Sympathetic chords: Reverberating connection through the lived leisure experiences of music listening

Abstract

Informed by a larger post-intentional phenomenology on those who self-disclose deep and significant experiences of connection with and through music listening, this work highlights glimpses and manifestations of the listening act. Interviews with one participant from a larger study afford insights into experiences of a music listener. Philip described moments of resonating and reverberating connection expressed through the manifestations of embodied resonation, sympathetic chords and the found mirror. For Philip, listening to music created spaces and opportunities for leisure that yielded feelings of deeply meaningful and personal affirmation, validation and connection. Through music's ability to speak to, and thus speak for Philip, he experienced leisured moments of receptivity, vital engagement and a re-sensitivity to his sense of self and place within a larger community.

‘Plus ça Change, Plus C'est la Même Chose’: Music Promoting, Digital Leisure, Social Media and Community

“…This view of a loose association amongst those with shared values in live music fits with the notion of the promoter as part of a community formed as a 'pool' of loose association (Fournier & Lee, 2009). It also fits the music-leisure-community model described in the work of Kumm (2013), Lashua (2011 and Pate and Johnson (2013). Yet, when Mick talked about the need to develop relationships with the agents who booked out artists as well as, sometimes, the artists themselves, it suggested more of a 'web' based community (Fournier & Lee, 2009) where strong links might be developed because of complementary needs.…”

“…For some leisure scholars such as Lashua (2006Lashua ( , 2007Lashua ( , 2011Lashua ( , 2013, music spaces are by definition leisure spaces subject to contestation. For others, music-making and listening to music are significant serious leisure activities (Stebbins, 2013), or, if not serious, significant in the development of community and identity (Kumm, 2013;Lashua & Fox, 2007;Pate & Johnson, 2013). Leisure perspectives of music events tend to suggest either an individualistic pleasure or one driven by community benefit such as when Arai and Pedlar (2003, p. 191) define 'leisure as shared meaning … woven into and … inseparable from the practice of leisure in a community of celebration.'…”

Building a life note-by-note: music and the life course

“…Through immersion in meaningful leisure, such as the consumption of music, both as an individual and as a member of a fan community, participants can create stores of positive emotions from their involvement in music scenes which then serve as a bridge to building and strengthening their social relationships (Fredrickson, 2001), as well as attending to issues of their own personal identity (Pate & Johnson, 2013). Together, these two pillars of a meaningful life, positive sense of self and positive relationships -built, strengthened, and sometimes held together by music -provide a foundation and an anchor point for navigating the trials and tribulations of life as best as one can.…”

Leisure participation, substance abuse disorders, and recovery

“…This study relied on a phenomenological approach to inquiry that takes as its foundation the idea that participants' understandings are derived from their immediate experiences and used as a means of presenting themselves to others (Pate 2013). As all participants were dealing with evolving identities based on the daily need to confront their sobriety or substance abuse disorder, what is presented here is a 'snapshot' in time of the growth of a collection of individuals as they worked on issues regarding their personal well-being and development.…”

“…Due to the tentative and incomplete knowledge generated by this study because of the simple fact that sobriety is a day-by-day process, aspects of post-intentional phenomenology were adopted as well (Kumm and Johnson 2014;Vagle 2010). This took the form of the tentative representations of diverse perspectives on how sobriety is embodied for each individual (Pate 2013). For these participants, their 'meanings' existed in the liminal spaces between their daily existence as sober or sober-aspiring individuals in every facet of their lives, including their participation in the music scene (Vagle 2010).…”