What is a Music Community?

Can your class come up with a definition?

For example: a collection of individuals who are bound together in some way.

A community may bind together people from many different places or backgrounds. These individuals might identify themselves with their past and their present, with the place they (or their parents) have come from, and where they live now.

Musically, one consequence of people joining or forming a new community has been ‘Worldbeat’ or ‘fusion’ music – where musicians have combined two or more different cultural influences and musical styles to form a new style.

Some examples of communities being represented in this way can be found below:

An example of fusing Indian classical singing with pop/soul against a jazzy beat. Nitin Sawhney is one of today’s most versatile fusion musicians. His parents moved to England from India, and his songs are deeply influenced by traditional Indian music.

A beautiful example of musicians working with different traditions together, to form a whole.

An introduction to a piece that fuses tabla, classical and traditional Irish music.

Paul Simon’s album Graceland (1986) introduced the South African a capella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo to a worldwide audience.

Another kind of fusion is where music from one musical era is fused with a completely different style of music. A famous example is jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek’s work with The Hilliard Ensemble, who specialise in early choral music:

The track Parce Mihi Domine, originally written by the Spanish composer Cristóbal de Morales (1550-1553). The Renaissance motet is sung by the four singers while Jan Garbarek improvises.

Listen and Discuss different communities and musical traditions being represented through music.

• What aspects of the music (form, instrumentation, vocal technique, etc.) indicate the different musical styles?
• Can you think of other traditions (architecture/literature/painting/ dance) where a similar fusion takes place?

Sometimes within a community, there are groups that cannot get past their differences.

An example of tensions between rival groups can be found in Bernstein’s West Side Story, a 20th century version of Romeo and Juliet. Watch the following clip, which introduces the Jets and the Sharks, two gangs in the same New York neighbourhood:

Listening Task: Note down the musical similarities and differences between Bernstein’s musical representation of the Jets and Sharks

Similarities: clicking fingers, syncopation, dissonance (a good opportunity to tell students about the tritone);

Differences: lyrical saxophone melody in dotted rhythm (Jets) contrasted with edgy, percussion rhythms with a Latin feel (Sharks), etc.

Think about how these musical elements communicate the complex and messy differences between the two groups – but, also, how they hint at the idea that these differences might not be entirely impossible to overcome.

Journaling Questions

1. Is a leader always necessary to coordinate a group?
2. Is a musical group a microcosm of other groups in society?
3. How do individuals in a musical group work out their differences?
4. Can music create a community? Can you think of an example?
5. Can music help individuals within a community resolve their messy differences? Can you think of an example?
6. In what sense can music heal?
7. How can music lead to better communities in the world?