Self-motivation helped professional musicians continue their practice during the COVID-19 pandemic
Over the last two years, the entire music industry has been in a state of instability due to the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An international team of researchers examined how classical professional musicians have coped with uncertainty, financial struggles, and working life interactions during COVID-19 and how these factors have affected their practice. Internship is a key part of developing and maintaining a music career.
“Internally self – motivated musicians seemed to be more resilient pandemic threats and more capable of managing and maintaining their rehearsal routines, “said Guadalupe López-Íñiguez of the Sibelius Academy at the University of the Arts Helsinki, the first author of the study.
There are three stages of a pandemic
The researchers analyzed the responses an online survey 309 classical musicians from 41 countries in Europe and Latin America in three phases of a pandemic: just before the pandemic, at the height of the pandemic in 2020, and when vaccines were introduced and locks were reduced or removed.
Overall, the results suggest thatmotivation was an important factor in the resilience of the threats posed by the pandemic and in the training of performing musicians during the pandemic.
The musicians showed different rehearsal behaviors during the three phases analyzed. The time musicians spent training just before the pandemic and again during the availability of vaccines was similar. It didn’t matter if these musicians belonged to the Self-Based or External-Based Motivation groups.
However, at the height of the pandemic, musicians ’perceptions of threat significantly influenced their rehearsal schedules according to the two types of motivation studied. For example, those musicians whose motivation was externally regulated were more negatively affected at the peak of the pandemic; they showed incorrect adjustment time used to practice because it was significantly reduced – although this is an important part of professional music.
Love music as motivation
Musicians with self-motivation were better able to maintain their own practice schedules during the peak of the pandemic, despite the health and financial threats COVID-19 posed to them and the difficulties and challenges they faced in juggling online work, homeschooling and childcare in many cases during the closures.
“We are concerned about the lack of intrinsic motivation of some musicians. People who study music higher education for reasons other than mere passion and love of music may not survive as well in a crisis like a pandemic, ”López-Íñiguez said.
Research suggests that professional musicians who have difficulty coping and adapting in times of crisis and uncertainty would benefit from professional support. Such programs would help them develop adequate coping and stress management strategies as they learn to focus on intrinsic motives and cope in times of uncertainty and unpredictability.
The study was published in The limits of psychology.
Guadalupe López-Íñiguez et al, The effects of threat and motivation on the professional performance of classical musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic, The limits of psychology (2022). DOI: 10.3389 / fpsyg.2022.834666
Provided by the University of the Arts Helsinki
Quotation: Self-motivation helped professional musicians maintain their practice during the COVID-19 pandemic (2022, February 7) retrieved on February 7, 2022 at https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-02-self-motivation-professional-musicians -covid- pandemic.html
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