Every day people come together to make music. Whether amateur or professional, young or old, jazz enthusiasts or rock stars, what is common to all of these musical groups is the potential to create communities of musical practice (CoMP). Such communities are created through practices: ways of engaging, rules, membership, roles, identities and learning that is both shared through collective musical endeavour and situated within certain sociocultural contexts. Ailbhe Kenny investigates CoMP as a rich model for community engagement, musical participation and transformation in music education.

This book is the first to produce a valid and reliable in-depth study of music communities using a community of practice (CoP) framework - in this case focusing on the social process of musical learning. Employing case study research within Ireland, three illustrations from particular sociocultural, genre-specific, economic and geographical contexts are examined: an adult amateur jazz ensemble, a youth choir, and an online Irish traditional music web platform. Each case is analysed as a distinct community and phenomenon offering sharpened understandings of each sub-culture with specific findings presented for each community.

About the Author
Ailbhe Kenny is Lecturer in Music Education at Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick, Ireland. She is a Fulbright Scholar, holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge and publishes internationally in journals, handbooks and edited volumes on music, arts and teacher education.

Reviews

"Communities of Musical Practice offers a case study of the kind of reflective thinking that is central to philosophical practice. It is an example of how applying a reflective process to research data might provide the profession with both practical and philosophical insights."

- Frank Heuser, University of California, Los Angeles, USA

"Communities of Musical Practice by Ailbhe Kenny provides an in-depth and invaluable insight into 'situated' collaborative music-making practices on the ground in Ireland. (...) The real value in this study is in its in-depth look beyond the pervasive, primarily quantitative research emphases on the economic value of the arts to society, in terms of supply and demand, regeneration of communities, and tourism. (...) One of the book's great strengths lies in the author's analysis, within a qualitative case study approach, which highlights the importance of engaging in research not to measure, but to 'capture' the complexities of multiple viewpoints in different contexts and genres. (...) This study makes a valuable contribution to the field of music education, community music and ongoing debates regarding the social impact and value of arts and culture in our society."

- FRAN GARRY, Irish Journal of Arts Management & Cultural Policy, 2016/17, Volume 4

Book Information
ISBN 9781138092457
Author Ailbhe Kenny
Format Paperback
Page Count 156
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 249g