Seven decades of Swedish community music through the musical life experiences of former military musicians

Abstract

Abstract This article explores the life-long trajectories of musical learning and participation amongst former military musicians, and how their musical and educational experiences spanning over 70 years, relate to community music practices in Sweden. The central questions are: Which factors seem to have formed the informants’ life-long engagement in music? How do their musical and educational experiences over these 70 years relate to community music practices in Sweden today? The army was one of the few contexts through which the vast majority of individuals could obtain free music tuition in the mid-twentieth century, and the article draws from interviews with five former military musicians who are now in their 80s. Their musical experiences, combined with educational aspects and goals informed by democratic values, mirror various characteristics of the formation of the Swedish welfare model during the second half of the twentieth century. Community music activities in Sweden often occurs in the specific interplay between top-down funded infrastructure and grassroots’ initiatives, and this article also highlights’ the role of these musicians in that particular context.