| This dissertation investigates the personal construct systems of lifelong musicians, and asks what it is in music-making that has meaning for them. In addition, it explores how musicians' meaning-making aligns with current music education practices. Meaning is construed as the personal experience valued and embodied in the actions of music-making. The topic is complex, with links to music cognition, psychology, sociology, music education and the philosophy of music education.;The eight musicians (classical, rock n'roll and blues, African drumming, musical theatre) in this case study range from a major recording artist to committed part-time performers. Multiple methods reflect the complexity of the subject (Bartel, 2002). Data sources included videotaped interviews, modified repertory grid technique (Kelly, 1955), and videotaped performances (public, televised concerts, and during the interview). Analysis included repertory grid methods, qualitative analysis, gesture analysis (McNeill, 1992) and performance analysis.;Findings reveal several layers of construct in musicians' meaning-making. The core constructs, vital for continued music-making: a musician-identity, ownership and competence. Once these constructs for music-making develop, even bad musical experiences do not weaken commitment. Surrounding the core and in complex relationship with the core are the components of musical meaning in three clusters: verbal ("thinking in words"), non-verbal (impossible to demonstrate verbally), and conscious experiential constructs (those with a felt sense that is in the musician's awareness). The most familiar constructs are those that are developed through formal music education (e.g. formal knowledge, aesthetic response); however, the participants identified others that contribute deeply to their sense of music's meaning, such as the somatic representation of music, experimentation, collaboration, and the felt connection with people.;The relative strength of the constructs and how they are interconnected is what makes one person's construct system different from another's; at the most individual level, no two peoples' construct systems will be exactly the same. The core/component construct model allows for that individuality and identifies the constructs that build a lifelong engagement with music. Throughout the paper, the constructs are examined in the context of current North American music education practices: Are young musicians being taught in ways that value what lifelong musicians value?... |
