Musical Identity in the Band: Social Class and Gender

Abstract

In addition to description of practices in Japanese school bands, this study also offered the opportunity to address the role of music more generally within the lives of Japanese adolescents. Hoffman observed that “If understandings of self differ across cultures (as many anthropologists and cultural psychologists argue), then we should be able to see these differences reflected in educational practices, and understand the latter better in the light of their relation to culturally normative views of self.”1 Researchers have recently argued that contemporary Western perceptions of the Japanese sense of self (based primarily on positivistic research) are inaccurate, calling for qualitative inquiry into the perceptions and natural interactions of adolescents in Japanese schools.2 Self-understanding is intrinsically linked to the concept of identity, and music has been determined to play a fundamental role in identity construction.3 Identity has been defined as “a person’s perception of his or her place in the social structure.”4 Regarding the expression of identity through music, Negus has noted that “Songs and musical styles do not simply ‘reflect’, ‘speak to’ or ‘express’ the lives of audience members or musicians. A sense of identity is created out of and across the processes whereby people are connected together through and with music.”5 In other words, interaction with music is a common means by which young people construct their sense of self in relation to peers. This notion of musical identity is an important concept for understanding what participation in a Japanese school band means for its members.