Creating ties of intimacy through music: The case study of a family as a community music experience

Abstract

Abstract This article examines and documents the musical life of a family with an 8-year-old child as resembling the concept, the intentions and practices of community music. Through the analysis of semi-structured interviews, sharing of musical artefacts, and written documentations of their daily musical encounters, I seek to provide insights into the functions of music as a means for building community, affective bonding and a sense of shared identity, drawing from Higgins the three broad perspectives through which community music is conceptualized. For the Beckett-Limas, an ethnically diverse family living in New York, music represented an adaptation tool in their living in various countries around the world, and sustained their transitions to different cultures, jobs, climates and communities, strengthening their relationships through moments of informal, spontaneous and communal musical interactions. Looking at family through the lens of community music reveals the extent to which music draws people together and promotes individual and collective well-being.