Musical Engagement Research Articles

The music-related quality of life: Italian validation of MuRQoL into MUSQUAV questionnaire and preliminary data from a cohort of postlingually deafened cochlear implant users

PurposeCochlear implant (CI) users do not receive much of the auditory information necessary for an accurate perception of music. This usually entails a dissatisfaction with the music they hear, so that their quality of life may potentially be affected. The main aim of this paper was to translate and validate into Italian an instrument to evaluate these aspects—The Music-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (MuRQoL)—to help the work of clinicians and therapists.MethodsThe translation of the MuRQoL into “Questionario Musica e Qualità della Vita” (MUSQUAV) was done according to the international guidelines. The translated questionnaire was administered to normal hearing (NH) and CI users adults. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and known group method were used to confirm construct validity and applicability of MUSQUAV.ResultsWe retrieved 225 results. The MUSQUAV questionnaire was acceptable according to the goodness-of-fit indices. The correlation between the items, evaluated using Cronbach’s α coefficient, indicates a good internal consistency (> 0.80). The non-parametric Mann–Whitney test showed significant differences in the distinct populations tested.ConclusionsThe MUSQUAV questionnaire is a valid, low-cost and rapid instrument for professional workers in the audiological field, especially useful in the assessment of the patients' perception and musical engagement.

Therapeutic music interventions with people with dementia living in residential aged care: Perspectives of residents, family members and care home staff from a cluster randomised controlled trial.

Despite growing support for the benefits of music interventions in dementia care, the perspectives of people with dementia, their families and carers are often missing from the research. This study explored multiple perspectives and first-person experiences of group music interventions delivered within a large cluster randomised controlled trial examining the effectiveness of group music therapy (GMT) and recreational choir singing (RCS) with people with dementia living in residential-aged care (RAC) settings. Focus group and individual interviews with residents with dementia (n=4), family members (n=5) and care home staff (n=15) were conducted following completion of the 6-month GMT and/or RCS intervention and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Three main themes were identified as follows: (1) direct and indirect intrapersonal benefits, (2) direct and indirect interpersonal benefits and (3) therapeutic music interventions versus entertainment. GMT and RCS supported residents' mood, enjoyment, engagement and connectedness to self and others within and post-sessions, with flow-on effects to family members, care staff and the care home environment. Participants differentiated GMT and RCS from other forms of music engagement in the RAC facilities and described feelings of post-programme loss, highlighting ongoing meaning in active therapeutic music interventions. This research highlights the need for increased access to sustainable and meaningful activities, such as purposefully designed therapeutic music interventions in RAC. Improving knowledge about the distinct benefits of therapeutic music interventions compared with other forms of music engagement in RAC may assist nursing staff to make appropriate treatment planning decisions regarding therapeutic music programmes to meet the complex needs of residents with dementia.

Interview with Rebecca Hope Dirksen

Isabel Machado interviews Rebecca Hope Dirksen on After the Dance, the Drums Are Heavy: Carnival, Politics, and Musical Engagement in Haiti (2020). Interview date: Mar 17, 2021
 Dr. Rebecca Dirksen is an ethnomusicologist working across the spectrum of musical genres in Haiti and its diaspora. Her research concerns cultural approaches to development, crisis, and disaster; sacred ecologies, diverse environmentalisms, and ecomusicology; and applied/engaged/activist scholarship. She is a professor in the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology at Indiana University Bloomington and a founding member of the Diverse Environmentalisms Research Team (DERT).

The Musical Experiences of Adults with Severe Sight Impairment: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Research has shown that having a sight impairment (SI) may impact on participation in recreational and social activities. Yet, the musical lives of these individuals have seldom been explored, despite evidence of the importance of music to the lives of many, and the well-being benefits associated with musical engagement. The current study used semistructured interviews to explore the musical lives of 20 individuals living with a severe SI (SSI). Interpretative phenomenological analysis of interview transcripts identified four main themes: The importance of music and sound; Accessibility and inclusion in musical experiences; The impact of changing sight and changing perceptions on musical experiences; and Establishing identities in music. The study offers detailed insight into the musical lives of participants, identifying physical, social, and individual factors which impact on their musical engagement. Participants’ accounts highlighted the importance of music to their lives, as well as challenges experienced in relation to activities such as music listening, music-making, and attending live events. Findings demonstrate that while music may fulfill important functions in the lives of individuals living with SSI, musical participation may be impacted by issues of accessibility.

Collaborative Playlist-Making: Musical Interaction via Digitally Mediated Co-Curation

Collaborative playlist-making (CPM), a form of music co-curation where two or more people select and order recorded music together, is a form of group musical engagement that has recently risen to prominence among musicians and nonmusicians in the general population. This paper presents CPM as a form of technologically mediated group musical engagement and informs researchers as to how CPM and its constituent behaviors may be studied in relation to other forms of musical engagement, particularly group music-making. In addition, specific psychological processes expected to be elicited by CPM—self-other merging, cognitive perspective-taking, and shared intentionality—are explicated in an effort to evince how CPM may give rise to socio-cognitive transfer effects in line with Goldman's reconstructive route to empathy. The main purpose of this paper is to promote music psychologists’ study of CPM to probe how musical interaction occurring within everyday contexts can harness music's potential to facilitate communication and bring about social benefits.

Socio-emotional Benefits Associated with Choir Participation for Older Adults Related to Both Activity Characteristics and Motivation Factors

Community choirs can contribute to health and wellbeing, but there is less clarity about the mechanisms through which choir participation promotes positive change, or whether mechanisms are shared with other leisure activities. This research explores two possible types of mechanism: Mechanisms relating to individual characteristics pertaining to mindset and motivation, including experiences of flow, competence, autonomy, and relatedness (Study 1); and mechanisms relating to the activity experience, which include music, movement, and social opportunities (Study 2). In Study 1, middle and older aged members of choirs, exercise groups and other kinds of social groups (N = 190) completed surveys on their experience of emotional wellbeing (operationalized as positive and negative affect scores), mental wellbeing, and social cohesion (outcomes) pertaining to their group activity as well as experiences of motivation, flow, and the components of Self-Determination Theory (potential mediators). Multiple regression analyses revealed that participation in Choir or Exercise groups predicted positive emotional wellbeing, but not social cohesion. Underlying mechanisms differed, with positive affect mediated by intrinsic motivation for choir members, and by intrinsic motivation, identified regulation, and flow for Exercise group members. Mental wellbeing was correlated only with exercise group participation and was mediated by flow. Study 2 used an experience sampling methodology conducted with a sub-group from Study 1 (N = 59), which asked daily questions about wellbeing (happiness, sense of social connection, and energy levels) and participation in activities (music engagement, exercise, and social activities) experienced in their everyday lives and not directly associated with any leisure group participation. Repeated-measures t-tests revealed that participants were more likely to report higher levels of social connection on days in which they participated in music activities than on days in which they did not engage in music activities. Engaging in exercise or social activities was also associated with a greater sense of social connection, as well as higher levels of happiness and energy. In sum, the activity characteristics and individual differences of motivation and mindset towards participation correlated with greater wellbeing, reflecting an ecological model of person-activity fit, with no indication of superior benefits associated with group singing. Findings are discussed in terms of social prescribing and other settings where social opportunities are organized.

Music Engagement Contributes Reduced Psychoneurological Problems and Increased Wellbeing and Happiness

Music Engagement Contributes Reduced Psychoneurological Problems and Increased Wellbeing and Happiness

The Relationship Between Hearing Experiences, Music-Listening Behaviors, and Chord-Discrimination Abilities for Cochlear Implant Users

The main pre-implant factors that relate to speech perception outcomes in adults with cochlear implants (CIs) are well known. However, it is not clear if these same factors are related to music perception and enjoyment. This study explored the relationship between self-reported pre-implant hearing and music experiences, and post-implant chord discrimination and music enjoyment. An online platform was used to deliver the Munich Music Questionnaire (MUMU), run a chord-discrimination task, and obtain demographic information. The chord-discrimination task involved detection of an upward change of one, two or three semitones in the third note, or a downward change of one, two, or three semitones in the middle note of a three-note major chord, using synthesized harmonic tones. Twenty-five CI users participated, aged 29–86 years. Exploratory factor analysis revealed three hearing-related variables (duration of hearing difficulty, age characteristics, and years of hearing with a CI), and three music-related variables (music quality from the CI, extent of music engagement, and music-listening habits). Chord-discrimination scores increased with increasing frequency change of the varying note. It was likely that some CI users used beats between tones as a discrimination cue. Chord discrimination was also better for individuals listening via loudspeakers and headphones than for those listening via Bluetooth streaming, perhaps because of artifacts produced by the latter. Chord-discrimination was better for older participants with longer experience of hearing with an implant. Those with longer duration of hearing difficulty who liked the sound quality of their CIs had higher music enjoyment scores.

Musical Introspection and the Affective Group-en-Fusion: Existential Reckoning with the Political and Climate Crises

ABSTRACT Music is a vital means of engaging with affect, one that many of us are relying upon to process the unthinkable political realities that confront us. However, insofar as we are doing this serially—for instance, listening alone to pre-recorded music on demand—we are missing out on a critical potential of such affective musical engagement. Jean-Paul Sartre identified seriality as a social formation marked by alterity, one that prevents mutual awareness of similar situatedness. However, whereas Sartre argued that broadcast radio possesses a serial structure, this article argues that it can engender an incipient form of collective, which Sartre calls the group-en-fusion. This argument is made through the example of The Stillness and the Dancing, Joel Cuthbert’s campus and community radio program that plays ambient, experimental, and contemporary classical music on CFRU Radio Gryphon in Guelph, Ontario.

Shared musical activity and perceptions of relationship commitment

Sharing music with another person involves the potential for profound emotional connection, rhythmic synchronization and coordination, and the expression of shared social and political values (among other things). We explore whether experiences of shared musical activity are associated with perceptions of communication and positive outcomes in friendships and romantic relationships, using reports from one member of the dyad. Reports of musical activities in the relationship were associated with higher levels of commitment to the relationship, with those effects mediated by perceptions of interpersonal coordination and positive communication. Surprisingly, structured musical activities (e.g., actively playing music together) were associated with lower levels of commitment, both directly and via interpersonal coordination, positive communication, and shared social values. All findings persist when controlling for other forms of shared relationship activities, thus demonstrating effects that are unique to shared musical engagement. The findings are discussed in a framework of music’s potential relational power—the Shared Musical Activities in Relationships (SMAR) model.

Association Between Music Engagement and Mortality in Middle-Aged and Older Adults in the US

Music engagement is a universal human activity that transcends cultural and geographic boundaries. Current evidence suggests that music engages many diverse brain networks with wide-ranging effects on physiological, cognitive, and affective processes. As a result, music activity engagement may be associated with enhanced cognitive reserves and reduced stress. However, it remains unclear whether music activity engagement is associated with any survival advantage in the general population. This study tested this hypothesis in a nationally-representative sample of middle-aged and older adults in the U.S. A cohort of 3,540 respondents from the Health and Retirement Study was followed from 2002 to 2018. Music engagement was measured by self-reported participation in passive and/or active music activities. Potential confounders included socio-demographics, health and functional status, and health-related behaviors. We plotted the Kaplan-Meier survival curves by music engagement level and used Cox proportional hazards model to examine the independent effect of music engagement on mortality. Musical engagement levels were significantly associated with mortality in both the unadjusted and adjusted analyses. Respondents who reported engaging with music at a moderate or high level had lower mortality risk as compared to those who did not (HR=.83, p=0.015; HR=.78, p=0.003, respectively). These findings suggest that music engagement in the middle to late life may have an independent beneficial effect in promoting longevity. Future research should examine whether this observed effect was causal and existed in other populations. If confirmed, interventions should be designed to promote music engagement among middle-aged and older adults.

Music Engagement and Episodic Memory among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A National Longitudinal Analysis

Recent research suggests that engagement with particular activities, such as music, can influence age-related changes in episodic memory. However, it is unclear whether, and to what, extent music engagement is associated with the trajectory of episodic memory. The objective of this study is to examine how passive (i.e., listening to music) and/or active (i.e., singing or playing an instrument) music engagement influences episodic memory over a period of 12 years. Secondary data analysis of a sample (N=5095) of cognitively healthy adults from the Health and Retirement Study were used for this study. Linear mixed effects models were used to examine the independent effect of different levels of music engagement (i.e., low, medium, and high) on changes in performance on episodic memory tasks, while controlling for confounding factors. Compared to those with low engagement (i.e., neither listening nor singing/ playing an instrument), respondents who reported being engaged at the medium (i.e., either listening or singing/ playing an instrument) or high (i.e., both listening and singing/ playing an instrument) level performed 0.24 (p=0.003) and 0.52 (p<0.001) points better, respectively. We found evidence that music engagement attenuated the decline in episodic memory. The findings suggest that music engagement may be a protective factor against aged-related decline in episodic memory. Therefore, music engagement may offer a promising non-pharmacological intervention for dementia risk mitigation among community-living middle-aged and older adults. Future research should examine whether interventions to increase music engagement can affect the trajectories of aged-related decline in cognition in this large and growing population.

Children’s Representations of Music, Musical Identities, and Musical Engagement: Content and Socio-Demographic Influences

Using the Theory of Social Representations as a theoretical and methodological framework, the purpose of this study was to describe children’s representations of music, musical identities, and musical engagement across middle childhood. Participants were primary students aged 8 to 11 ( N = 132) from four schools in a large city in the Southeastern United States. Previous studies have documented that projective techniques (linguistic associations with textual stimuli) can access latent dimensions of thinking. Accordingly, linguistic associations with the textual stimuli “music,” “music and me,” music at school,” and “music outside school” were used to gain insight into children’s representations of music, musical identities, and musical engagement. Participants were also asked to provide socio-demographic data that might influence their responses. The Correspondences Analysis technique was used to reconstruct representational fields associated with the stimuli. For each stimulus, a three-factor extraction identified hidden dimensions in children’s linguistic responses and summarized the links between contextual variables and children’s representations. Major findings suggest that children at increasingly younger ages express preferences and construct their own representations of music and musical identities.

Investigating the Cortical Correlates of Singing: Potential Neural Benefits of Choir for Persons With Dementia

Through leveraging the known advantages of musical engagement and socialization, choir interventions are known to facilitate psychological and cognitive benefits for persons with dementia (PwD). Surprisingly, no research has explored whether social singing may also confer neurological advantages. In this study, we employed functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to investigate the cortical correlates of both social and solo singing in PwD (n=13). Paired-sample t-tests were used to evaluate within-person differences in frontal cortical activation between the social vs solo singing. Results showed significant activation differences in three frontal channels, with social singing requiring comparatively less frontocortical activation. These findings indicate potential neural benefits of social singing – with less frontal activation being a proxy for greater reliance on intact proceduralized systems – and serve to highlight the utility of fNIRS in better understanding the neural correlates underlying the benefits of social singing interventions for PwD.

The Occupational Narratives of Older Adults Participating in Music-Based Occupations

The purpose of this study was to implement an occupational therapy intervention that could be used for telehealth services with an emphasis on participants learning ways to independently choose and sustain engagement in meaningful music activities, known as occupations. The researchers’ aim was to examine how music occupation interventions lower risks of occupational deprivation (i.e., prolonged restriction from participation in necessary or meaningful activities) that could occur due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eight adults participated who were 65 years or older, lived in the community, and enjoyed music. The researchers used narrative qualitative methodology to analyze pre- and post-intervention focus group data. The participants completed seven intervention sessions designed to increase and sustain music engagement outside of the sessions. The pre-intervention focus group data resulted in an occupational pattern analysis and a single occupational narrative. Triangulation of data post-intervention included the two focus groups and their pattern analyses and narratives, field notes from each intervention session, and documents produced through group completion. The final analysis produced an occupational change pattern analysis and narrative. The focus of the change narrative was on the participant’s management or prevention of occupational deprivation. The researchers identified several common themes involving change in routines and habits to include regular engagement in meaningful music activities, skills for using occupational participation as an important method of coping with COVID-19, and developing new technological skills to access music to replace in-person participation of attending live concerts and shows when deemed unsafe because of potential for virus transmission.

“I am no longer afraid”

“I am no longer afraid”

“I don’t know how musically creative they should be at that age”: A qualitative study of parents’ and teachers’ beliefs about young children’s creative and musical capacities

There has been a recent expansion of school curricula and extra-curricular activities emphasizing musical creativity and collaboration. Parents have a crucial role in providing children with access to such experiences; their views on music and the nature of creativity influence the types of musical engagement their children will access. Teachers also have an important role, yet can have difficulties when supporting children in open-ended tasks. A qualitative study investigated parents’ and teachers’ constructions of creativity and music. Interviews were held with 11 parents and 4 teachers of preschool children who took part in improvisation workshops. Data were analyzed with thematic analysis, resulting in identification of three themes. Creativity and musicality were described as fundamental to children’s “human nature” but positioned as a non-fundamental part of their own adult identities. “Values” explored conceptualizations of creativity through artistic products; musicality was appreciated demonstration of technical skill. “Frames for engaging” identified adults engaging with their children in creative tasks mainly through child-led narratives; in contrast, parents took on the role of “teacher” in musical tasks. Understanding these influential views offers insight into the types of activities and guidance offered to pre-schoolers and how they can be built on to foster children’s musical creativity.

Survival of musical activities. When do young people stop making music?

Although making music is a popular leisure activity for children and adolescents, few stay musically engaged. Previous research has focused on finding reasons for quitting musical activities, pedagogical strategies to keep students engaged with music, and motivational factors of musical training. Nonetheless, we know very little about how the proportion of musically active children changes with age and what traits influence the survival of musical engagement. This study used longitudinal data from secondary school students in the UK and Germany aged between 10 and 17 years. A survival analysis was applied to investigate the trajectories of musical activities across this age span. Other factors like type of learned instrument, gender, personality and intelligence were taken into account for further analyses using generalized linear models. Results indicate that about 50% of all students drop out of music lessons and other musical activities by the time they turn 17 years old, with most students quitting between the ages of 15 and 17. Musical home environment is an important factor that is associated with lower drop out rates while conscientiousness and theory of musicality showed smaller significant associations.

Engaging with happy-sounding music promotes helping behavior in 18-month-olds.

Engaging with music fosters prosocial responding in infants and toddlers. In this pilot study, we examined whether music that expresses contrasting emotions (happy vs. sad) was associated with toddlers' helpfulness. Seventy-five 18-month-olds from Hong Kong China were randomly assigned to engage with music with an experimenter in one of two conditions: happy- or sad-sounding music. After the musical engagement task, toddlers from both conditions completed the same set of helping tasks. For instrumental (action-based) helping, toddlers were significantly more helpful after engaging with happy-sounding music than with sad-sounding music. Our initial findings suggest that cues linked to happy- and sad-sounding music influence toddlers' prosocial responses.

Musical instrument engagement in adolescence predicts verbal ability 4 years later: A twin and adoption study.

Individual differences in music traits are heritable and correlated with the development of cognitive and communication skills, but little is known about whether diverse modes of music engagement (e.g., playing instruments vs. singing) reflect similar underlying genetic/environmental influences. Moreover, the biological etiology underlying the relationship between musicality and childhood language development is poorly understood. Here we explored genetic and environmental associations between music engagement and verbal ability in the Colorado Adoption/Twin Study of Lifespan behavioral development & cognitive aging (CATSLife). Adolescents (N = 1,684) completed measures of music engagement and intelligence at approximately age 12 and/or multiple tests of verbal ability at age 16. Structural equation models revealed that instrument engagement was highly heritable (a² = .78), with moderate heritability of singing (a² = .43) and dance engagement (a² = .66). Adolescent self-reported instrument engagement (but not singing or dance engagement) was genetically correlated with age 12 verbal intelligence and still was associated with age 16 verbal ability, even when controlling for age 12 full-scale intelligence, providing evidence for a longitudinal relationship between music engagement and language beyond shared general cognitive processes. Together, these novel findings suggest that shared genetic influences in part accounts for phenotypic associations between music engagement and language, but there may also be some (weak) direct benefits of music engagement on later language abilities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).