Principal Themes: Relationships in Music: A

Reflection on Christopher Small's Musicking

Woodyard, Stephen

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ABSTRACT (ABSTRACT)
The author reflects on Christopher Small's "Musicking; the Meanings of Performing and Listening," which discusses
the function and meaning of performance. Small believes that it is only in musicking that one can express who one
is, and defines the concept as "to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by
listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performance, or by dancing." Rather than being overly
concerned with the production of sound, teachers should focus on the process of learning to musick.

FULL TEXT
Stephen Woodyard

A reflection on Christopher Small's Musicking

In the past, as I sought to prepare myself and my students for a performance I frequently asked myself several
questions: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? What are we trying to accomplish? How do my goals differ
from that of my students? What is it that motivates my students individually and collectively to want to perform? How
can we improve on our preparation for our next performance? For a concert to be as meaningful as possible for
performers and audience alike, we must perform the music to the best of our ability. For most of my career I have
believed that ''making music'' (music for music's sake) lies at the heart of music education.
Reading Christopher Small's Musicking; the Meanings of Performing and Listening has encouraged me to look at
the function and meaning of performance from a different perspective by helping me realize the complexity of
relationships that are being expressed in a performance. The book has helped me re-examine the variety of
meanings expressed in performances and understanding the many motivational factors that influence our desire to
perform. Finally Small'sclaim that it is only in musicking that we can express who we are in all of its complexity has
encouraged me to reexamine the different meanings inherent in the universal musical activities known as performing
and listening. Smalldefines musicking as follows: ''To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical
performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practising, by providing material for performance
(what is called composing), or by dancing'' (p. 9).
A mistake that I made early in my career was to put off a performance of my ensembles until I thought they were
ready to perform. I did not want my students to embarrass themselves nor be embarrassed myself. In determining
what is an acceptable performance for an elementary band of beginners (grade 5) and an elementary band of
students with more experience (grades 6 and 7) I soon learned that students need to perform. Sometimes students
thought they had rehearsed a piece enough and considered themselves ready to perform when in my opinion the
pieces needed more rehearsal time. What does this difference of opinion suggest? With my new insight I can
speculate that my focus was primarily on the preparation of the music whereas the students' focus was on their need
to perform. They needed the performance experience to fully express themselves even if everything in the
preparation of the music was not perfect. Smallstates that performance is the primary process of musicking (p. 113).
Performance is a key component of the exploration, affirmation, and celebration of relationships.
Another aspect of a performance where the concept of musicking has become even more clear is regarding the

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response of parents when they attend their children's performances. The way they respond varies, but there is
always a celebratory and expectant atmosphere as they gather together to listen and watch. The quality of a
performance is usually not nearly as important to them as their relationship with their child who is performing. At
performances, parents and students celebrate and affirm complex relationships. Indeed, when parents attend
performances by their children, they are exploring who their children are in ways that cannot be discovered
elsewhere.
Teachers who attend concerts also say they know their students better after seeing them perform. They see an
interaction that cannot be found anywhere else. They observe how students respond to the sounds they produce, an
indication of their relationships to those sounds.
After reading Musicking I am better able to understand why some performances are more rewarding than others,
even when the performance of the music may be pretty much the same. Small described a Bali ensemble
performance in a way that suggests expanded possibilities: ''It is not the piece that is treasured but the performance,
and the aim of the performance is not to present the piece but to play in such a manner as will be appropriate to the
event at which it takes place, so that it will enhance the human encounter, order it and make it memorable'' (p. 114).
A performance is memorable not only because of the sounds and their interrelationships but also as a result of a
variety of encounters among those in attendance. When my students perform and I focus on the relationships I have
with my students rather than on just the sounds that are produced, the experience is much richer.
Another type of performance that I have begun to look at a little differently after reading Musicking is that of the
music festival experience. In music festivals, listening to other groups is not only a way of celebrating their
performances of the music but also a way of affirming and celebrating the relationships the participating students
have with each other. The relationships that are affirmed in this kind of musicking are different from those at a school
concert. At a festival, many of the students do not know each other, yet they share a relationship through each
other's performances.
How do we judge if the festival experience has been a success? One criterion is the way in which the students
support each other. They support each other by being there. They support each other by expressing their
appreciation of each other's performances. Something that I would like adjudicators to acknowledge and emphasize
more often is the students' perception of their performance as well as the whole festival

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experience. Some adjudicators are very good at eliciting a response from the students. They encourage the
students to evaluate and think for themselves.
Small explains the importance of the relationships explored in performances: ''What we need to keep in mind is that
those taking part in performances of different kinds are looking for different relationships and we should not project
the ideals of one kind of performance onto another'' (p. 49). The relationships that I may be encouraging my
students to explore in a performance might be different from those that adolescents want to explore and affirm. What
are the relationships that I want to explore, affirm, and celebrate with my students? I know that developing an ability
to understand and explore the relationships between various sounds that are produced is one way in which I affirm
and celebrate those relationships. Another way may be through developing interdependence with each other. Yet
another way is being able to acknowledge and react to the relationship that is established with an audience.
As I read Musicking and the eloquent way in which Smallclearly articulated that there is so much more involved in
performing and listening than just the production of sounds, I was provided with additional tools to look at what is
happening when a young person musicks. Rather than being so concerned with those relationships that I feel are
ideal, I should be asking what is going on in the musicking experience with all of us--not what I think should be going
on. I think I am now better able to ask more of the right questions. What are the relationships these students are
exploring? What is their relationship to the sounds they are experiencing when they play their instruments? When

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they are enjoying a rehearsal or a concert, what is it that they are celebrating? What part of the musicking
experience motivates them to come to class at 7:40 every morning? What is the reason for their different responses
in various settings when they perform? What is it that they are celebrating at each concert? Have they in fact asked
themselves what is going on?
Teachers should not project the ideals of one kind of performance onto another. The kinds of performances in which
I am involved as a trumpet player celebrate different sets of relationships than the various performances I
experience with my students. I should avoid trying to project my values onto the performance experiences at school.
Encouraging students to ask questions in order to explore their own values is what should be happening. Articulating
the values of different kinds of musicking in various performances in different settings should give students the tools
for an exploration of thee own values.
After reading Musicking I am more aware of why there is a ''good feeling'' that typically accompanies performing. It is
not just the music making, as I have thought, but the relationships that are celebrated in a performance. I have often
found it curious that, in a four-piece dance band, a couple of the players would say it was a great evening while the
other two might not think so. Why would this be the case? Everyone is hearing the same sounds! The answer might
be found in Small'sexplanation of a successful performance, that perceptions of ideal relationships can be very
different for each individual. Even though each person present hears the same sounds, each person is celebrating a
different set of relationships.
My awareness of such issues is something that I can bring to the classroom. My experience in musicking with my
students can be different from theirs. Students have a variety of musicking experiences outside school. In recent
years I have expressed more interest in my students' experiences apart from the school music program. Knowing
what kind of musicking they are experiencing in addition to the school program helps me to know who they are. That
they are looking for a variety of experiences reveals to me that they want to music. The style of music in which they
are involved is not nearly as important as the fact that they are involving themselves in musicking as a recreational
activity. Small states that any kind of musicking has as much validity as any other if we consider the whole gamut of
relationships that are being expressed: ''All musicking is serious musicking'' (p. 212). The importance of not placing
value judgements on any style of musicking goes a long way to establishing a good rapport with students.
I have noticed that some students seem to enjoy their instruments while others do not seem to connect with them. I
have often wondered why this is the case. In reading Musicking I am aware that students in fact have a relationship
with their instrument. For some it is a relationship explored through the variety of sounds that they can produce. For
others it is the combination of sounds with other instruments that is enjoyed. Some students respond very positively
when they hear a clinician demonstrate the high quality of sound that can be produced. Others hardly show any
added interest or motivation when they hear a clinician play his instrument so expertly and with what I think is such
inspiration.
Small discusses the relationship that a player might have with his wind instrument: ''Like all wind instruments it is
animated into life by the breath from his body, the most intimate relationship one can have with a musical
instrument. He may well feel it to be a valued friend and colleague rather an inanimate sounding object'' (p. 202).
Small'semphasis on the relationship that one does or does not have helps me begin to understand the lack of
motivation some of my students experience when playing their instrument.
When a drummer comes into my class and begins producing some rather loud sounds without abusing the
instrument, I have learned to

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observe him for a few seconds and then find a way for him to explore a variety of sounds without the same volume. I
do not like to discourage him in his exploration. Trying to give him more avenues of exploration is in everyone's best
interest. Understanding Small'sconcept of exploration in musicking affirms that my approach to what may sound like

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cacophony to other teachers is a better approach than asking a drummer to be quiet without giving her any
alternative ways to explore her relationship to sounds and to her instrument.
Small'sconcept of demusicalization is one that rings true with me. We may be guilty of communicating to a student
that he or she is not musical without even realizing our error. This may be done by a lack of praise and
encouragement toward those who are considered not as talented as other students. Everyone can music just as
everyone can speak or communicate. Small'sstatement that we as music teachers sometimes regard ourselves
mainly as ''agents for the discovery and selection of talented individuals'' rings true. From my observation, this elitist
attitude is not as prevalent now it was when I began my teaching career. We may not consciously approach our
teaching in this way; however, we may communicate this approach in the way we encourage some students more
than others. An audience's admiration for a specially talented individual is gratifying; nevertheless, if the contribution
to the musicking experience by the many other students who are performing is ignored, I believe all those involved
are missing the point. There are different meanings that are expressed when we perform and listen. When we are
involved in any capacity in a performance we are exploring, affirming, and celebrating a variety of relationships.
Everyone is involved in musicking, including the listeners.
That some music teachers care more for what people think of their ensemble than for the real musical development
of their students (p. 212) should cause thoughtful teachers to examine their own motives in preparing students for
performances. We must emphasize that everyone can music. If we do not, we are contributing to what Small refers
to as demusicalization. No one should ever be told that he does not have the ability to music.
After reading Musicking , I believe I have a better grasp of what Small means when he uses the term musicking as
well as what it could mean to me as I approach the teaching of music to the many students with whom I am in daily
contact. I also discovered that the more I considered the concepts involved in musicking, the more I realized there
was to understand and contemplate regarding what is really going on when we perform and listen to music.
C. Small
DATE: (1998)
Musicking: The meanings of performing and listening . Hanover, NH: Wesleyan University Press.

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©Copyright 2003 Canadian Music Educators Association.

DETAILS

Narrow subject: Music Education, Teaching Methods, Educational Philosophies, School Music
Programs, Musical Performance, Books

Broad subject: Music Education

People: Small, Christopher

Publication title: Canadian Music Educator; Etobicoke, Ont.

Volume: 45

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 Issue: 1

Pages: 13-15

Publication year: 2003

Publication date: Fall 2003

Publisher: Canadian Music Educators Association

Place of publication: Etobicoke, Ont.

Country of publication: Canada, Etobicoke, Ont.

Publication subject: Music Education, Music, Education, Canada

ISSN: 0008-4549

Source type: Scholarly Journal

Peer reviewed: Yes

Language of publication: English

Document type: Research and Analysis

Document feature: References

ProQuest document ID: 1031304

Document URL: https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/principal-themes-relationships-music-

reflection/docview/1031304/se-2?accountid=13042

Last updated: 2017-08-23

Database: Music Periodicals Database

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