Communities Of Musical Practice

Every day people come together to make music. Whether amateur or professional, young or old, jazz enthusiasts or rock stars, what is common to all of these musical groups is the potential to create communities of musical practice (CoMP). Such communities are created through practices: ways of engaging, rules, membership, roles, identities and learning that is both shared through collective musical endeavour and situated within certain sociocultural contexts. Ailbhe Kenny investigates CoMP as a rich model for community engagement, musical participation and transformation in music education. This book is the first to produce a valid and reliable in-depth study of music communities using a community of practice (CoP) framework - in this case focusing on the social process of musical learning. Employing case study research within Ireland, three illustrations from particular sociocultural, genre-specific, economic and geographical contexts are examined: an adult amateur jazz ensemble, a youth choir, and an online Irish traditional music web platform. Each case is analysed as a distinct community and phenomenon offering sharpened understandings of each sub-culture with specific findings presented for each community.

In Community Music: In Theory and in Practice, Lee Higgins investigates an interventional approach to music making outside of formal teaching and learning situations. Working with historical, ethnographic, and theoretical research, Higgins provides a rich resource for those who practice, advocate, teach, or study community music, music education, music therapy, ethnomusicology, and community cultural development.

An illustrated guide for the amateur and professional musician that teaches us how to transform practicing from an often laborious activity into an exhilarating and rewarding experience Foreword by Yehudi Menuhin • “Give this book to any musician you love and to any person who loves what music does for them and for the world.”—Richard Stoltzman, clarinetist In The Art of Practicing, acclaimed pianist and teacher Madeline Bruser combines physiological and meditative principles to help musicians release physical and mental tension and unleash their innate musical talent. She offers practical techniques for cultivating free and natural movement, a keen enjoyment of sounds and sensations, a clear and relaxed mind, and an open heart and she explains how to: • Prepare the body and mind to practice with ease • Understand the effect of posture on flexibility and expressiveness • Make efficient use of the hands and arms • Employ listening techniques to improve coordination • Increase the range of color and dynamics by using less effort • Cultivate rhythmic vitality • Perform with confidence, warmth, and freedom Complete with photographs to show essential points of posture and movement for a variety of instruments, this is the definitive guide to turning practice from a sometimes frightening, monotonous chore to a fun, fulfilling activity.

Engaging in Community Music: An Introduction focuses on the processes involved in designing, initiating, executing and evaluating community music practices. Designed for both undergraduate and graduate students, in community music programmes and related fields of study alike, this co-authored textbook provides explanations, case examples and ‘how-to’ activities supported by a rich research base. The authors have also interviewed key practitioners in this distinctive field, encouraging interviewees to reflect on aspects of their work in order to illuminate best practices within their specialisations and thereby establishing a comprehensive narrative of case study illustrations. Features: a thorough exploration and description of the emerging field of community music; succinctly and accessibly written, in a way in which students can relate; interviews with 26 practitioners in the US, UK, Australia, Europe, Canada, Scandinavia and South Africa, where non-formal education settings with a music leader, or facilitator, have experienced success; case studies from many cultural groups of all ages and abilities; research on life-long learning, music in prisons, music and ritual, community music therapy, popular musics, leisure and recreation, business and marketing strategies, online communities – all components of community music.

Community Music Today highlights community music workers who constantly improvise and reinvent to lead through music and other expressive media. It answers the perennial question “What is community music?” through a broad, international palette of contextual shades, hues, tones, and colors. With over fifty musician/educators participating, the book explores community music in global contexts, interconnections, and marginalized communities, as well as artistry and social justice in performing ensembles. This book is both a response to and a testimony of what music is and can do, music’s place in people’s lives, and the many ways it unites and marks communities. As documented in case studies, community music workers may be musicians, teachers, researchers, and activists, responding to the particular situations in which they find themselves. Their voices are the threads of the multifaceted tapestry of musical practices at play in formal, informal, nonformal, incidental, and accidental happenings of community music.

Community Music at the Boundaries examines how music enhances the lives of those living in what might be considered marginalized settings. Built on foundational principles of community music, the volume addresses music and accessibility, health, justice and the prison system, faith, and education, by contributors from more than ten countries.

Community Music in Oceania: Many Voices, One Horizon makes a distinctive contribution to the field of community music through the experiences of its editors and contributors in music education, ethnomusicology, music therapy, and music performance. Covering a wide range of perspectives from Australia, Timor-Leste, New Zealand, Japan, Fiji, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Korea, the essays raise common themes in terms of the pedagogies and practices used, pointing collectively toward one horizon of approach. Yet, contrasts emerge in the specifics of how community musicians fit within the musical ecosystems of their cultural contexts. Book chapters discuss the maintenance and recontextualization of music traditions, the lingering impact of colonization, the growing demands for professionalization of community music, the implications of government policies, tensions between various ethnic groups within countries, and the role of institutions such as universities across the region. One of the aims of this volume is to produce an intricate and illuminating picture that highlights the diversity of practices, pedagogies, and research currently shaping community music in the Asia Pacific.

This handbook provides a comprehensive review of what has been achieved in the field to date and what might be expected in the future. This handbook addresses community music through five focused lenses: contexts, transformations, politics, intersections, and education. The contributors to this handbook outline community music's common values that center on social justice, human rights, cultural democracy, participation, and hospitality from a range of different cultural contexts and perspectives.