For many people, the appeal of music lies in its connection to human emotions. A significant body of research has explored the emotions that are experienced through either the formal structure of music or through its symbolic messages. Yet in the instrumental music education field, this emotional connection is rarely examined. In this article, it is argued that identifying more about “liking music,” especially in young learners, has a role to play in explaining the music-learning experience and how participation in learning can be sustained. Based on findings from the qualitative elements of a larger study that explored student engagement with learning, this article proposes the concept of “affinity” as the affective and subjective connection to music that motivates individuals’ continuing involvement with music.
AsmusE. P. (1989). The effect of music teachers on students’ motivation to achieve in music. Canadian Journal of Research in Music Education, 30(1), 14–21.
2.
BaileyL. W. (2006). A study of motivation and self-regulation among high school instrumental music students (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Capella University, Minnesota.
3.
BarclayC. R. (1987). Truth and accuracy in autobiographical memory. In GrunebergM. M.MorrisP. E.SykesR. N. (Eds.), Practical aspects of memory: Current research and issues, Vol. 1. Memory in everyday life (pp. 159–188). Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
4.
BlackingJ. (1973). How musical is man?Seattle: University of Washington Press.
5.
Bonneville-RoussyA.LavigneG. L.VallerandR. J. (2010). When passion leads to excellence: The case of musicians. Psychology of Music, 39(1), 1–16.
6.
CampbellP. S. (2007). Adolescents’ expressed meanings of music in and out of school. Journal of Research in Music Education, 55(3), 220–236.
7.
CarifioJ. (2005, July). Towards a standard integrated information processing/cognitive model of learning. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the International History, Philosophy and Science Teaching Group, Leeds, UK.
8.
CarverC. S.ScheierM. F. (1990). Origins and functions of positive and negative affect: A control-process view. Psychological Review, 97(1), 19–35.
9.
ChandlerD.ChiareIlaC.AuriaK. (1988). Performance expectancy, success, satisfaction, and attributions as variables in band challenges. Journal of Research in Music Education, 35(2), 249–258.
10.
CharmazK. (2002). Qualitative interviewing and grounded theory analysis. In GubriumJ. F.HolsteinJ. A. (Eds.), Handbook of interview research (pp. 675–694). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
11.
DavidsonJ.CorreiaJ. S. (2001). Meaningful musical performance: A bodily experience. Research Studies in Music Education, 17, 70–83.
12.
DillonS. (2007). Music, meaning and transformation. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
13.
DriscollJ. (2009). “If I play my sax my parents are nice to me”: Opportunity and motivation in musical instrument and singing tuition. Music Education Research, 11(1), 37–55.
14.
GeringerJ. M. (1997). Nonmusic majors’ cognitive and affective responses to performance and programmatic music videos. Journal of Research in Music Education, 45(2), 221–233.
15.
GovelL. S. M. (2004). An examination of the types of parental involvement among piano student dropouts (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Southern California, USA.
16.
HallamS. (1998). The predictors of achievement and dropout in instrumental tuition. Psychology of Music, 26(2), 116–132.
17.
HaysT.MinichielloV. (2005). The meaning of music in the lives of older people: A qualitative study. Psychology of Music, 33(4), 437–451.
18.
HidiS.RenningerK. A. (2006). The four-phase model of interest development. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 111–127.
19.
JackendoffR.LerdahlF. (2006). The capacity for music: What is it, and what’s special about it?Cognition, 100(1), 33–72.
20.
KokotsakiD.HallamS. (2007). Higher education music students’ perceptions of the benefits of participative music making. Music Education Research, 9(1), 993–109.
21.
KrathwohlD. R.BloomB. S.MasiaB. B. (1964). Taxonomy of educational objectives. Handbook II: Affective domain. New York, NY: David McKay Co.
22.
LarkinM.WattsS.CliftonE. (2006). Giving voice and making sense in interpretative phenomenological analysis. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 102–120.
23.
LazarusR. S.FolkmanS. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York, NY: Springer Publications.
24.
LinnenbrinkE. (2006). Emotion research in education: Theoretical and methodological perspectives on the integration of affect, motivation, and cognition. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 307–314.
25.
LundqvistL.-O.CarlssonF.HilmerssonP.JuslinP. N. (2009). Emotional responses to music: Experience, expression, and physiology. Psychology of Music, 37(1), 61–90.
26.
MarjoribanksK.MboyaM. (2004). Learning environments, goal orientations and interest in music. Journal of Research in Music Education, 52(2), 155–166.
27.
MaslowA. (1943). A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review, 50, 370–396.
28.
McPhersonG. E.McCormickJ. (1999). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of musical practice. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 141, 98–102.
29.
MeyerD. K.TurnerJ. C. (2002). Discovering emotion in classroom motivation research. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 107–114.
30.
NorthA. C.HargreavesD. J.O’NeillS. A. (2000). The importance of music to adolescents. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70(2), 255–272.
31.
O’NeillS. A. (1999). The role of achievement-related self-perceptions in the practice and achievement of young musicians. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 141, 129.
32.
O’NeillS. A. (2001). Young people and music participation project: Practitioner report and summary of findings (Report by the Unit for the Study of Musical Skill and Development). Keele University. Retrieved from http://www.rymeyouth.com/young-music-participation-keele-university
33.
PhelanP.DavidsonA. L.YuH. C. (Eds.). (1998). Adolescents’ worlds, negotiating family, peers and school. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
34.
PintrichP. R.De GrootE. V. (1990). Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(1), 33–40.
35.
PittsS. E. (2002a). Changing tunes: Musical experience and self-perception amongst school and university music students. Musicae Scientiae, 6(1), 73–92.
36.
PittsS. E. (2002b). The self-identity of young musicians. In MacdonaldR. A. R.HargreavesD. J.MiellD. (Eds.), Musical identities (pp. 79–96). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
37.
PittsS. E.DavidsonJ. W.McPhersonG. E. (2000). Developing effective practice strategies: Case studies of three young instrumentalists. Music Education Research, 2(1), 45–56.
38.
ReimerB. (2004). Once more with feeling: Reconciling discrepant accounts of musical affect. Philosophy of Music Education Review, 12(1), 4–16.
39.
RifeN.ShnekZ. M.LaubyJ. L.LapidusL. B. (2001). Children’s satisfaction with private music lessons. The Journal of Research in Music Education, 49(1), 21–32.
40.
RossB. M. (1991). Remembering the personal past. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
41.
RyanR. M.DeciE. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67.
42.
SchiefeleU. (1991). Interest, learning and motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26(3–4), 299–323.
43.
SchmittM. C. J. (1979). Development and validation of a measure of self-esteem of musical ability (Unpublished Doctoral dissertation). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA.
44.
SchunkD.ZimmermanB. (1997). Social origins of self-regulatory competence. Educational Psychologist, 32(4), 195–208.
45.
SchutzP. A.DeCuirJ. T. (2002). Inquiry on emotions in education. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 125–134.
46.
SchutzP. A.HongY.CrossD. I.OsbonJ. N. (2006). Reflections on investigating emotion in educational activity settings. Educational Psychology Review, 18, 343–360.
47.
SerafineM. L. (1988). Music as cognition: The development of thought in sound. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.
48.
SichivitsaV. O. (2004). Music motivation: A study of fourth, fifth and sixth graders’ intentions to persist in music. Contributions to Music Education, 31(2), 27–41.
49.
SichivitsaV. O. (2007, April). Value reinforcement theory: Examining motivational influences in elementary and middle school students. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
50.
SlobodaJ. A. (1999). Music – where cognition and emotion meet. The Psychologist, 12(9), 450–455.
51.
SlobodaJ. A. (2005). Exploring the musical mind. Cognition, emotion, ability, function. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
52.
SmithJ. A.JarmanM.OsbornM. (1999). Doing interpretative phenomenological analysis. In MurrayM.ChamberlainK. (Eds.), Qualitative health psychology: Theories and Methods (pp. 218–240). London, UK: SAGE.
53.
SosniakL. A. (1990). The tortoise, the hare and the development of talent. In HoweM. (Ed.), Encouraging the development of exceptional skills and talents (pp. 149–178). Leicester, UK: British Psychological Society.
54.
VellaR. (2000). Musical environments: A manual for listening, improvising and composing. Sydney, Australia: Currency Press.
