The phenomenon of orchestral practice: implications for student motivation and learning

Abstract

In the studies carried out on musical learning, the group musical practice has not been the object of in-depth study. In fact, little is currently known about the impact of playing in an orchestra on students' motivation or learning to study the instrument. In this study, the objective was to understand the phenomenon of musical practice in orchestra, to answer the research questions: does playing in an orchestra generate intrinsic motivation in students? Does it have implications for individual learning and study of the instrument? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 orchestral students to learn the attitude, feelings and perceptions of the students involved. Content analysis involved: (1) systematic approach to the data analysis process, (2) use of data reduction methods and 3) coding the data into categories. This categorization did result in what is called “pattern analysis”. The qualitative analysis of the data indicates that students feel motivated for orchestral practice and that it can be positively reflected in the student's learning and motivation to engage in learning the instrument. The orchestra practice seems to result in increasing the time of practice and clearly helps the development of musical and social skills. The self-determination theory is the one that explains better the obtained results. According to this theoretical perspective, to feel motivated for a given task, the individual must fulfill 3 basic psychological needs: autonomy, competence, and establishment of social bonds. For the students, playing in orchestra seems to be a favorable context to develop autonomy, perception of competence, and establish social bonds with their peers. Playing in orchestra seems to be the challenge in which the balance between the perception of the difficulty of the task and the perception of being competent to perform it successfully is present. That is, it seems like a great level challenge.