Abstract:

In line with the opinions of teacher candidates studying in the Department of Music Education, this study aims to determine the factors affecting the principal instrument selection in pre-vocational and vocational education, the effects of instrument selection on academic success in principal instrument training, and their motivation to play their principal instrument effectively in their professional lives. For this purpose, the mixed-methods approach, which collects and uses quantitative and qualitative data in the same study, was used in the study. Qualitative data were obtained through a semi-structured interview form consisting of six open-ended questions, while quantitative data were obtained with four closed-ended multiple-choice questions. This study had determined that female students mostly tend towards Violin, Flute, and Guitar instruments, while male students mostly tend to use Guitar, Violin, and Baglama; the media, family and friends, and the music teacher sequentially played a significant role in students' instrument selection. Due to the reasons such as an inadequate number of lecturers, the limited student quota, and the incompatibility of the students' physical structure, students' principal instrument requests can be rejected by the commission. This study had concluded that the primary factors affecting students' academic achievement regarding the instrument were the teacher factor and the students' motivation to love their instrument, and the majority of the students had the opinion that they could play their instruments effectively in their professional lives since they had self-confidence in their musical instrument performance and loved their instruments.

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