American old-time jam in Kyoto, Japan

“Music Education for All through Participatory Ensembles,”  [Open access version at UF Repository here] appears in the December 2015 issue of Music Educators Journal. The article presents ideas from my immersion in participatory music—in particular from a chance to learn alongside Tom Turino as I helped him teach a class for music education graduate students for two summers (he was also my clawhammer banjo teacher). The article helps to pass on some of what I learned through reading, teaching, and doing participatory music out in the world.

Making participatory music, adopting participatory values, and bonding with others through music changes one, and I hope that many educators find time to explore the values, pedagogy, and repertoire of participatory music with their students.

Here are some resources to explore:

Dana Montiero’s Harlem Samba: http://www.harlemsamba.com/#about

Turino’s book Music as Social Life: The Politics of Participation. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo5867463.html

The Homebrew Ukulele Union: https://homebrewukuleleunion.wordpress.com

Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music: https://www.oldtownschool.org
Tanya Lee’s dissertation on the Old Town School is also a great resource (and free, too): https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/24105

An endless river of music, much of it participatory, is available on Alan Lomax’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/AlanLomaxArchive

Polly Yukevich’s Uke Project: http://yukesukes.com

For those without access to MEJ, a previous talk I gave that was an early inspiration for the paper can be found here: https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/45872

Here’s a special issue of the Journal of Community Music devoted to participatory music (behind a paywall): http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/ijcm/2015/00000008/00000001;jsessionid=3an8427esk18k.alice