The phenomenon of people labelling themselves as unmusical is widespread, and terms such as talent, giftedness and musicality characterize the research field. This article presents four case studies of adult non-musicians (a lawyer, a teacher educator, a teacher, and a public servant), providing perspectives of the impact of self-view on their self-judgement of musicality. A major negative consequence is the deprivation of self from future active participation in, and enjoyment of, music making.
This article reports on lived experiences of a cohort of 20 self-perceived non-musicians. Their stories reveal culturally based perceptions that humans are inherently “musical” or they are not. While recent inquiries are beginning to investigate this phenomenon, instinctive musicality of self-perceived non-musical individuals remains an under-researched area. Presented in narrative form, participant experiences reveal impositions that thwart developing musicality of individuals growing up in a western cultural tradition. Although they have “learned” that they are not musical, these individuals reveal intrinsic musicality.
This paper draws on a hermeneutic project to reflect on culturally developed notions that distance individuals from their intrinsic musicality. Participant experience offers insight into misconceptions of human musicality in Western communities where unrecognised cultural directives label musical beings as either musical or non-musical. Embedded in language, cultural influences restrict free musicking such that everyday practices inhibit the development of musical skills and dictate life-long inhibition. Iargue that to ignore this phenomenon is to perpetuate an unnecessary and harmful reduction of human being.
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