Performance and Participation: A Qualitative Study of Music Education Practices in Digitally-Based Musicking with Young People with Physical Impairments

Abstract

This article highlights results from a research study of ‘Music Week’; a one-week Swedish music project performed at a Swedish folk high school, a Nordic-style residential adult education college. The aim of the Music Week project was to enable young people with physical impairments to take part in musical activities. Digitally-based musical settings were used in order to provide tools for both performing and creating music. The Music Week project was part of a larger 3-year music project.

The main purpose of the present research study was both to explore the interaction and the music education practices applied during the Music Week project as well as to explore the musical settings used within the project. The research method was partially inspired by ethnographical methods. In the study, two main variations of teaching music in groups were identified: i) Performance-oriented, with a clear goal of performing songs for an audience and ii) Participatory-oriented, where the participants were able to explore their potential to play and create music. Furthermore, the results suggest that musical settings should be regarded in a holistic way to include all kinds of resources: musical, technical, physical, psychological and personal.