Musical instrument choice and playing history in post‐secondary level music students: some descriptive data, some causes and some background factors

Abstract

Why do musicians specialize in the specific instruments that they do? Research has shown effects of such factors as the perceived masculinity/femininity of instruments and musician's personality but there are little background data on other factors. The present study had two major aims. The first aim was to gather some useful background data on musician's history of playing, looking at such things as number of instruments played and given up, number of main instruments, age of starting studying, and so on. The second was to examine some additional background factors and specific motives for choice, such as instrument availability and perceived need for players, in students studying music at post‐secondary level. A total of 157 music students completed a questionnaire that asked about their musical history and about various background factors. The results show complex musical histories, and many varied and multiple motives for specialization.

Percentage of participants citing each instrument as a main instrument; most (about 82%) cited only one current main instrument

Notes

Corresponding author. School of Education, University of NSW, Sydney 2052 NSW, Australia. Email: [email protected]