Performing Music Research

Performing Music Research takes students on a journey toward becoming a knowledgeable and productive scholar. Beginning with formulation of the research question, the text lays out a path through data collection processes and analysis techniques that embraces a diversity of methodological approaches. Guidance on scholarly presentations and publications completes the picture of the student as an emerging researcher. Drawing perspectives from across themusic discipline, the authors provide relevant examples and address timely topics to effectively connect the doing of music with its systematic examination as a distinctive human phenomenon. This is anexcellent guide for any student interested in the study of musical behaviors, attitudes, and practices.'Steven Morrison, Professor of Music, Music Education, Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music, Northwestern UniversityThe authors have provided a start-to-finish manual of how to conceive, execute, analyse, and report empirical research on musical behaviour. Drawing on their extensive experience as researchers and teachers in music higher education, they have provided a resource which will be a useful refresher to experienced researchers as well as a systematic guide for novices. The authors illustrate fundamental principles of empirical research by well-chosen examplesof contemporary music research, engagingly illustrating how, by following the general requirements of best research practice, musicians can gain better answers to the questions that concern them in theirpractice and pedagogy. It should be widely welcomed in conservatoires and university music departments as a valuable resource for researchers and teachers alike.‘John Sloboda, Research Professor, Guildhall School of Music & Drama.

Aaron Williamon is Professor of Performance Science at the Royal College of Music (RCM) and Director of the Centre for Performance Science, a partnership of the RCM and Imperial College London. His research focuses on skilled performance and applied scientific initiatives that inform music learning and teaching, as well as the impact of music and the arts on society. He is founder of the International Symposium on Performance Science, chief editor of PerformanceScience, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and the UK’s AdvanceHE (FHEA). In 2008, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Royal College of Music (HonRCM).

Jane Ginsborg is Professor of Music Psychology, Associate Director of Research, and Director of the Centre for Music Performance Research at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). Her research focuses on expert solo and collaborative music practice, rehearsal and performance; musicians’ health, wellbeing, resilience, and literacy; practice-led research; and virtuosity. She is a fellow of the UK’s AdvanceHE (FHEA) and served as president of the European Society for the Cognitive Sciences ofMusic (2012-2015) and managing editor of Music Performance Research (2010-2018). She was appointed editor-in-chief of Musicae Scientiae in 2018.

Rosie Perkins is Professor of Music, Health, and Social Science at the Royal College of Music (RCM). Based in the Centre for Performance Science, Rosie’s research investigates two broad areas within music and mental health: how music and the arts support societal wellbeing and how to enhance artists’ wellbeing and career development.

George Waddell is Research Associate in Performance Science at the Royal College of Music (RCM). His research focuses on the evaluation of performance and the useof technology to enhance how performance is assessed, taught, and practiced. He leads courses on scientific research methods, the psychology of performance, performance evaluation, enterprise andinnovation, and musicians>’ health. He is an honorary Research Associate at Imperial College London.