The roles of student musicians in quartet rehearsals

King, Elaine C.

Abstract

This study focuses on collaboration between student musicians in a wind quartet, saxophone quartet and string quartet. Devised as an explorative investigation using observation and interview methods, the roles of student musicians are defined within and across quartet rehearsals over a period of four weeks. The data indicate that there are common roles assumed by student musicians in a quartet: leader, deputy-leader, contributor, inquirer, fidget, joker, distractor and ‘quiet one’. The students represented one or more of these roles during a rehearsal and sometimes changed roles across rehearsals, normally through compensating for each other's mood changes. Quartets with a regular leader exhibited more stable team-role behaviour, a consistently focused group dynamic and better progress than those without one did, highlighting the impact of leadership on non-leadership roles and the success of a group.

Citation

King, E. C. (2006). The roles of student musicians in quartet rehearsals. Psychology of music, 34(2), 262-282. https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735606061855

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Apr 1, 2006
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2006
• Deposit Date: Feb 20, 2019
• Journal: Psychology of Music
• Print ISSN: 0305-7356
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 34
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 262-282
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735606061855
• Keywords: Leadership; Musical collaboration; Social collaboration; Team roles
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1318278
• Publisher URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0305735606061855