| dc.description.abstract | ABSTRACT
In music pedagogy, as well as in music therapy, the element of improvisation and free playing is often vital to empower and motivate. This article discusses Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of dialogue in such settings by asking what implications it could have on our understanding of musical improvisation in asymmetric relations (e.g. teacher/therapist – pupil/client). It suggests that it may be perceived as a complex social and relational event that is on the border, or, to borrow the words of Bakhtin (1981: 293) “half someone else’s” that becomes one’s own when it is populated with one’s own accent and adapted to one’s own semantic and expressive intention. This process, what is labelled musical dialoguing1, remains influenceable and unfinalised, and contains not just consensus and harmony but also dissonances and misunderstandings. Also, both players negotiate and participate actively while listening openly and aesthetically to the voice of the other while at the same time doubting his/her own voice. In a reflective synthesis (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2000) a theoretical elaboration of Bakhtin’s texts (1982, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1993, 1998, 2003) are merged with other relevant perspectives. In the discussion practical settings from music pedagogy and music therapy are referred to.
Keywords: Mikhail Bakhtin, dialogue, musical dialoguing, asymmetric relations, music pedagogy, music therapy | nb_NO |
