“Tuning” the body of the classical musician

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper was to investigate the role of the body in the vocational anticipatory socialization (VAS) processes of classical musicians. Design/methodology/approach – Using grounded theory, the paper analyzed semi-structured interviews with 48 musicians (27 children; 21 parents) to understand how classical musicians’ bodies intermediate the meaning of work. The Aristotelian concepts of potentiality and actuality frame this study. Findings – The paper reveals that: “tuning” bodies is as important as tuning instruments (body as object of work), and diseases, occupational injuries, and accidents pose challenges to both health and performance (body as obstacle). Research limitations/implications – Theoretically, the paper contributes the notion that phases of VAS are fused not just through cognitive and relational processes, but also through embodied learning for classical musicians. Practical implications – At the practical level, the paper reminds that the body is an important source of vocational socialization information. Originality/value – The paper is filling a gap in organizational literature, which has under addressed the materiality of the body.

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