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“…Both rural and urban community life can be enriched and bettered measurably by setting up and maintaining a variety of musical activities. And the school music program should find much of its vitality in sustaining them. Musical organizations that exist largely for their own sakes or for general recreative purposes, such as choirs, orchestras, small ensembles, music clubs, study groups, groups active in promoting concert courses, and the like, can serve a valuable social purpose. One of the principal aims of the music program should be to further such organizations by interesting the pupils in them.” (Mursell, 1936, p. 11)¹

For those of us who work in the music profession the above statement by James L. Mursell is probably nothing new, nor is is that surprising. Given the context in which Mursell was writing, in 1930′s America where people were actively working on where the public school music program should be headed, the above statement can be seen as bold and forward thinking. Mursell was not alone in this kind of thinking. There is a body of writing from this time in America (and in further decades) which talk about the role a school music teacher could/should play in the local community by setting up musical activities, and also the role community music can play in the lives of school musicians afterthey leave school (Dykema, 1934; Pitts, 1944; Richter, 1938; Williamson, 1931; Wilson, 1935).

I’m not totally discounting the view of Mursell (and others) that music teachers should not involve themselves in community music activities. However, in the decades in which the mentioned writers were living, in many towns and cities the only trained musicians were those who were from the teaching profession. In these times people of many different backgrounds are community music facilitators and leaders and indeed, this mix of backgrounds brings greater variety and experience to community music activities. As the forward to a 2005 Victorian Health study on the health benefits of community arts states: “The strength of the community arts process is its ability to bring diverse people together around a common project and sense of purpose.” (VicHealth, 2005).

Mursell was really trying to highlight the social side of music making through his chapter, and from this it can be acknowledged that it is this social side that can influence learning within groups through the exchange of ideas and experience. A recent study from Australia titled Sound Links: Community Music in Australia, through various case studies also acknowledges the social and educational side of music making in groups (Bartleet, B.-L., Dunbar-Hall, P., Letts, R., & Schippers, H, 2009)². Again this is notwithstanding the role of experienced facilitators and leaders in community music making.

The body of writing dealing with the social side of school and community music making, the role of music teachers and community music leaders, and the nature of learning in groups is large, and growing as more researchers take an active role in writing about community music – and this amount of literature is obviously too large for me to mention here (please see my research page for a list of resources I have collected on these and other topics related to my (proposed) research). I find these writings fascinating because of the parallels with today (one would hope that things have changed) (and I sincerely hope I have made sense in my own writings!). By looking back we can see that the educators of times past clearly had views that would not be incompatible with today’s thinking, but we live in a different society were educational priorities are constantly changing. Perhaps it is time to start bringing more schools and students back into the community and let them see the benefits of what community arts has to offer.

footnotes:
1) For a link to download the book The Thirty-Fifth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education: Part II: Music Education where the chapter by James Mursell appears, please click here. (This book was found through a Google search).

2) For a link to download the Sound Links: Community Music in Australia report, please click here.

references:

Bartleet, B.-L., Dunbar-Hall, P., Letts, R., & Schippers, H. (2009). Sound Links: Community Music in Australia. Brisbane, Qld.: Griffith University, Queensland Conservatorium.

Dykema, P. W. (1934). Music in Community Life. Music Supervisors’ Journal, 20(4), 34-35, 73-74.

Mursell, J. L. (1936). Principles of Music Education. In G. M. Whipple (Ed.), The Thirty-Fifth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education: Part II: Music Education (pp. 3-16). Bloomington, Illinois: Public School Publishing Company.

Pitts, L. B. (1944). Widening Horizons for Music Education. Music Educators Journal, 30(4), 17-55.

Richter, A. (1938). Music and the Forgotten Pupil. Music Educators Journal, 25(2), 19-22.

VicHealth. (2005). Creative Connections: Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing through Community Arts Participation. Resource Centre Retrieved May 11th, 2009, from http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/en/Resource-Centre/Publications-and-Resources/Mental-health-and-wellbeing/Social-connection/Creative-Connections.aspx

Williamson, J. F. (1931). A Challenge. Music Supervisors’ journal, 18(2), 33-39.

Wilson, E. M. (1935). Why School Music Does Not “Carry Over”. Music Educators Journal, 22(2), 31.