Motivation, engagement, and performance in elite musical training: A longitudinal study

Abstract

Background Musicians training at the highest levels in university music schools and conservatories face considerable challenges. They need to undertake enormous amounts of practice—an activity which requires substantial effort and can be lonely, difficult, and boring. They also face considerable motivational challenges: studio teachers are renowned for their demandingness, conservatories can be hotbeds of competitiveness and pressure, and the uncertainties and risks of pursuing a music performance career require resilience and adaptability. Little systematic research has examined the motivational dynamics of music training at this level, and the style of studio instruction—a consistent tradi..