Community Music

Move On Up–an evaluation of Youth Music Mentors

by Kathryn Deane

Community Music: History and Current Practice, its Constructions of ‘Community’, Digital Turns and Future Soundings

by George McKay

Co-authored with Ben Higham. Produced as the lead output of an AHRC Connected Communities programme research review in 2011 (award: £26,733) Published by the AHRC.. Draws on the scoping exercise of a 90-entry annotated bibliography also avaiable on academia.edu.

The UK has been a pivotal national player within the development of community music practice. In the UK community... more The UK has been a pivotal national player within the development of community music practice. In the UK community music developed broadly from the 1960s and had a significant burgeoning period in the 1980s. Community music nationally and internationally has gone on to build a set of practices, a repertoire, an infrastructure of organisations, qualifications and career paths. There are elements of cultural and debatably pedagogic innovations in community music. These have to date only partly been articulated and historicised within academic research. 

This document brings together and reviews research under the headings of history and definitions; practice; repertoire; community; pedagogy; digital technology; health and therapy; policy and funding, and impact and evaluation. A 90-entry, 22,000 word annotated bibliography was also produced (McKay and Higham 2011). An informed group of 15 practitioners and academics reviewed the authors’ initial findings at a knowledge exchange colloquium and advised on further investigation. Some of the gaps in research identified are: an authoritative history, an examination of repertoire, the relationship with other music (practice), the freelance practitioner career, evidence of impact and value, the potential for a pedagogy.

Annotated Bibliography of Community Music Research Review, AHRC Connected Communities Programme

by George McKay

Co-authored with Ben Higham.  Arts & Humanities Research Council funded (£26,733, 2011).

This research review, consisting of a 90-entry annotated bibliography, was produced as part of an AHRC Connected... more This research review, consisting of a 90-entry annotated bibliography, was produced as part of an AHRC Connected Communities programme project entitled Community Music, its History and Current Practice, its Constructions of ‘Community’, Digital Turns and Future Soundings.  It supports a 2,500 word report written with this same title for the AHRC

Renegotiating Traveller Identity through Folksong in Ireland

by Susan Motherway

The Travelling community in Ireland is an indigenous, traditionally nomadic group with distinct cultural practices. In... more The Travelling community in Ireland is an indigenous, traditionally nomadic group with distinct cultural practices. In the past this minority group maintained a symbiotic relationship with the settled (majority) community through the provision of specialist crafts and skills. Over time this relationship became fractured due to technological advances and industrialisation making traveller skills redundant. Now seen as a burden on the state, Travellers experience a form of internal exile, often facing prejudice, discrimination and inequality. This paper examines the cultural impact of representing the Traveller community as the ‘other’ in Irish society. In particular, it looks at the representation of Traveller song within the Irish song tradition from diachronic and synchronic perspectives. The first section of this paper will discuss Traveller song from the perspectives of repertoire, language, performance and transmission, looking at the ways in which Traveller song has impacted upon the musical culture of the settled community. The second part of this paper will discuss the impact of social division on Traveller song and the attempt by one performer, known as the Pecker Dunne, to negotiate societal prejudice by adapting American folksong practices to the tradition. In this respect, I will study the influence of Woody Guthrie upon this performer, showing how two very different minority communities in Europe and America are in fact very similar. It also explores Pecker Dunne’s use of music as a tool to highlight social injustice within in the ‘Folk Movement’.

Improvisation and the development of community music in Britain; followed by, the case of More Music in Morecambe

by George McKay

Pre-publication final draft of ch. 3 of Pete Moser and George McKay, eds.2005.  Community Music: A Handbook. Lyme Regis: Russell House, 61-76.

The aim of this chapter is twofold. First, it traces the historical development of the idea of community music. It... more The aim of this chapter is twofold. First, it traces the historical development of the idea of community music. It does this with particular emphasis on community music’s relation to aspects of the 1960s countercultural project and its legacy. This involves looking at the role of free jazz in music education, links with the burgeoning community arts movement, the radical politics and social ideas frequently claimed by those central to community music. Community music remains imbued with the spirit of improvisation, and I think it important to acknowledge the special role played by that particular music (as opposed to, say, classical music outreach teams, grassroots folk or more recent world music projects) in its development. Second it narrates the development of the More Music in Morecambe community music project through the 1990s, its successes and (mini-)crises, its beliefs and practices. It considers the origins of MMM in some of the earlier musical/theatrical performance practice of Welfare State International, and locates MMM in the context of the rise of community music as a social-cultural phenomenon in Britain. This involves discussion of ways in which the radicalism or idealism of some of early community music has been knocked and/or maintained.