Youth orchestras like the Toronto Youth Symphony Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Canada are the backbone of Canada’s orchestras. The training and technical skills they receive are invaluable towards a future career as a professional musician.
But, there’s more to the picture than that — and musical skills aren’t the only ones they’ll gain.
A recently published study’s title, Playing music together: Exploring the impact of a classical music ensemble on adolescent’s life skills self-perception, says it all.
The Study
UK based researcher Anna Bussu and her collaborator wanted to examine the impact ensemble performance has on an adolescent musician. Do they gain life skills along with music technique?
The study uses qualitative and sampling techniques to interview 15 kids between the ages of 12 and 18 who were participating in a long term music program in the North-West of England, and then analyze the results. The program provides orchestral instrument instruction, performances, and specialized techniques such as early instrument training.
Both the benefits and the challenges emerged from the study. What’s more, the participants seemed to be conscious of the beneficial effects, which included:
- Music skills, not surprisingly — and the young musicians expressed great appreciation for the opportunity to learn advanced skills they wouldn’t get at a regular school music class;
- Greater self-confidence;
- Better cognitive skills, including critical thinking;
- Increased self-awareness motivation and resilience.
The strongest positive effect was reported in the areas of communication and interpersonal skills.
The challenges largely involved two main areas:
- Learning and adapting to new music techniques, as well as learning styles from different instructors;
- Managing the frustration, disappointment, and other emotions that come during the learning process.
Building A Case
The study notes that the findings tie together the results of previous research. Other research projects have looked at specific issues, and sometimes even specific types of music. Exposure to baroque music, for example, has been used to improve reading skills, and other studies have found differences between the effects of baroque and contemporary music styles on musicians’ brains.
The role of adults in guiding young musicians was also underscored by the study’s findings, along with peers as mentors.
Community and working together as a group were the driving forces for many of the benefits described, including the boost to self-confidence. Social connections were often long lasting, and older students often returned to reconnect with the ensemble.
The value of youth orchestras and ensembles isn’t news to true lovers of classical music, but perhaps a growing body of research can help convince the appropriate funders and agencies as well.
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