Making music in a group: synchronization and shared experience

Abstract

To consider the full impact of musical learning on the brain, it is important to study the nature of everyday, non-expert forms of musical behavior alongside expert instrumental training. Such informal forms of music making tend to include social interaction, synchronization, body movements, and positive shared experiences. Here, I propose that when designing music intervention programs for scientific purposes, such features may have advantages over instrumental training, depending on the specific research aims, contexts, and measures. With reference to a selection of classroom approaches to music education and to the shared affective motion experience (SAME) model of emotional responses to music, I conclude that group learning may be particularly valuable in music pedagogy.