‘Becoming the song’: Alice Parker, community singing and unlearning choral strictures

2021 ◽  
Vol 00 (00) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Joshua Palkki
Keyword(s):  
Years Of Experience ◽  
Choral Conductor ◽  
American Midwest ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Community Singing ◽  
Music Activities

This article conveys research about participatory community singing that I explore through various lenses. I present thoughts and reflections from my interview with Alice Parker, who has many years of experience leading community singing events as well as ethnographic data collected from a monthly community singing event in the American Midwest. I analyse these data through the lens of a ‘traditional’ choral conductor who, prior to undertaking this investigation, had little knowledge about participatory singing traditions; I also utilize scholarship on the differences between participatory and performative music activities. In our interview, Ms Parker drew on many years of experience in both areas to provide touchstones for facilitating community singing events and also the distinct differences between these events and more traditional choral settings. Perhaps in reflecting on this dichotomy, facilitators of these two important forms of music making might learn from one another.

scholarly journals “A reward rather than a right”: Facilitators’ perspectives on the place of music in Norwegian prison exceptionalism

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-289
Author(s):  
Áine Mangaoang
Keyword(s):  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Ethnographic Research ◽  
Research Practice ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Critical Understanding ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Music Activities

Scholarship on prison music-making projects and programmes to date has largely overlooked the perspectives of prison music facilitators, who form an integral part of many prison music activities. The aim of the study, which was exploratory in nature, was to contribute to a better understanding overall of the relationship between music and imprisonment by focusing on the perspectives of prison music practitioners. Drawing from data collected in four Norwegian prisons through ethnographic research, data was analysed thematically with four key themes emerging: interpersonal communication and emotional connection; social responsibility; prison system and environment, and (in)difference and exclusion. The findings highlight the fact that the range of prison music activities offered in many Norwegian prisons affects music facilitators deeply in a number of ways, and support existing studies that find that prison music practices can contribute to creating a community of caring individuals both inside and outside prisons. Notably, the emergence of the (in)difference and exclusion theme demonstrates a more critical and nuanced view of prison music facilitators’ experiences as going beyond simplistic, romantic notions of music’s function in social transformation. Concerns raised for those who appear to be excluded or differentiated from music-making opportunities in prison – in particular foreign nationals and women – suggest that (even) in the Norwegian context, music in prisons remains a “reward” rather than a fundamental “right.” This study marks a step towards a richer and more critical understanding of prison musicking and aims to inform future research, practice, and the processes involved in the possibilities for offering music in prisons.

scholarly journals From classic to rap: Airborne transmission of different singing styles, with respect to risk assessment of a SARS-CoV-2 infection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernhard Richter ◽  
Anna Maria Hipp ◽  
Bernd Schubert ◽  
Marcus Rudolf Axt ◽  
Markus Stratmann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Popular Music ◽  
Air Velocity ◽  
Airborne Transmission ◽  
Concert Hall ◽  
Professional Singers ◽  
Wind Instrument ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Classical Style ◽  
Music Activities

Since the Covid-19 virus spreads through airborne transmission, questions concerning the risk of spreading infectious droplets during singing and music making arose. To contribute to this question and to help clarify the possible risks, we analyzed 15 singing scenarios (1) qualitative, by making airflows visible, while singing, and (2) quantitative, by measuring air velocities in three distances (1m, 1.5m and 2m). Air movements were considered positive, when lying above 0.1 m/s, which is the usual room air velocity in venue, such as the concert hall of the Bamberg Symphony, where our measurements with three professional singers (female classical style, male classic style, female popular music styles) took place. Our findings highlight, that high measurements for respiratory air velocity while singing, are comparable to measurements of speaking and, by far, less than coughing. All measurements for singing stayed within a reach of 1.5m, only direct voiceless blowing achieved measurements at the 2m sensor. Singing styles, which use plosive sounds i.e. consonants more often, such as rap, produced the highest air velocities of 0.17 m/s at the 1m sensor. Also, singing, while wearing a facemask, produces no air movements over 0.1 m/s. On the basis of, our recent studies on measurements of airflows and air velocities of professional singers and wind instrument players, as well as further studies on CO2; measurements in room settings of music activities, we publish our results, in consideration of further up-to-date research, in our frequently updated risk assessment (first published in April 2020). On this behalf, we suggest 2m radial distances for singers, especially in choirs.

scholarly journals Digital Approaches to Music-Making for People With Dementia in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Current Practice and Recommendations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky Dowson ◽  
Rebecca Atkinson ◽  
Julie Barnes ◽  
Clare Barone ◽  
Nick Cutts ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Psychosocial Interventions ◽  
Cognitive Stimulation ◽  
Digital Inclusion ◽  
Music Making ◽  
People With Dementia ◽  
Digital Format ◽  
Live Music ◽  
Online Music ◽  
Music Activities

Before COVID-19, dementia singing groups and choirs flourished, providing activity, cognitive stimulation, and social support for thousands of people with dementia in the UK. Interactive music provides one of the most effective psychosocial interventions for people with dementia; it can allay agitation and promote wellbeing. Since COVID-19 has halted the delivery of in-person musical activities, it is important for the welfare of people with dementia and their carers to investigate what alternatives to live music making exist, how these alternatives are delivered and how their accessibility can be expanded. This community case study examines recent practice in online music-making in response to COVID-19 restrictions for people with dementia and their supporters, focusing on a UK context. It documents current opportunities for digital music making, and assesses the barriers and facilitators to their delivery and accessibility. Online searches of video streaming sites and social media documented what music activities were available. Expert practitioners and providers collaborated on this study and supplied input about the sessions they had been delivering, the technological challenges and solutions they had found, and the responses of the participants. Recommendations for best practice were developed and refined in consultation with these collaborators. Over 50 examples of online music activities were identified. In addition to the challenges of digital inclusion and accessibility for some older people, delivering live music online has unique challenges due to audio latency and sound quality. It is necessary to adapt the session to the technology's limitations rather than expect to overcome these challenges. The recommendations highlight the importance of accessibility, digital safety and wellbeing of participants. They also suggest ways to optimize the quality of their musical experience. The pandemic has prompted innovative approaches to deliver activities and interventions in a digital format, and people with dementia and their carers have adapted rapidly. While online music is meeting a clear current need for social connection and cognitive stimulation, it also offers some advantages which remain relevant after COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed. The recommendations of this study are intended to be useful to musicians, dementia care practitioners, and researchers during the pandemic and beyond.

Community Music Contexts, Dynamics, and Sustainability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huib Schippers
Keyword(s):  
Community Music ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
The World ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Music Activities

Across the world, much community music-making continues to flourish as ‘organic’ practices. But as communities and their circumstances change, sometimes the need arises for active interventions with the aim to establish or restore. It is mostly these interventions that are now widely referred to as ‘community music activities’. A third—and rarely recognized—aspect on the community music spectrum is institutionalized music-making. Often depicted as the very antithesis of community music-making, I will argue in this chapter that most music institutions in fact arose from an expressed community need, and they are therefore essential in understanding the full scope and dynamics of community music-making. Next, a nine-domain framework of key characteristics of community music practices serves to address the problem of trying to define a great diversity of practices. From there, the discussion moves towards the relationship between community and the sustainability of music practices, introducing the concept of ‘musical ecosystems’.

scholarly journals The riddim method: aesthetics, practice, and ownership in Jamaican dancehall

Popular Music ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 447-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER MANUEL ◽  
WAYNE MARSHALL
Keyword(s):  
Performance Practice ◽  
Hip Hop ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
Live Performance ◽  
Sound Recordings ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
And Performance

The Jamaican system of recording and performance, from the 1950s to the present, constitutes a distinctive approach to notions of composition, originality and ownership. Emerging from a tradition of live performance practice mediated by (and informing) sound recordings, the relative autonomy of riddims and voicings in the Jamaican system challenges conventional ideas about the integrity of a song and the degree to which international copyright law applies to local conceptions, as enshrined in decades of practice, of musical materials as public domain. With the spread of the ‘riddim method’ to the sites of Jamaican mass migration, as evidenced by similar approaches in hip hop, reggaeton, drum'n'bass and bhangra, reggae's aesthetic system has found adherents among artists and audiences outside of Jamaica. This paper maps out, through historical description, ethnographic data, and musical analysis, the Jamaican system as a unique and increasingly influential approach to music-making in the digital age.

Music in the Home

2014 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel A. Mehr
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Young Children ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Frequency Data ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Widespread Belief ◽  
Music Activities

This study had three goals: (1) to investigate the potential connection between music experiences in early childhood and later music making as a parent, (2) to report the frequency of music making in a sample of American families with young children along with parents’ opinions on possible benefits of music classes, and (3) to compare frequency data to two previous studies. Parents of 4-year-old children were surveyed on the frequency of music activities in the home, their early arts experiences, and a variety of topics concerning arts education. An intergenerational link was found: The frequency of parental song in childhood significantly predicted parents’ later music behaviors with their own children, adjusting for other aspects of the early artistic environment. Parents reported high frequencies of music activities in the home, with most parents singing or playing recorded music to their children on a daily basis. Notably, the frequency of parental music making was unrelated to family income or to participation in music classes. Parents’ opinions on the effects of music education reflected a widespread belief that music classes confer a variety of nonmusical benefits.

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