a teacher in the child's school (11), a visiting instrumental teacher (4), or a teacher at a local

Saturday morning center (2). In 19 other cases, the teacher was found through the network of social contacts. Eight teachers were found through asking friends or acquaintances. Seven were relatives or friends of the family, and four already had taught an older sibling within the family. In only two cases did parents choose teachers entirely on their own initiative, by using the local newspaper or telephone directory.

Table 3

Frequency of Different Sources of First Teacher Contact for First and Subsequent Instru- ments

First instrument Subsequent instrument

Current ability level: Outstanding Average Outstanding Average

Direct/expert Recommended by

previous teacher N/A N/A 11 5

Supplied through music center 2 0 7 2 Sibling's teacher 0 4 3 0 Parent or friend of family 3 4 2 1 Recommended by

music specialist 0 0 2 0 Supplied through school 7 8 6 6

Indirect/inexpert Recommended by

friend/acquaintance 4 4 4 9 Found through newspaper

or telephone directory 2 0 0 3 No information given 2 2 10 7

It seems, therefore, that, by and large, parents either accepted the teacher offered by the school system, or chose a teacher known to someone they knew. Often they sought little direct information about the teacher's musical or personal characteristics:

[PYM] A friend of mine, her little daughter went to this particularly lady, and it was a recommendation, really. And to be very mercenary about it, she was actually very, very cheap. We weren't losing much if [my child] didn't develop very much.

Teacher Transitions Associated with the First Instrument

In 10 cases, the interviews provide no relevant information about transitions on the first instrument. Among the remaining 32 cases, only 3 children con- tinued with their first teacher through to Chethams. The remaining 29 children were involved in 41 teacher transitions. The largest single category of transitions (16) was precipitated by a dissatisfaction of either child or parent with lessons. Table 4 shows the distribution of reasons for teacher transitions as a function

290 SLOBODA-HOWE

of ability level. The significant majority of transitions due to dissatisfaction

appear in the "average" group (chi-square = 6.46, df= 1, p < .02). Apparently, an unsatisfactory first teacher can adversely affect a child's chance of achieving outstanding levels of performance at a later age. In cases where the dissatisfac- tion was that of the child, this usually entailed the permanent or temporary cessation of work on that instrument:

[YM] I started piano at 5. The teacher lived just down the road. She tried to get a lot out of you and pushed you a lot. She wasn't very patient. I didn't enjoy it, and I didn't want to practice it, so I stopped.

Table 4 Reasons for Transitions between Teachers on First and Subsequent Instruments

First instrument Subsequent instrument

Current ability level: Outstanding Average Outstanding Average

Child or parent dissatisfaction 4 12 10 1

Geographical move 4 6 3 5

Recommendation of parent 3 5 1 1

Recommendation of teacher 3 0 3 4

No information given 6 4 9 3

Where parents were concerned, a variety of reasons for changing teachers were given. Some were concerned with "administrative" matters, such as geo- graphical location or timing of lessons. Other parents were concerned with

teaching style and their perceptions of their child's musical progress:

[POF] Itwas exams, exams, which we didn't agree with. Then we had an almighty row with him because he wouldn't teach technique, that was what happened. And he refused to teach them any more.

The second largest class of transitions (10) were a result of either the teacher or the family moving out of the area, in most cases forcing an unwanted change of teacher. In no single case in the entire sample (whether on first or subse-

quent instrument) did a geographical move lead to abandonment of lessons

through inertia. In every case, the family made whatever efforts were necessary to ensure continuity of lessons. This is one of many signs of these parents' immense commitment to their children's musical development. Given the very high levels of geographical mobility among both the music teachers and the professional families from whom most of these children came, such levels of family commitment to their children's continuing musical learning are arguably essential for the long-term development to the highest levels of musical achievement.

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The remaining transitions occurred for various reasons, none of which was

very frequent. They did, however, include three cases where the teacher, rec-

ognizing the child's potential and his or her own limitations, recommended the move to a better teacher.

Reasons for Beginning Other Instruments

Since this sample was distinguished by the early acquisition of skills on several instruments, it is particularly important to examine the reasons for beginning study of new instruments. In the sample as a whole, there were 61 instances of beginning a new instrument. Table 5 shows the major categories and frequen- cies of reasons given. Most frequently, the child's own interest was given as a reason:

[OF] I started to learn the cello. Mum and Dad and I used to go to concerts on a fairly regular basis, and the cellojust struck me as being a very lovely instrument.

Table 5 Reasons for Beginning New Instruments

Current ability level

Outstanding Average

Parental suggestion 14 2 Child's own interest 11 9 Recommendation of instrumental teacher 1 4 Emulation of sibling 4 1 Opportunity offered by school 1 2 No reason given 5 5

The next most frequent category of reason for beginning a new instrument was the suggestion of a parent, which was a significant factor in 16 cases (38%).

[YF] I think my parents suggested the violin to me. I think it was like that because I wasn't all that keen on it when I first heard the idea. Ijust liked the recorder....

Curiously, of the 16 transitions suggested by parents, 14 were for children in the "outstanding" group (chi-square = 14.54, df= 1, p < .001). This contrasts markedly with the pattern for first instrument lessons, where parental instiga- tion was found more often in the "average" group.

In very few cases (5) did an instrumental teacher play any direct role in suggesting a new instrument. Here is one clear example:

[PYM] After a few months, when the trumpet teacher saw there was a bit of potential, there he tried to seek someone else who would suit [the student] better. The teacher thought he had a lot more potential for the French horn than the trumpet ... and recommended a French horn teacher at the same center.

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How Teachers of Subsequent Instruments Were Contacted

As indicated previously, the majority of teachers for first instruments were

supplied by the school or recommended by acquaintances. The right-hand portion of Table 3 shows the frequencies of different kinds of contacts across all subsequent instruments. The most common contact was a previous teacher's direct recommendation. In contrast to the pattern for first instruments, subjects in the "outstanding" group were most likely to have obtained teachers on the basis of reliable expert information about their musical standing (the first

category of Table 3). "Average" subjects were more likely to have used more indirect or inexpert sources of information (the second category of Table 3, chi-

square = 8.42, df= 1, p < .01). For whatever reason, parents of the outstanding students seemed better able to make professionally informed choices of teacher

by the time their children began study of second or third instruments.

Teacher Transition Associated with Subsequent Instruments

Table 4 shows the four main categories of reason for teacher transition

compared with the pattern for the first instrument. As before, the largest single category is dissatisfaction with the current teacher. However, it is significant that all but one case of this come from the "outstanding" group:

[OF] Then my parents decided I wasn't getting anywhere and that I was learning the pieces much more quickly than he was expecting, and I thought I would probably move much faster with a better teacher. [Parent: "We really did feel she was being seriously understretchcd. .... The teacher was saying 'yes, she's good B+.' And we were saying 'no, no, she's got much more than that.' We looked for a teacher with a good reputation."]

In general, transitions in this category seemed to occur because of a percep- tion within the family that the child needed a better, more demanding teacher. This contrasts with a much more varied set of dissatisfactions with first teachers, including reasons of personality, organization, or the fact that the child was

being pushed too hard.

DISCUSSION

Our data show that the young people in this sample experienced a richly varied set of early career transitions, and a wide range of reasons and circum- stances were associated with these transitions. What unites them all is the

persistence and tenacity with which musical development was pursued through these transitions. While revealing a different and more complex pattern than in Sosniak's (1985) sample, we believe that our findings point in an even more dramatic way to the importance of the continuity of parental support and

encouragement in sustaining commitment through career transitions. Although we derived our data from a group of British children, we believe

that we can draw certain quite general implications for instrumental instruction: 1. Every effort should be made to ensure that the very first instrumental

teacher is someone whom the child will like. This seems to be a vital prereq- uisite of outstanding achievement.

2. Parents should be cautious of initiating instrumental instruction for their children if the children do not ask for it, or if it is not part of the normal

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school routine. Such tactics are unlikely to lead to the highest levels of achievement.

3. Classroom-based instruction on instruments such as recorder can be a useful stepping-stone to excellence on other instruments.

4. Children should be encouraged to learn several instruments, or to try new ones if old ones are dropped. The first instrument is not necessarily the one on which a child eventually will excel. Diversity of instrumental experience is associated with excellence.

5. Although teachers of first instruments can play an important advisory role in selecting suitable teachers for second instruments, parents should take a

leading role in seeking another teacher when it becomes apparent that a child is not being challenged or stretched.

Our overall results suggest that musical excellence is achieved by the neces- sary contributions of three people: the child, the teacher, and the parent. It is possible that the parent's vital role sometimes may be overlooked in discussions of instrumental learning.

A particularly striking testimony to family commitment was the fact that in not one instance did a geographical move lead to the abandoning of lessons. We are convinced that this commitment is a vital and irreplaceable facet in

developing exceptionally able musicians. We realize that such commitment is easier for families whose material and social circumstances are relatively com- fortable. Lessons and instruments can be expensive, and lessons often presup- pose backup resources such as transport. The majority of students at Chethams have parents from the professional and managerial classes (32 out of 42 of our sample). There are many parents whose circumstances make it very difficult for them to make major investments in their children's musical education. So long as providing and funding high-quality individual instrumental instruction re- mains a marginal priority of public primary education, those who attain high levels of musical performance achievement may be drawn largely from the ranks of the educated middle classes.

Finally, our results make it clear that the development of high levels of musical accomplishment is enhanced by the active participation of both child and parent in choices about teachers and instruments. Although such partici- pation is arguably more likely in contexts where families have a variety of options and the resources to pursue them, we believe that our results have general implications for any system in which instrumental instruction is offered. In particular, enhanced musical accomplishment may well follow from increased opportunities for parents and children to initiate informed decisions about changes of teacher or instrument.

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June 3, 1991