Community Based Traditional Music In Scotland

This book examines the community-based learning and teaching of ‘traditional’ music in contemporary Scotland, with implications for transnational theoretical issues. The book draws on a broad range of scholarship and a local case study of a large organisation. A historical perspective provides an overview of new educational formats emerging from the mid-twentieth century folk music revival in Scotland. Practices through which participants encounter and perpetuate the idiom of traditional music include social music-making, learning by ear and participatory and presentational elements of musical performances. Individuals are shown as combining these aspects with their own learning strategies to participate in the contemporary community of practice of traditional music. The work also discusses how experiences of learning contribute to identity formation, including the role and practice of ‘tutors’ of traditional music. The author proposes conceptualising the teaching and learning of traditional music in community-based organisations as a ‘pedagogy of participation’.

Scottish traditional music has been through a successful revival in the mid-twentieth century and has now entered a professionalised and public space. Devolution in the UK and the surge of political debate surrounding the independence referendum in Scotland in 2014 led to a greater scrutiny of regional and national identities within the UK, set within the wider context of cultural globalisation. This volume brings together a range of authors that sets out to explore the increasingly plural and complex notions of Scotland, as performed in and through traditional music. Traditional music has played an increasingly prominent role in the public life of Scotland, mirrored in other Anglo-American traditions. This collection principally explores this movement from historically text-bound musical authenticity towards more transient sonic identities that are blurring established musical genres and the meaning of what constitutes ‘traditional’ music today. The volume therefore provides a cohesive set of perspectives on how traditional music performs Scottishness at this crucial moment in the public life of an increasingly (dis)United Kingdom.

Sound Teaching explores the ways in which music psychology and education can meet to inspire developments in the teaching and learning of music performance. The book is based on music practitioners’ research into aspects of their own professional practice. Each chapter addresses a specific topic related to musical communication and expression, performance confidence and enjoyment, or skill development in individual and group learning. It explains the background of the research, outlines main findings, and provides suggestions for practical applications. Sound Teaching provides a research-informed approach to teaching and contributes to music tutors’ professional development in teaching children and adults of various ages and abilities. Sound Teaching is written for vocal and instrumental music teachers, music performers with a portfolio career, and music students at conservatoires and universities. Music students undertaking practice-related research will find examples of research methodologies and projects that are informative for their studies. Musical participants of all kinds – students, teachers, performers, and audiences – will find new ways of understanding their practice and experience through research.

Using research, analysis and a range of historical sources, Paul Weller and Popular Music immerses the reader in the excitement of Paul Weller’s unique creative journey, covering topics such as the artist’s position within his field; his creative processes; the contexts in which the music was made; the artist as collaborator; signifiers that mark the trajectory of the music; and formative influences. Focusing on over 40 years of recorded work from ‘In the City’ to ‘Fat Pop (Volume One)’, this study explores why Paul Weller's music is widely considered both timeless and of its time, and with reference to a wide range of interviews, reviews and texts, it offers an in-depth critical analysis of Paul Weller’s music. It will be of particular interest to scholars and researchers of popular music, popular culture, performance studies and music production.

Violins: Local Meanings, Globalized Sounds examines the violin as an object of meaning in a variety of cultural and historical contexts, and as a vehicle for introducing anthropological issues. Each chapter highlights concepts as taught in lower-level anthropology courses, and includes teaching and learning tools. Chapters range from a memoir-like social biography of a single instrument to explorations of violins in relation to technology, labor, the environment, migration, globalization, childhood, cultural understandings of talent and virtuosity, and prestige.

Electro swing is a relatively recent musical style and scene which combines the music of the swing era with that of the age of electronic dance music. Chris Inglis considers key questions about electro swing’s place in contemporary society, including what it may mean for a contemporary genre to be so reliant upon the influences of the past; the different ways in which jazz may be presented to a modern audience; how one may go about defining jazz in today's postmodern world; and how this emergent genre may be analysed in terms of the wider issues of race and class consumption.

To reach the highest standards of instrumental performance, several years of sustained and focused learning are required. This requires perseverance, commitment and opportunities to learn and practise, often in a collective musical environment. This book brings together a wide range of enlightening current psychological and educational research to offer deeper insights into the mosaic of factors and related experiences that combine to nurture (and sometimes hinder) advanced musical performance. Each of the book's four sections focus on one aspect of music performance and learning: musics in higher education and beyond; musical journeys and educational reflections; performance learning; and developing expertise and professionalism. Although each chapter within its home section offers a particular focus, there is an underlying conception across all the book’s contents of the achievability of advanced musical performance and of the important nurturing role that higher education can play, particularly if policy and practice are evidence-based and draw on the latest international research findings. The narrative offers an insight into the world of advanced musicians, detailing their learning journeys and the processes involved in their quest for the development of expertise and professionalism. It is the first book of its kind to consider performance learning in higher education across a variety of musical genres, including classical, jazz, popular and folk musics. The editors have invited an international community of leading scholars and performance practitioners to contribute to this publication, which draws on meticulous research and critical practice. This collection is an essential resource for all musicians, educators, researchers and policy makers who share our interest in promoting the development of advanced performance skills and professionalism.

Politics took a decisive turn twenty years ago with the birth of the modern Scottish Parliament. People in Scotland want to 'make a difference' and build a better future. Scotland the Brave? offers both an acute assessment of where we are today and a route map to the future. Editors Gerry Hassan and Simon Barrow have brought together an impressive array of Scottish and international voices to cover concerns including the economy, environment, social policy, beliefs, human rights, media and culture. After two decades of significant change, the contributors describes how wealth is created and distributed in Scotland; ways of addressing social divisions and inequality; the needs to respond to the climate emergency, as well as considering challenges to democracy. This book provides powerful, non-partisan visions for the future that indicates how we can rise to challenges of our times and truly become 'Scotland the Brave'.