ABSTRACT
This chapter examines issues of motivation and competence acquisition in music learning in higher education by contextualising quantitative and qualitative data gathered as part of the Investigating Musical Performance (IMP) project (Welch, et al., 2006–2008; Creech et al., 2008). Drawing upon research from psychology, ethnomusicology and music education, it explores differences between the sample of Western classical musicians, on the one hand, and popular, jazz and Scottish traditional (other-than-classical) musicians, on the other. Three interrelated factors will be considered: musicians’ motivations for and ongoing experiences of learning/making music; the divergent learning practices they employ; and the distinct types of musical competence that result. In addition to reflecting on these three elements and the reciprocal relationships between them (see Figure 8.1), thought will be given to some of the implications of this research for those involved in designing and delivering higher education music programmes. Motivation and competence acquisition across genres https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315565699/aaf08781-2936-4bed-bdea-daab10f168d8/content/fig8_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
