Mental Health and Musicians Certificate with Dr George Musgrave

Welcome to Voice Study Centre’s Voice Professional Certificate programme. We will be offering a series of micro-credentials to develop learning, teaching and boost your CV. This is one of them!

Tutor: Dr George Musgrave

Though the positive health and well-being benefits of singing and music-making have been well-evidenced by Singing for Health research from all over the world, context is key and research has also shown how music’s effects can change once we use it differently i.e. to pursue a career, become professional, use it as employment. When music becomes central to one’s life in this way, and as a means of financial stability rather than simply fun and enjoyment, it brings with it emotional challenges such as uncertainty over professional status and definitions of success, as well as high levels of pressure to succeed.

Taking this into account, in addition to UK government drives to promote engagement with music among younger people, an expansion of music and music business courses in UK Higher Education, and a general increase in young musicians developing professional ambitions (see Bonde et al.’s 2018 study on a random sample of 25,000 adult Danes), there is now a greater need than ever to prepare musicians (especially psychologically) for their careers in the right way.

Join Dr George Musgrave – co-author of Can Music Make You Sick? Measuring the Price of Musical Ambition (2020), an Amazon Number 1 Bestseller in the Sociology of Work – for a deep dive into the social and psychological experiences of musical career creation and development, as well as the effects of the music industry and its practices on mental health.

Dr Musgrave will present an overview of current research on career musicianship and mental health before exploring an array of specific themes, including success (and the management thereof); career sustainability; and cultural, social and symbolic capital. A comprehensive look at the ethics and morality of the industry provides the finale to this course.