The Relationship of Compositional Experiences of High School Instrumentalists to Music Self-Concept

Abstract

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of factors relating to high school instrumentalists’ involvement with music including compositional experiences to music self-concept. Subjects (N = 77) were high school band students in a moderate-sized suburban school district in Midwestern United States. Over a period of 12 weeks, students were given the opportunity to compose using the software sequencing program Garageband during the regularly scheduled band class. Measurement instruments were given prior to student compositional experiences and immediately following student compositional experiences. Measurement instruments included the Self-Esteem of Music Assessment (SEMA) and a researcher-devised questionnaire. Music self-concept as measured by SEMA was found to be significantly related to compositional experience (p < .001). Music self-concept was found to be a relatively stable characteristic over the 12-week treatment period (p < .001). Although music self-concept was found to be stable, an analysis of the change between pretreatment SEMA scores and post-treatment SEMA scores and change in compositional experience over the 12-week treatment period suggests that compositional experience had a significant affect on SEMA 1 (Self-Perception of Music Ability). The strongest predictor of music self-concept of the factors utilized in this study was compositional experiences.