Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:22:54.921Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Young Musicians' Accounts of Significant Influences in their Early Lives. 1. The Family and the Musical Background

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Michael J. A. Howe  and
John A. Sloboda
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

This article reports qualitative findings of an interview study in which 42 students (aged 10–18) from a specialist music school were encouraged to talk about various experiences in their lives which the individual children perceived as having been potentially significant influences on their progress in learning musical instruments. The parents of half the children were also interviewed. Observations concerning the following sources of influence are reported: the family background; sibling influences; listening to music. The insights of children and their parents, which complement and add depth to quantitative findings concerning the biographical precursors of musical excellence, help to provide a rich source of descriptive information about the circumstances in which children become competent young musicians.

Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Music Education , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , March 1991 , pp. 39 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bamberger, J. (1986) Cognitive issues in the development of musically gifted children. In Sternberg, R. J. and Davidson, J. E. (Eds), Conceptions of Giftedness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Berry, C. (1981). The Nobel scientists and the origins of scientific achievement. British Journal of Sociology, 32, 381–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ericsson, K. A., Tesch-Romer, C. & Krampe, R. T. (1990) The role of practice and motivation in the acquisition of expert-level performance in real life: an empirical evaluation of a theoretical framework. In Howe, M. J. A. (Ed.), Encouraging the Development of Exceptional Abilities and Talents. Leicester: The British Psychological Society.Google Scholar
Hargreaves, D. J. (1986) The Developmental Psychology of Music. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howe, M. J. A. (1982) Biographical evidence and the development of outstanding individuals. American Psychologist, 37, 1071–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howe, M. J. A. (1990) The Origins of Exceptional Abilities. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Roe, A. (1952) The Making of a Scientist. New York: Dodd, Mead.Google Scholar
Shuter-Dyson, R. & Gabriel, C. (1981) The Psychology of Musical Ability, Second Edition. London: Methuen.Google Scholar
Sloboda, J. A. (1985) The Musical Mind: the Cognitive Psychology of Music. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Sloboda, J. A. (1989) Music as a language. In Wilson, F. and Roehmann, F. (Eds), Music and Child Development. St Louis, Missouri: MMB Inc.Google Scholar
Sloboda, J. A. & Howe, M. J. A. I. (1991) Biographical precursors of musical excellence: an interview study. Psychology of Music (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sosniak, L. A. (1985) Learning to be a concert pianist. In Bloom, B. S. (Ed.), Developing Talent in Young People. New York: Ballantine.Google Scholar
Sosniak, L. A. (1990) The tortoise, the hare, and the development of talent. In Howe, M. J. A. (Ed.), Encouraging the Development of Exceptional Abilities and Talents. Leicester: The British Psychological Society.Google Scholar