Impact of studying practical instrumental music on the psychological well-being of disadvantaged university students

Abstract The impact of practical instrumental music instruction on students’ psychological and sociological well-being is well documented in research literature. The extent to which these findings hold true for disadvantaged populations is unknown. Previous studies focused on young students with little to no research on disadvantaged young adults at university level. This study investigated the impact of group practical instrumental music instruction on the psychological well-being of disadvantaged university students. It particularly investigated changes in students’ optimism, self-esteem and happiness after participation in a wind ensemble. The study further looked at possible relationships between optimism, self-esteem, happiness and participation in an instrumental music ensemble. Results revealed increases in participant’s optimism, self-esteem and happiness and moderate to strong positive correlations between variables.