• Skills

Previous studies have highlighted the development of specific skills necessary to work in participatory settings, in terms of personal, interpersonal, musical, cognitive and teaching skills (Ascenso 2016), or the development of musical and pedagogical skills within specific participatory contexts underpinned by ethical values and critical reflection (Camlin and Zeserson 2018). Whilst acknowledging this wide range of

necessary skills, participants' discussion centred more around the importance of a "growth mindset", or "the belief that abilities can be cultivated" (Dweck 2012, p. 50), as an important attribute which enabled the development of those skills:

I think that that growth mindset thing resonates; within participatory music settings, I've got so much better as a musician from trying stuff that I just wouldn't have done before. (FG-2)

• Psychological Attributes

Psychological factors related to mindset and reflexivity were raised as factors in developing a capability for risk taking and adaptability.

This may be a generalisation, but I think there's a tendency for conservatoires to be more fixed mindset environments [with] the idea of talent [as something] you're just born with, not something you actually develop. But within community music settings I find that the reason why I felt so much more relaxed is maybe not because the music is any less good. It was just the fact that the peoples' mindsets are different—people were more [of a] growth mindset, "oh, how can I learn? How can I get this bit right? (FG-6)

I feel challenged in new ways with each new project, which I enjoy as I know I'm expanding as a person all the time. (Q-8)

Some of my most memorable musical experiences have come from volunteer or paid work in participatory settings. This work has often taken me out of my comfort zone, spatially, socially, emotionally and culturally, but these experiences have generally been positive and I think pushed me to be more adaptable and understanding in areas of life outside of work as well. (Q-4)

For me, it's personal risk. It's about doing things which feel less than comfortable. (FG-3)

• Musical Communication

A significant finding of this study was related to the impact that working in participatory settings can have on skills of communication, not just in terms of developing interpersonal communication skills, but also in terms of emotional communication through music. One participant shared a touching story about musical encounters in a care home which had a significant impact on their musicianship:

Working with people with dementia, I found it's really improved my memory of music and [emotional] communication as a musician because it's forced me to look people in the eye when I play. I was playing for those suffering with dementia and played a medley of Elvis songs, and one man just started crying. It turned out that his wife had just passed away and that was "their" song. And so what I did, I was looking at him directly, I completely just focused more on the communication and didn't have to look at the music because I already had it in my head, it was easy. But I focused more on just looking at him and just going, it's okay. Let's play this for you and just feel what you want to feel [in] the moment, that's okay. And I feel that that has really [been valuable] as a musician, going into my final recital, that confidence to look people in the eye and just [play]. (FG-4)

Another echoed similar sentiments, in terms of the personal impact of similar encounters:

I believe that the closeness I have felt as I sing with someone at their hospital bedside, or when I resonate within a circle of improvising older women for whom singing is not a profession—these moments have changed me. I find I search out those moments more often than the one in which I sing until the applause arrives. (Q-8)

This important impact on musicianship can often be overlooked when thinking about work in participatory settings solely in terms of "giving something back" to society. In these encounters, the performance of music clearly becomes enhanced through the "performance" of relationship: "You keep that with you, that idea that I've played music that's really touched someone" (FG-7). In turn, this highlights a deep power of music through the "intent of connecting emotionally to the feeling of the piece" (FG-1) to facilitate a powerful emotional response in a listener/participant: "it's about acknowledging the audience, the responsibility that you have as a musician" (FG-3).

#### 3.2.3. (Neuro)Diversity and Representation

An important aspect of working in participatory settings for some respondents was also related to the emphasis on individual difference and accounting for the unique personal identities of all those involved, including the musicians themselves. As one respondent with a neurodiverse condition expressed it, "all of our brains are wired in different ways. One person's brain is different from [another's], so it's good to have different personality types and different ways of learning that come into it" (FG-4). In the performance of relationships implicit within participatory music, being able to be seen and heard as a "unique, singular being" (Biesta 2006, p. 9) validates not just the experiences of participants, but the musicians as well:

As someone who has a learning difficulty and having a negative experience with school, my purpose is to ensure that children now are better cared for in that moment that I have. Yeah. A part of my mental health is empathy. (FG-6)

While the discussions in this study centred more specifically around the representation of neurodiversity, one might extrapolate that the performance of relationships implicit within participatory music provides a vehicle for the articulation and emergence of more marginalised identities in terms of gender, race, disability, class, age, sexual orientation and other individual identities "to enable people to find self-expression through musical means" (Bartleet and Higgins 2018, p. 3) and through the development of "cultural capabilities" (Nussbaum 2007; Wilson et al. 2017).
