Groups in Music

Book excerpt: Music in Groups happens all the time: in the street, the classroom, in music colleges, community centres, hospitals, prisons, churches and concert halls; at raves, weddings, music festivals, public ceremonies, music therapy sessions, group music lessons, concerts and rehearsals. Some group musicking seems to 'work' (and play) better than others; some sessions feel exhausting even if things are going well; and at other times, we can't begin to explain the complex musical and relational textures of group music work to funders, employers, friends, colleagues, or line managers. In this book, music therapist Mercédès Pavlicevic develops a broad-based discourse to describe, analyse and guide the practice of group musicking, drawing on her own extensive experience. The text is illustrated with vignettes drawn from a range of formal and informal settings that include spontaneous public occasions, collective rituals, special and mainstream education, music therapy, the concert hall, the music appreciation group and community work. This book makes you think about balancing individual and group needs, the development of group time, dealing with over-enthusiastic performers who 'hog' the group sound, undercurrents in music groups, the complications of dealing with institutions, preparing music listening programmes and buying instruments for group work - if you're involved in any kind of group musicking, this book is for you.