Education, Music, and the Lives of Undergraduates: Collegiate A Cappella and the Pursuit of Happiness

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Description

The undergraduate years are a special time of life for many students. They are a time for study, yes, but also a time for making independent decisions over what to do beyond formal education. This book is based on a nine-year study of collegiate a cappella a socio-musical practice that has exploded on college campuses since the 1990s. A defining feature of collegiate a cappella is that it is a student-run leisure activity undertaken by undergraduate students at institutions both large and small, prestigious and lower-status. With rare exceptions, participants are not music majors yet many participants interviewed had previous musical experience both in and out of school settings. Motivations for staying musically involved varied considerably from those who felt they could not imagine life without a musical outlet to those who joined on a whim. Collegiate a cappella is about much more than singing cover songs. It sustains multiple forms of inequality through its audition practices and its performative enactment of gender and heteronormativity. This book sheds light on how undergraduates conceptualize vocation and avocation within the context of formal education, holding implications for educators at all levels.

Reviews

The thought-provoking stories and careful analysis by Mantie and Talbot will undoubtedly be of interest to vocal music educators, current or previous members of a cappella groups, or those interested in popular music pedagogies while also resonating with music educators unfamiliar with the collegiate a cappella tradition. K12 music educators, researchers, and teacher educators who are curious about how students make sense of the ensemble experience, both within and outside of the rehearsals, will also be drawn to this book. * Music Educators Journal *
A thought-provokingly brilliant, long-awaited and insightful understanding of the socio-cultural phenomenon of collegiate a cappella. A must-read for all involved and/or interested in elective music performance practices outside the classroom on university campuses. * Pamela Burnard, Professor of Arts, Creativities and Educations, University of Cambridge, UK *
Drawing from numerous interviews with undergraduate singers, Mantie and Talbot capture the rich complexities of the collegiate a cappella world to see whats really beneath the covers of the songs shaping participants musical and social experiences. The authors get to the heart of the undergraduates lifeworlds through a cappella, what they get out of it, and how they continue to create meaning (and sometimes, music) from their experiences when they leave college. Connecting experiences to theory, this book tells the story of how undergraduates aca-navigate (the act of navigating through a cappella) high musical standards, relationships, leisure, and belonging, while reinforcing the hierarchies of gender, sexuality, class, and the capital that accompany and further them in the collegiate terrain and beyond. It is a striking, must-read for any sociologist, musicologist, music educator, or a cappella enthusiast. * Cara Bernard, Assistant Clinical Professor of Music Education, University of Connecticut, USA *
An engaging, evocative account of US collegiate singing groups, which draws the reader into the heart of the debates on equality, access and purpose facing music education today. * Stephanie Pitts, Professor of Music Education, University of Sheffield, UK *
In this fascinating and eminently readable ethnomusicological documentary about the serious music-making practices of university singers, Mantie and Talbot shine a bright light on the power, privilege, patriarchy, and passion that characterize collegiate a capella, which is, ultimately, about fulfilment, family, and fun. * Gareth Dylan Smith, Assistant Professor of Music, Boston University, USA *

Author Bio

Roger Mantie is Programme Director of Music and Culture and Associate Professor at University of Toronto Scarborough, Canada, and the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada. He is co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Technology and Music Education (2017) and co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Music Making and Leisure (2016). Brent C. Talbot is Professor and Head of the Department of Music at the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA. He researchers power, discourse, and issues of justice and equity in varied settings for music learning around the globe. He is editor of Marginalized Voices in Music Education (2018) and author of Gending Rare: Childrens Songs and Games from Bali (2017).