Seven-year-old beginner cellists’ lived experiences of music performance

Music performance is a demanding activity requiring complex coordination of abilities from diverse domains. It can be perceived as a form of artistic expression and communication but experienced as a demonstration of personal competency with emotional ramifications that affect musicians’ ongoing interest and motivations. Participating in music performance is often a key part of musical development; however, children’s perspectives on formative experiences of music performance during early learning are largely unknown. Given the broad range of interacting factors and significant implications, understanding musicians’ performance experiences, particularly for child learners, is vital to support sustained engagement. The present study investigated 14 seven-year-old beginner cellists’ experiences of music performance during the first 18 months of tuition via a novel combination of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis and Participatory Action Research methodologies. Three superordinate themes emerged: (1) feelings of arousal and emotional valence during performance, (2) the identification of four distinct performance environments, and (3) the impact of performance experiences in each environment on children’s personal development, including fostering autonomy, agency, confidence, altruism, and social connection. The findings have pedagogical implications for how educators and parents of novice musicians in middle childhood can provide safe music learning environments with varied means of engaging in a range of supportive performance opportunities.