The joys of making music recreationally: the benefits of adult music study.

Adult students are an increasingly important part of the musical landscape, and they currently represent the fastest-growing population of music students. Unlike most traditional adult education endeavors, adults taking music instruction usually are not seeking financial gain or career improvement. They are, however, often choosing to spend a great amount of time, money and energy in a pursuit that can be humbling at times. Why are they interested in taking music lessons, and what exactly do they report to be getting out of their music study?

These questions have led me to conduct research with adult music students, and some of the findings of that research formed the basis of my presentation at MTNA's 2009 Pedagogy Saturday. In my own experience with adult students over the years, I have witnessed a tremendous variety of motivations, goals, dreams and stories. I strongly believe that if we can gain a better understanding of what adults are seeking from their music study, we can offer them instruction that better meets their needs.

To this end, I have conducted two sizeable studies with different populations. In 2003, I had 711 adult piano students from across the United States complete surveys on the Benefits of Adult Piano Study. (1) In 2008, 1,283 adults who were playing in New Horizons Bands completed a similar survey. (2) In both cases, I measured personal, social and skill benefits of their musical experience. In the 2008 New Horizons study I also added, based on recent literature, a smaller category of health benefits.

On each questionnaire, there were numerous benefit items listed. For each benefit item, respondents were asked if they agreed that the benefit existed at all (for them personally). If they answered "yes" to this question, they also were asked to rate the importance of that benefit on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being a most important benefit. This provided two points of data for each item--the percentage of agreement that a benefit existed and the mean importance of that benefit to those who agreed it existed.

For both populations (pianists and New Horizons members), skill benefits such as technique, skill improvement/refinement, and music reading had some of the highest percentages of agreements, indicating that students agreed that musical study improved their skills. Of note to teachers, however, is that when students rated the importance of benefits, personal benefits such as dream fulfilled, accomplishment, play/fun and escape from routine were among the most important benefits. While the students valued skill benefits, personal benefits had very strong meaning and importance.

The adult piano students rated social benefits considerably lower than all the other benefits. New Horizons members, however, rated social benefits (such as new friends, socialization and camaraderie) much higher than the pianists, often placing these items on a similar footing with skill and personal benefits. One possible explanation for this may lie in the nature of piano study versus the nature of participating in a large ensemble. Piano study is often a very solitary activity--students practice alone, have one-on-one lessons and usually perform solos. Band members, however, need a large social structure to rehearse and must work together to create a musical product. While not proven, I suspect that this difference in social environments may explain the differences in ratings.

To summarize briefly, the data collected in these studies demonstrates that adult students receive and value a variety of benefits from their musical study, not all of which are skill-based benefits. The students who participated in my research clearly indicated that there are many personal, social and health-based benefits that are important and have a lot of meaning. Since benefits and their importance may vary from student to student, I strongly advise all teachers of adult students to take the time to learn about their students, what they value and what they are looking for in their musical experience. Armed with this information, teachers can make informed decisions about curriculum and teaching activities and provide instruction suited to the needs and goals of their adult students. This can help create an enjoyable, meaningful and more productive experience for both teacher and student and encourage adult students to continue to pursue music for years to come. (3)

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NOTES

(1.) P. Jutras, (2006). "The benefits of adult piano study: As self-reported by selected adult piano students." The Journal of Research in Music Education 54, no. 2:97-110.

(2.) New Horizons Bands are aimed at musicians aged 50 and older. Unlike traditional community bands, they offer an entry point for adults with no experience who wish to begin instrument study and play in a band. New Horizons Bands are focused less on traditional performance outcomes and more on the enjoyment and meaning of the experience of playing music with others.

(3.) For more information on the data collected in these studies, please write to [e-mail].

Pete Jutras, NCTM, is editor-in-chief of Clavier Companion and the piano pedagogy specialist at the University of Georgia. He is a frequent presenter at local and national conferences and his research has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education.