From music student to professional: the process of transition



in the music industry “(ibid, pp. 299-300) and suggesting that salient psychological
characteristics at that particular transition point included versatility, self-belief,
planning, perseverance and interpersonal skills.

The research reported here adds to the existing knowledge related to key transitions in
the lives of musicians and specifically how higher education experiences may
diminish or enhance the transition experience; in particular it is concerned with the
transitional process of acquiring and establishing a professional artistic identity.
Significantly, this study includes accounts from musicians representing a broad
spectrum of musical genres, thus affording the opportunity to identify cross-genre
differences or commonalities in transition experiences. Furthermore, as popular
music and Scottish traditional music are relative newcomers to the higher education
context, this research offers insights into how higher education establishments that
focus on musical genres other than classical may best support their students in the rite
of passage from student to professional.

Methodology

Twenty-seven semi-structured in-depth interviews were undertaken with portfolio
career musicians (N = 15) who reflected on past experiences of transition as well as
undergraduate (N = 12) music students who could be said to be „in transition’. The
participants were „case studies’ drawn from a larger sample of musicians (N = 244)
who had all completed a survey of attitudes relating to teaching, learning and
expertise in music (Welch et al., 2006). The musicians represented four musical
genres that included classical, Scottish traditional, jazz and popular. A profile of the
participants is given in Table 1.



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