Relationships between siblings engaged in music study : an exploratory investigation

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] The goal of this research was to investigate interactions between siblings with respect to music study. Data were collected from five two-child families, each with a younger sister and older brother between 7 and 15 years old, both of whom were taking private piano lessons. Participants included the children and both parents. The participants responded through (a) written questionnaires completed by each participant, (b) written self-surveys completed by each participant, and (c) interviews with the parents together and with each sibling alone. All interviews were videotaped, transcribed and coded by the researcher. Results indicated that there were patterns of sibling relationships in music study that are consistent with the research literature: helping, modeling, rivalry, and identification. Siblings were considered as companions, friends, helpers, and communicators in music study. The older sibling provided most of the music teaching and modeling for the younger sibling, and the younger sibling requested information often from the older sibling. All siblings maintained a positive attitude towards one another with regards to rivalry in music study. The results indicated that the identification of sibling relationships within the family context took on an important role in relation to siblings' music study. The evidence presently available indicated that many topics related to siblings relationships engaged in music study would be worthy of further study.