participatory music and the Irish music scene

Greeetings IFS'ers

 I really enjoyed today's discussion. Thanks for your continued enthusiasm for discussing some very difficult topics.  I am hoping that the next couple of days will offer a really unique end to our course.  After going over our maps of the Bloomington Farmer's market, end discussing the various cultural and sociological issues exhibited in this community event,  we began a discussion on the history, development, aesthetics, and  values of old-time music and the larger folk music revival of the 1960s. Tomorrow night, we will then be able to follow up on our discussion by attending the local Bloomington Contra dance held weekly at the Boys and Girls Club here in downtown Bloomington Indiana. Now that you have read the chapter, understand the basics of the performance environment, and have had a chance to think about the nature of community building and participatory music, attending this contra dance will offer a really unique opportunity to experience old-time music firsthand.

 But before we do that, tonight we will be attending the local Irish music session held weekly at the runcible spoon. Following up on our discussion today of folk/traditional music practices and the potentials of community building, it is important that we observe this Irish music session as an opportunity for community building through music.

 While in attendance, I would like you to observe the music session, analyzing elements of style and performance practice, social interaction, and larger issues of music and community building we have discussed so far in class. Then, I would like you to post  an observation response addressing the following issues:

•  How many people were in attendance? What was the instrumentation? Configuration of participants (musicians and nonmusicians)?
•  What were the general patterns of behavior? Social or musical boundaries? Musical interaction and movement?
•  What kinds of songs were played? Who led the performance? How did the musicians decide what tunes were going to be played? How do they know when to switch tunes?
•  Based on your observations I would like you to hypothesize about the patterns of behavior, conceptions, feelings, and meanings this performance event has for its participants. Do these patterns of behavior reflects larger values? What might they be?

 Since we will be returning back to the dorms late, please have this assignment posted to your blog by Thursday morning.

 In addition to this, I would like you to have prepared the following reading form Wednesday morning's class. We are going to read the last chapter of your textbook, “for love or Money.” This concluding chapter is extremely important for summarizing much of our discussions over the last three weeks. Based on this reading, you will be writing a personal reflection essay on what it means to be a productive and engaged global citizen in music.

 It might be worth thinking about this assignment now, brainstorming some ideas, and asking questions of your colleagues and instructors on how best to approach such a response. In thinking about this assignment I would consider the following issues and themes:

•  What does it mean to be a global citizen? How can this global citizenship be articulated locally?
•  What responsibilities do we bear of global citizenship, and ultimately what are the consequences for imagining ourselves in terms of the interrelated local, national, and global communities we inhabit?

 Think of this as your final exam: a final opportunity to think about music and identity in your own life, and how it may be applied towards the various interrelated communities you navigate daily.