Book Chapter

Playing an Instrument

G MCPHERSON, J Davidson, P Evans

The Child as Musician: A handbook of musical development | Oxford University Press | Published : 2016

Abstract

Learning to play a musical instrument is one of the most widespread musical activities for children. While much research in the past century has focused on the assessment of musical abilities and the content of their lessons, more recent research has focused on children’s interactions with their social environments and how these interactions impact their ongoing ability and motivation to learn and play music. This chapter explores these social and cognitive developments starting with how children and their parents select an instrument and negotiate the commencement of formal music learning, through to the task related cognitive strategies children use to overcome the difficulties associated ..

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