This book uncovers the multifaceted nature of music participation through a collection of studies in a wide variety of musical contexts across the United States. The contributors combine personal voices and vivid narratives with scholarship to present many potential meanings of music participation, and lay out research-based implications for lifelong music education. Exploring music participation in choral and instrumental ensembles; school music classes and community groups; in-person and virtual spaces; among children, young adults, and older adults; and for native-born citizens and immigrants, the 10 original studies in this volume present a diverse portrait of musical engagement. The chapters draw out themes including enjoyment, identity development, learner autonomy, social interaction, motivation, commitment, and quality of life, and draw connections between musical meanings and philosophical principles from both Western and Eastern traditions. Linked by interludes that connect the empirical studies with philosophical interpretations, this volume brings together multiple methodologies and perspectives to consider the social, cultural, and psychological meanings of lifelong music participation. It offers a valuable resource for scholars, professionals, and students working in school and community music or music education research, as well as readers interested in general education, social psychology, lifelong learning, and aging studies.

Increasingly, it is becoming evident that those involved in socio-musical studies must focus their investigative lens on musical practice and articulation of the self, on music and community involvement and on music as a social medium for social relationships. What motivates people to be involved in musical performance, and how do they articulate these needs and drives? What do performers gain from their involvement in musical activities? How do audience members perceive their relationship to the performer, the music and the event? These questions and many more are addressed here with the benefit of detailed empirical work, including case studies of a chamber music festival and a contemporary music summer school. Pitts investigates the value of musical participation for performers and audience members in a range of contexts, using a multi-disciplinary approach to place new empirical data in the framework of existing theory and literature. Themes examined include: the shared musical experience; the social structures of performing societies; how people identify with music; the values implicit in musical preferences; the social responsibilities of the performer; the audience view of concerts and festivals; the social power of music and educational implications and responsibilities. Pitts draws upon literature from musicology, sociology and psychology of music, ethnomusicology, music education and community music to demonstrate the diversity of enquiry about musical behaviours. The conclusions of the book are based upon empirical evidence gleaned through case studies, with the data integrated thematically throughout, to enable a greater depth of discussion than individual studies usually permit.

In 'Music as Social Life', Thomas Turino explores why it is that music and dance are so often at the centre of our most profound personal and social experiences.

From Grammy-winning musical icon and legendary bassist Victor L. Wooten comes an inspiring parable of music, life, and the difference between playing all the right notes…and feeling them. The Music Lesson is the story of a struggling young musician who wanted music to be his life, and who wanted his life to be great. Then, from nowhere it seemed, a teacher arrived. Part musical genius, part philosopher, part eccentric wise man, the teacher would guide the young musician on a spiritual journey, and teach him that the gifts we get from music mirror those from life, and every movement, phrase, and chord has its own meaning...All you have to do is find the song inside. “The best book on music (and its connection to the mystic laws of life) that I've ever read. I learned so much on every level.”—Multiple Grammy Award–winning saxophonist Michael Brecker

Music for Life: Music Participation and Quality of Life of Senior Citizens presents a fresh, new exploration of the impact of musical experiences on the quality of life of senior citizens, and charts a new direction in the facilitation of the musical lives of people of all ages. Authors Fung and Lehmberg clearly define the issues surrounding music education, music participation, quality of life, and senior citizens, discussing the most relevant research from the fields of music education, adult learning, lifelong learning, gerontology, medicine, music therapy, and interdisciplinary studies. At the heart of the book is Evergreen Town, a retirement community in the southeastern U.S.A., that serves as the backdrop for three original research studies. The first of these is in two phases, a survey and a focus group interview, that examines the histories and rationales for the music participations and non-participations of community residents. The second and third case studies take an in-depth look at a church choir and a bluegrass group, two prominent musical groups in the community, and include the perspectives of the authors themselves as group members and participant-observers. Fung and Lehmberg conclude with a challenge for the profession of music education: to act on this research and on the current advances in the field, to enable all people to benefit from the richness of music as a substantial contributor to quality of life.

Moving back through Dewey, Heidegger, Nietzsche, and Rousseau, the lineage of Western music education finds its origins in Plato and Pythagoras. Yet theories not rooted in the ancient Greek tradition are all but absent. A Way of Music Education provides a much-needed intervention, integrating ancient Chinese thought into the canon of music education in a structured, systematized, and philosophical way. The book's three central sources - the Yijing (The Book of Changes), Confucianism, and Daoism - inform author C. Victor Fung's argument: that the human being exists as an entity at the center of an organismic world in which all things and events, including music and music education, are connected. Fung ultimately proposes a new educational philosophy based on three key ideas in Chinese thought: change, balance, and liberation. A unique work, A Way of Music Education offers a universal approach engrained in a specific and ancient cultural tradition.