The term musicking was coined by the musicologist Christopher Small in the late 20th century.  Musicking is a verb.  It is the process, activity, or one’s contribution to the making of music.  Musicking is an activity that is incredibly inclusive as it can relate to listening, performing, composing, producing, recording, conducting, advocating, or participating in a music related activity in some supportive capacity.  

Musicking is a community oriented process, because musicking almost always requires more than one person to accomplish the task of making music.  How so?   Well, if you are singing along with your favorite song in the car, you are obviously not alone.  You may be singing by yourself, but the music you are singing with required instrumentalists, their lead and co-vocalists, a producer, a recording engineer, songwriters (composers,) the disc jockey, the radio station personnel, and of course the recording companies employees who all created the final project whether it be an MP3, vinyl disc, compact disc, cassette tape, or other tangible product for delivering the music experience.  At any particular moment that you partake in musicking of any form you have a community of musick(ers) around you even if it is a second or third degree of separation.

The only type of musicking that could be considered solo musicking would be you functioning as the composer and performer in an isolated environment outdoors.  If you are indoors then the builders of that room helped you in your musicking.  The acoustics of that room affect your perception of that music you are making.  Therefore, if you are in the Sonoran Desert hundreds of miles away from anybody or anything and you decide to compose or improvise your own song vocally then you are musicking by oneself.  If you use a musical instrument then you are including the artisans who made that instrument involved in your musicking.  We are always a part of the community of music.  Yes, even if you play music only on your phone you are in a community of musicians.

The philosophy of community musicking is more important now in the present tense than at any other time in our species history.  It is more important than aesthetics or pragmatic philosophy.  Why?  Our species is becoming more and more isolated by the technological advances of artificial intelligence and the incorporation of the internet within everything we do.  The younger generations place more value in their social media presence than their accomplishments when it comes to their self-esteem.  The technological devices they use become a part or extension of their person.  My children see their phones as an extension of their person.  It is like a wardrobe accessory they can’t live without.  The technology has become a dimensional variable within their identity and esteem.  

This isolation disconnects the individual from their natural analog connections of family and friends.  It is easier to function in a digital world than it is to function in an analog world.  The analog world requires more work and reflection to determine feelings, gestures, and emotions.  The digital world reduces these variables to memes, emoticons, and likes.  The digital world reduces community building to a binary process. Music making is one of the final institutions left in our society that actually connects people through community collaboration.

Isolation is easy.  Being analog is difficult.  I’m glad my generation (X) was raised in the analog world and embraced the technological advancements without bias.  We as a generation still embrace our community of musicking.  We still own music on a compact disc or vinyl record.  We hear a song in public and we begin to sing absentmindedly with our peers.  Our music defines a lot about the world of Gen X.   I do not see the same relationship with musicking in the younger generations.  Their relationship with music is based on algorithms rather than listening.  These generations think of listening as a set of expected behaviors rather than the thinking about what they are hearing.  These generations do not read the album notes of their favorite artists.  They seldom can tell the difference between digitally (synthesized) produced sounds and actual acoustic instruments.  They also consider drum rhythms to be beats, another musical faux pas.  A beat is a unit of measurement in music, and a rudimentary rhythm.  Whereas the “funky drummer” signifies a particular rhythmic groove (slang-beat,) that has been sampled thousands of times. 

Schools need the arts and music is an academic tool to teach us how to build community.  The process of musicking requires one to listen, sing or play an instrument by oneself or in groups, all within a process of collaboration and cooperation.  When we perform in these groups we build relationships with others.  The same can be true of sporting activities.  There is one difference between the two activities.  Sports have a limited number of participants playing at any given time.  Music allows everyone to participate.  Working together as a team builds self-esteem and efficacy, while building nonverbal and verbal communication skills.

We have musicking opportunities for adults as well.  These communities of music create friendships, combat loneliness, and even create the soul of a larger organization.  The first of these adult musicking opportunities exist in the churches, synagogues, and mosques with the religious culture.  Church choirs, bell choirs, bands, or cantors singing prayers to be echoed by the congregants are all key musicking activities within these organizations.  The traditions of music making and music education begins with the Jewish people who taught succeeding generations their religious music and rights as they wandered North Africa, Asia, and Europe.   Religions have used music as a call to their community both spiritually and expressively since their creation.  The Counter-Reformation within the Catholic Church is the closest to a war on music expression we have ever seen historically.   This is followed by the Parent’s Resource Music Center that declared war on subject matter within lyrics.  The PRMC is to music as Book Banners are to libraries.

The second area of musicking opportunities are the non-profit or city run performing organizations.  Municipal Bands, choirs, symphony orchestras, community theatres, and even dance opportunities all fall under musicking.  You may not find these organizations in a rural area, but you will definitely find them in urban centers that have thriving arts communities.  The New Horizons Music community is geared toward senior citizens and anyone can join these ensembles even if you are a novice musically.  Some non-profits may require an audition to perform in, but there are ensembles in many cities that will accept an average performer.  Music is available to everyone.  

One last group of musicking is the all-age drum and bugle corps.  There are very few of these organizations in existence today, but those that do exist carry within them traditions and teamwork that help create lifelong friendships.  These groups create marching field shows, and parade ensembles to share their musical product.  All of the members pay for the privilege to participate in these organizations as they are all non-profit organizations.  All-age corps encompass generations, whereas junior corps focus on the youth aged 22 and under.

The only thing that is preventing more of these types of musicking communities from forming are individuals that try to monetize or make everything a transaction within our society.  Music is not just a commodity to be purchased, digested, and thrown out.  It is a living breathing art form that requires a community of practitioners to achieve or continue the art form’s survival.  Artificial Intelligence is not able to create a community. Why would you allow someone else to dictate to you what you can or can’t do?  2nd amendment anyone???

Imagine if our legislatures of governance were required to play an instrument or sing daily together as a community.  Is it possible that they would stop dehumanizing one another?  Could they learn to collaborate?  I think yes, but it has been the Republican Party that continues the dehumanizing practice of attacking fine art, and arts education programs nationwide in favor of a test score.  This transactional approach to governance and education has taken a toll on our younger generations.  This group of individuals (Republicans) only gets satisfaction in telling others what to do.  They do not know how to be a community, they do not know how to empathize, they do not know how to be human…   Imagine how awkward they would be if they had to perform music?  With others?  Christopher Small’s philosophy of musicking is their greatest fear.  It comes with having to face their own awkwardness, their fears of inadequacy, and their own ignorance of all the beautiful ways one can express themselves emotionally and expressively through the arts.

Our schools, whether parochial or public, need their music communities.  We need to teach these succeeding generations how to work together to improve our human standards.  This is just the biggest need for music education and musicking in our communities.  The next time you sing along with the radio, reflect on that community of music practice.  Why do you feel this way with them?  How can we make the world a better place within that community or others?  This is why the arts are worth fighting for.  …so it goes…