Introduction
The intrapersonal domain refers to “the capacity of managing our emotions and behaviours to achieve learning goals” (Jefferson & Anderson, 2021, p. 81).
Curiosity “is exploring something novel and challenging, and having the resources to be able to pursue it. Curiosity is the interest and desire to explore knowledge, skills and experiences and the mindful immersion and resourcefulness to sustain that exploration” (Jefferson & Anderson, 2021, p. 85). Curiosity is also about actively finding different and challenging opportunities for new musical learning and to being sufficiently flexible to embracing those challenges, and therefore involves both grit and focus.
The conductors actively work with the players to explore new areas of learning, whilst developing their capacities to address the inherent challenges and risks of learning. Conductors are aware they need to provide players with new learning experiences alongside cultivating a sense that players can achieve understanding. The conductors explain they position curiosity as central to the musical experience because the curiosity to make musical sense or understanding out of new skills, interpretations and repertoire is central to musical creation.
Curiosity also requires a growth mindset attitude in which the long term goal of musical improvement is considered – to paraphrase conductor Nicholas, the performance is a journey rather than a destination.
What our participants said
“To take the sectionals, so most of the time we suggest that they go with the TSO players because we have very strong connection with the TSO and it's very inspirational for the young musicians to be able to work so closely with professional musicians. They often are invited to come and see either rehearsals or some are offered free tickets as well, sometimes from TSO to go in and see performances.”
(Ben, conductor)
“Nicholas: The other thing I encountered was the lack of curiosity, or the lack of imagination. I encountered a lot of that in rehearsals.
Researcher: So how did you overcome that?
Nicholas: I told stories. Look, we teach with metaphors, analogies, and narrative storytelling. Everybody loves a good story. And there were lots of stories. And you know, I mean, toward the end, I was getting some more…it wasn't the deafening silence it was in the beginning.
Researcher: So, you felt that shifted over the course…?
Nicholas: Oh, yeah. Everything shifted. I would have liked it to have gone faster. But I couldn't fault them in the sense of ‘performance’. Was it a perfect performance? No. Was it musical? Yeah it was because they were willing to take some chances.”
(Nicholas, conductor)
“If there were blemishes in performances they were due to players trying a little too hard to express themselves. These are definitely the best blemishes to have. Young players can only learn from experience and this shows.
1. To accept imperfection;
2. Not allow it to interrupt the flow of performance.”
(David, conductor)
“And the concert is the stop on the railway line. Now I want to see [unnamed] out at Blackburn, I’ve got luggage with me, man, I'm looking at those stops…I don't know that rail line well enough, I’m watching the stops to know my progress. Well, what is my ultimate destination? My ultimate destination is that I fall in love with music.”
(Nicholas, conductor)
“You know, these kids really enjoyed playing this stuff. You can't hide that. You can't hide the joy. And so, in a sense, the challenge was to get them on board, buy into it, take a chance, buy into it, try it out, taste and see that it works.”
(Nicholas, conductor)
Exemplar
Careful repertoire selection and rehearsal planning stimulates curiosity and adaptability. Conductors take care to select repertoire which both stimulates interest and requires musical learners to be comfortable in the discomfort of new repertoire and sight reading.
Nicholas indicates how he purposefully selects repertoire to harness players’ interest and investment: “I will need to choose good repertoire because if I don't choose significant repertoire, then there is no point learning the stuff. Besides, good repertoire choice inspires personal practice investment! So, it was marrying the technical things I wanted to share with them, like rhythmic vocabulary development, the circle of fourths, and then chorales that we sight-read”.
Sandra motivates player learning by bringing a balanced approach to repertoire choice: “It's always difficult finding repertoire that challenges them because percussion ensemble’s a bit different. So, everything we've been doing for the last couple of years, I've found online by just looking at YouTube videos, because I want to keep it fresh. There’s a lot of really exciting stuff coming out of America. I think some of the more traditional things are important. But they're probably not as challenging. So then I'll put something that's a bit more exciting. And you’ve just got to balance it ” (Sandra, conductor).
What does this mean for me?
- Provide safe places in rehearsal to challenge new musical skills without fear of failure.
- Present new musical learning as a puzzle to be worked out.
- Share insights about the historical, social, cultural and personal contexts relating to the music.
- Show keen interest in wanting to know more, by indicating how you are noticing what people are doing and asking questions.
- Encourage and reward those who ask questions.