Groups in Music – Pavlicevic

Mercedes Pavlicevic

This book explores how group music-making is planned, carried out and reflected upon

Written by the same author as ‘Intimate Notes’, Mercedes Pavlicevic, this book effectively demonstrates how strategies and thinking from music therapy practice have evolved into use within other areas of music-making and in particular, into groupwork.​

Through a range of interesting vignettes from music therapy practice, the author invites thoughts, observations and ultimately considerations for anyone seeking to make most effective use of their group music-making sessions.​

As the author herself says, “this book…is for anyone involved in group ‘musicking’”.

Discussion Point….

In this book, Pavlicevic highlights one feature of making music together with others (‘group musicking’) as follows; ​’..music ..can draw us instantly into the present, even where, paradoxically, a piece of music can suddenly propel us inwards to retrieve a forgotten event in our life…..In this sense group musicking provides deeply personal, private, as well as collective musical and emotional experiences.’ (pg 104, paragraph 2)​

Question

Can you think of any experiences you have had when a shared musical moment also drew your focus inwards to remembering a past personal experience? How was your shared music-making affected by this? Did you find your personal experience more manageable or more challenging as experienced within the group?

Remember that there is a wealth of music therapy texts available today and the texts that we have suggested are only a small section of the material available.