Why Do We Quit Music Lessons? Part 2

Everybody Speaks Music

In today's episode, we cover chapters 5-6 of our 13 chapter series aiming to understand the reasons behind students quitting music lessons.
We also recommend a resource that inspired today's episode, offering a deeper dive into the subject.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272886402_Students_who_quit_music_lessons_recent_research_and_recommendations_for_teachers
Our goal is to inspire individuals to continue growing as musicians in a way that best suits their needs, tastes, and artistic desires.
Todays episode covers sections 4-6
4: Teachers Point Of View
5: Students Point Of View
6: Motives and Motivation
Future episodes in this series will cover:
7:Teacher Characteristics
8:Family Socioeconomic Status
9: Parental Support & Home Environment
10: Self-Efficacy, and Self-perception
11: Practicing and Achievement
12: Research Based Recommendations for Teachers
13: Additional Ways To Support A Positive Outcome For Music Students
Part 4: Teachers Point Of View

• Teachers often identify loss of interest, lack of perseverance, unwillingness, or lack of time to practice, scheduled demands, and parental attitudes as important factors for quitting.
• Teachers also believe that valuing of music and personal interest in lessons are significant determinants of lesson retention.
• Dropouts frequently underestimate their ability and possess low self-confidence.
• Despite close contact with students, teachers may not be aware of other important environmental, social, motivational, and personality factors that can influence the decision to stop lessons.

Part 5: Students Point Of View

• Studies have focused on the students' perspective to understand reasons for attrition in music lessons.
• Students enrolled in lessons for personal enjoyment and for attainment of skill.
• Loss of interest and not liking the practice had the strongest impact on withdrawal,
• Adults who quit lessons as children cited not getting along with the teacher, dissatisfaction with the music studied, lack of fun, and lack of interest in practice as reasons for quitting.
• Enjoyment of music and supportive teachers were cited as reasons for lesson satisfaction among adults who had only taken piano as children.
• Demands of other activities and interests were important factors for discontinuing lessons, affecting equally those students who rated themselves as less and more skilled at the keyboard.
• Further studies have tried to look at deeper aspects underlying these general causes by focusing on motivation, self-concept, social environment, parental support, and parenting style.

Part 6: Motives and Motivation

• Premature attrition in music lessons can be linked to the motives that prompt students to begin lessons.
• The presence of "the wrong type" of initial or continuing motivation can lead to more dropouts.
• Intrinsic motivation (doing something for the pleasure of the action) is found to be favorable and leads to fewer dropouts in music lessons.
• Extrinsic motivation (doing something for an external reaction) is linked to more dropouts in music lessons.
• Studies suggest that students who rely on extrinsic motives for initiation and continuation of music lessons are more likely to stop.
• those who quit music lessons had extrinsic reasons for starting (such as to join friends), with limited enjoyment beyond getting approval from others.