International Journal of Community Music - Volume 13, Issue 3, 2020

The purpose of this article is to evoke an approach to scholarship that is resonant with community music’s ethos and practice. After contextualizing questions that have driven my work, I engage with a ‘philosophical critique’ of community music, published in 2016, through one of its endnotes and, in so doing, reveal why the text is problematic and ‘out of step’ with contemporary thinking concerning understandings of community music. Following this, I develop some ideas associated with community music as an act of hospitality and, in so doing, provide a potential lens for critique rather than a criticism. In conclusion, I advocate for future scholars and researchers to have a sensitivity and understanding of the practices and the issues that face those who are engaged in community music in order to generate a conducive environment through which powerful critique might be made.

The armed conflict in Colombia leaves many families with no other option than to be displaced, which affects their social status and identity. This article reprises a qualitative study that analyses the life histories of eight families, all of whom were victims of the armed conflict, whose children participate in the Batuta National Foundation’s ‘Music for Reconciliation’ programme. The results of the study indicate that displacement impacted identity, resulting in the unsettlement of the social place of the participants. This was due to their anonymous state on arrival at their new places, with no support networks or social recognition. Together with the distrust created by the violence experienced, this led to attitudes of isolation, through which the individual became increasingly vulnerable to the dynamics of violence. This text analyses the concept of temporary musical identity, and the results show the possibilities that collective musical spaces offer for restoring the social place of the participants.

This study investigates a large-scale community project that called for a long preparation period and involved over a hundred participants. The researchers were interested in the contributory factors that led participants and leaders to commit and persevere with the project, for which there were almost two years of planning and five months of rehearsals. The project related a suppressed wartime history and had re-enactment aspects. Interpretative phenomenological analysis methodology was used to engage participants in sharing their lived experiences. Through focus group sessions, a theme of restoration emerged, among other themes that are frequently expressed in community music groups, such as social and emotional well-being. A deep emotional engagement with the project centred on historical restoration, which aligned with personal restoration experiences. Restoration was closely linked to storytelling and three other themes of personal growth, connections and self-discovery/journey. In light of this theme and the historical basis for the community project, the researchers chose to examine the findings through the lens of historical nostalgia.

Create An Opera! was a fortnightly devising workshop led by the author at Theatre Delicatessen studios in London in 2017–20. It was free to the general public and attracted participants including both experienced and inexperienced performance practitioners. It aimed to create a safe, inclusive environment for experimentation in writing, composition and collaborative performance. This initiative arose from the author’s interest in challenging the sociopolitical traditions and hierarchical infrastructures associated with opera production. Inspired by the ethos of devised theatre, the workshops created a space for participants to be involved in both creative and performance aspects, working individually and collaboratively. This article presents the pedagogical and creative methodologies informing the delivery of the workshops, focusing on inclusion, collaboration and independent creativity.

The aim of the study was to describe and analyse what aspects of musical learning constitute the process of developing a collective artistic performance among twenty amateur dancers over 65 years old. In focus is how the musical learning proceeds throughout the project, where a series of workshops, consisting of training, choreography and improvisation, leads towards a common performance built on the participants’ life stories. The study takes Heidegger’s existential phenomenology as a starting point. Workshops, rehearsals and performances were observed, and video recorded regularly for one year. A sample of the participants was also interviewed. Generated material was analysed in a hermeneutic phenomenological manner. The results imply that the elderly people become themselves through movement in different musical situations. Crucial factors seem to be how they get to use themselves, each other, their bodies, their stories, their personal artistic forms of expressions and their imaginations, in interplay with music.

Jail Guitar Doors USA (JGD USA) is an initiative that provides guitars and songwriting instruction in correctional facilities. Founded in 2009, JGD USA is currently in 100 jails, prisons and youth facilities with a waiting list of 50. This study examined the phenomenon of JGD USA in Cook County Jail (Chicago, Illinois) and was guided by the following research question: How do participants describe their experiences in the case of JGD USA in Cook County Jail? Participants consisted of six adult male residents. Other data sources included interviews with the class teacher, the jail administrator who implemented JGD USA, Billy Bragg (founder of the original JGD) and Wayne Kramer (founder of JGD USA). This study employed instrumental case study methodology in order to explore a real-world phenomenon of guitar instruction in jail. Data sources included observation, a focus group interview, four semi-structured phone interviews and examination of lyrics and chord structure. Data were coded for emergent themes. Analysis of data sources revealed themes of group dynamics, expression, flow and intrinsic motivation. Other findings included insights related to the benefits of guitar and songwriting instruction in correctional settings.

In Shuilin Township, Yunlin County, Taiwan a group of older people have a small, well-established, active musical club called ‘Can’t Read the Words’ where they learn and play the ukulele together. This research explored the impact of their ukulele playing experiences and paid special attention to song preferences (songs they have chosen to play or sing). Data collection involved 11 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with individual healthy adults. All participants drew from their experiences in regional community music organizations to explore how music effects their daily lives. Thematic analysis of the data unveiled valuable insights. The study concluded that participants believed that their musical club provided opportunities for individuals to practice and perform before audiences, resulting in a sense of achievement and satisfaction. The aged community should view the ‘Can’t Read the Words’ musical club as an example of the positive effects playing the ukulele can have on their lives.

The purpose of the current study was to describe the perceptions and experiences of New Horizons Band assistants in terms of learning, skill transfer and pedagogical preparation. The participant population for this study was 35 past student teacher-assistants from three New Horizons bands, one in Texas, one in Florida and one in Virginia. There were ten open-ended items on the questionnaire that asked about student assistant perceptions and experiences. Participants noted the growth they experienced from serving as a band teaching assistant in a New Horizons programme, describing their appreciation for lifelong learning, exposure to the complexity of how to teach to a variety of learners, and experience with the challenges of pacing with adults and blunt feedback from programme participants. The article concludes with a discussion of possible collegiate preparatory experiences that could broaden the teacher training experience for college programmes.