From music student to professional: the process of transition

Discussion

There can be little doubt that making the transition from student to music professional
is daunting. The evidence presented here suggests that, irrespective of musical genre,
newcomers to the music profession must grapple with the challenges of forging a
niche within a highly competitive domain, finding considerable amounts of time to
devote to continuing professional development and self-promotion and overcoming
internal demons in the form of self-doubt. These findings add to MacNamara et al.’s
study (2006), suggesting that the fear, frustration, financial and practical constraints
associated with the early years of professional classical music careers may be
experiences that are shared by musicians of all genres.

As individuals acquire increased adult responsibilities, pressures on time clearly
become more acute. For musicians, lack of time to devote to practising may lie at the
heart of a negative cycle of increasing self-doubt and decreasing engagement in
music. Furthermore, lack of performance work often means professional musicians
must undertake work in non-music jobs, feeding once again into the same cycle.

Several factors were identified which helped musicians to overcome these challenges
and construct fulfilling musical careers. Intrinsic personality qualities, including
communication skills, perseverance, self-confidence, enjoyment of music and high
musical standards, were all found to be mitigating factors, once again elucidating the
findings from MacNamara et al. (2006). Individuals who had strategies for enhancing
self-confidence could increasingly celebrate their own musical strengths, while
interpersonal communication skills were valued both in terms of networking and in

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