From music student to professional: the process of transition

Bradley, a popular Portfolio musician, emphasized the importance of interpersonal
skills: “the social side of it is really important, being able to get on with people”.
Seona, a Scottish traditional musician, emphasized the ability to use interpersonal
skills in the context of engaging audiences and putting across musical ideas: “what I
look for is communication, understanding and the ability to put that across”. There
was a strong sense of perseverance, amongst all of the musicians, and encapsulated by
Bridget (classical musician): “I’ve got to always push myself to get more ability .. I
am quite dedicated to that and quite strict with myself”. Dedication and self-
discipline were sustained by a tremendous enjoyment from music-making, articulated
succinctly by Maria, a classical violinist: “I completely love music. I still practise for
the sheer pleasure of it, and I don’t think I could live without music”.

Developing reserves of self-confidence was found to be important for musicians from
all genres. For jazz musician Peter, self-confidence grew from an acceptance and
celebration of his own individuality as a musician: “as I feel the need less to emulate
the past masters... feel less of a requirement to play like other people ... I kind of
accepted who I am as a musician”.

Skills: A full gamut of musical and organisational skills was considered to be
necessary for individuals cultivating a music performance career. Although it is
outside of the scope of this paper to give a full account of each of these sub-themes
(see Table 6), the prominent theme of versatility seemed to encapsulate the
significance attached to skill development on a number of different fronts. The
capacity to be musically versatile was found to be highly valued and was a potent

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