Community Music : In Theory and In Practice

In this book, Lee Higgins investigates an interventional approach to music making outside of formal teaching and learning situations. Working with historical, ethnographic, and theoretical research, Higgins provides a rich resource for those who practice, advocate, teach, or study community music, music education, music therapy, ethnomusicology, and community cultural development.

Community musicians move in many diverse settings, and facilitate local music activities in a wide array of community contexts including schools, hospitals places of worship, music festivals, and prisons. Underscoring the importance of active participation and sensitivity to context, they integrate activities such as listening, improvising, inventing and performing while emphasizing equality of opportunity and fostering a diverse and welcoming environment for all who wish to partake. In Community Music: In Theory and in Practice, author Lee Higgins, a recognized leader in the study and advocacy of Community Music, investigates an interventional approach toward active music making outside of formal teaching and learning situations. Contextualizing Community Music within today''s wider musical landscape, Higgins guides the reader through a historical perspective on the movement and an examination of its traits of practice before concluding with a discussion of future implications and directions for this distinctive and increasingly significant music-making discipline. The first full-length work on the subject, Community Music: In Theory and In Practice is a must-read for anyone invested in music education, music therapy, applied ethnomusicology, or community cultural development, as well as the practitioners and participants of community music activities.