Identity

Musical Identities

Music is an important and distinctive sphere of activity through which people can develop their sense of themselves as well as of how they relate to others: their personal and social identities. Music, like language, can be used to communicate emotions, thoughts, political statements, social relationships, and physical expressions to others. Just as language can mediate the construction and development of identities, so music can also provide a means for individuals to develop their identities. Music is an excellent arena in which to explore contemporary issues of identity because it touches on so many different parts of people's lives. For example, music is often cited as being one of the most important recreational activities of young people. Musical taste is an important part of how young people develop and maintain a sense of themselves as individuals who are part of certain social in-groups, and thereby also distinct from other social out-groups.

Identities in Music

Identities in music (IIM) are constructed from the ways in which people see themselves in relation to the musical roles and activities that exist within a given culture: in other words, these are people's identities as musicians (including as music listeners). People all have some notion of the nature and level of their own musicianship, whether this is at a very low level (“I only sing in the bath”; “I like to play Bob Dylan songs at parties”), or at a more elevated one (“I am a freelance musician and occasionally play bass for the Scottish Opera”). This illustrates the point that “musician” is a socially constructed label and many people will base their self-defined level of musicianship upon comparisons with influential others within their social and cultural sphere. Social aspects such as relationships with family are crucial factors in determining people's identities in music. Continued engagement with music throughout the life span is likely to be partly based on children's positive early experiences of music: such early experiences set up positive identities that can facilitate lifelong engagement. A final aspect of identities in music is the influence of engaging with different genres of music: there have been studies of the different identities that develop in classical opera singers, jazz musicians, free improvisers, and organists.

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