International Journal of Community Music - Volume 10, Issue 3, 2017

Songs for children (i.e. a singing repertoire aimed at or performed by children), can be found in most societies. In Arabic-speaking societies, published and accessible collections of songs for children are few. In this article, I examine the issue of Arabic-language children’s songs aimed at children ages three to six living in the twenty-first century: the challenges arising from the language’s diglossic nature and the songs’ musical style and lyrics content in an era of globalization and westernization. Then, I present a solution proposed by Beit Almusica, a Palestinian NGO based in Shefa-Amr, Israel, featuring a collection of developmentally appropriate and culture-sensitive new songs for contemporary young children whose first language is Palestinian Arabic.

My aim in this article is to look at how one aspect of English policy converts into practice in a community music project designed for under-3-year-olds with their mothers. The study that informs the discussion in this article takes a case study approach, focusing on one musician and the once-weekly music sessions that he provided for a group of Somali-born mothers and their children. The article explores how neoliberal policies have resulted in early childhood music work in the community framed by an interventionist agenda; however, in the case that is the focus of this article, we will see how the use of music as parenting intervention failed. I suggest why this might be so, explaining how diverse parenting goals result in varying parenting practices. Finally, I suggest a return to a ‘critical’ community music aligned more with the original aims of the community music movement in the United Kingdom.

In this article I outline a community music programme for young children within an early childhood intervention service. The ‘community’ is local families with a child or children who experience disability. The programme is not therapy: its aim is to celebrate the natural interest in music and play of all children, and to provide an opportunity for families to get together and engage in shared music-making. Analysis of this programme highlights the value of participation in community music. It shows the ways music can support social inclusion and identity for children who experience disability and their families. While not ignoring the therapeutic role music can play, I explore instead the richness and joy that music brings to childhood and advocate for all children’s right to participate in music in their community. A social model perspective of disability and a rights-based approach to provisions for early childhood and early intervention inform the discussion.

We studied how the members of a family with three young children made and shared music with each other and the ways in which musical interactions supported their sense of community. We collected data by recording the soundscape of the family from the vantage point of 15-month-old Travis continuously for almost twelve hours per day for two days. We identified the following four musical behaviours corresponding to Wood and Judikis’ four elements of community: (1) Common purpose and mutual responsibility; (2) Acknowledgement of connectedness; (3) Respect for individual differences; (4) Commitment to the well-being of the members and the integrity of the group. The results of this case study based on behavioural data gathered in the family home show the effectiveness of music in fostering communication, expressing emotional connectedness, and enriching the daily life of parents and children.

This article examines and documents the musical life of a family with an 8-year-old child as resembling the concept, the intentions and practices of community music. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews, sharing of musical artefacts, and written documentations of their daily musical encounters, I seek to provide insights into the functions of music as a means for building community, affective bonding and a sense of shared identity, drawing from Higgins the three broad perspectives through which community music is conceptualized. For the Beckett-Limas, an ethnically diverse family living in New York, music represented an adaptation tool in their living in various countries around the world, and sustained their transitions to different cultures, jobs, climates and communities, strengthening their relationships through moments of informal, spontaneous and communal musical interactions. Looking at family through the lens of community music reveals the extent to which music draws people together and promotes individual and collective well-being.

Music concerts for young children is a field of experimentation for many artistic institutions that aim to lead young audiences to rich musical experiences. This research project involved a series of concerts designed for young children from six months to six years old. The concerts were offered by the Music Department of Ionian University in Corfu city, Greece. The overall design and organization of the project aimed to offer an alternative and informal recital environment, so that young children and their parents could express their natural reactions towards music. Different layers of behaviour and reactions were observed and analysed, such as interactions among children, children and parents, children and musicians, and children and music.

Ghetto Classics (GC) is a youth orchestra with players ranging from seven years old to late teens. It was formed around 2008 in Korogocho, a slum in Nairobi city, Kenya. The group performs western classical and other art music, introducing underprivileged children to the structure and discipline of art music performance. Through the lens of social constructivism theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky I will explore how children as learners construct ideas about music and their own musicality, as well as how knowledge construction in music results from interaction between learners and their tutors within the social environment of Korogocho slums with its attendant culture.

The Williams syndrome (WS) is a multifactorial genetic disorder that results from a deletion on location 7q11.23 and is characterized by a broad spectrum of pathological features. The strong affinity of affected individuals to music inspires promising therapeutic and community-based activities with instruments and the voice. Children with WS display an extraordinarily creative behaviour and have an eyecatching, outgoing personality. On the basis of a short review of research dedicated to music processing and music-associated benefits in WS, this article presents community-based music therapeutic approaches in Prague/Czech Republic. Taking sociocultural aspects of acculturation into account, it also discusses the multifaceted role of music therapists. Professional community music (CM) practice with WS encompasses manifold benefits such as social inclusion, developmental progress and personal growth, reduction of symptom-associated weakness, and subjective wellbeing through cultural participation.

Contesting Early Childhood: Listening to Children: Being and Becoming, Bronwyn Davies (2014) Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 121 pp., ISBN: 9781138780880 (Paperback, $53.95), ISBN: 9781315770390, e-book

Through illuminating stories from Reggio Emilia-inspired preschools, and connections to philosophy and literature, Davies encourages the practice of active, emergent listening, eloquently guiding the reader towards a deeper understanding of our relationships in and to the world. By encouraging openness to the not-yet-known, Davies potentially opens up new ways of thinking about children, communities, and ourselves.

The Beginning of Life (Documentary), Written and Directed by Estela Renner (2016) Brazil: Maria Farinha Filmes.