Diana Gaspar

Biography

Diana Gaspar, 25, is currently pursuing a PhD in Music at the University of Aveiro, specializing in Music Teaching and Music in the Community. She began her academic journey with a merit award for her bachelor’s degree in Music at the same university, graduating with a final grade of 17. In 2022, she completed her master’s degree in Music Teaching, also at the University of Aveiro, with a dissertation titled “Media Multitasking during Instrumental Music Practice.”, which demonstrated her early interest in how digital technologies affect the practice of today’s music students. Building on this research, she has since participated in conferences and presented a paper on the subject. Her ongoing PhD research, “Media Multitasking during Instrumental Practice and its Effect on Musicians’ Performance,” aims to delve deeper into this topic. As a guitarist, during her academic training she had the opportunity of working with world-renowned guitarists such as Helen Sanderson, Jonathan Leathwood, and Dejan Ivanovich. She has also studied under the guidance of her instrument teachers, Pedro Rodrigues and Paulo Vaz de Carvalho.

Doctoral project

Title
Media Multitasking during Musical Instrument Practice and its Effect on Musicians’ Performance

Advisor
Luís Francisco Mendes Gabriel Pedro

Co-advisor
Pedro Rodrigues

Abstract
Digital technology is increasingly present in our lives. This fact is observable in various ways, such as the emergence of a habit of using it simultaneously with work-related tasks for unrelated purposes, like in the case of a student using social media while studying, a phenomenon called “media multitasking”. This research project plans to investigate the effect that this act has on musicians’ performance when carried out during music practice and the factors that influence this relationship.

Keywords
Multitasking; Media; Music practice; Academic performance; Distraction

Funding
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (UI/BD/02507/2023)