Arts Education and Cultural Communication: Music, Learning and Identity in Ruismaki, H. & Ruokonen, I

In the following chapter I would like to unpack some of the implications of the opening statement: we are all musical. First of all, we all have a musi- cal identity. Secondly, that we all can and do use music for a variety of im- portant communicative purposes. Finally, I provide evidence to show how individuals with learning difficulties can learn musical skills and how these music skills can be related to wider psychological developments and, in par- ticular, communication. It is important to note that I am writing this chapter from two different, yet related, perspectives. One is as psychologist, who specialises in researching the psychology of music from a variety of meth- odological and theoretical perspectives. The second is as a saxophonist who spends a considerable amount of time involved in improvising with a particu- lar interest in the communicative potential of spontaneous musical interac- tions. I have a firm belief that music is not only a separate, vital and hugely influential channel of communication but that, in the right context, music can serve as a powerful therapeutic type communication. Its use can also facili- tate the development of wider, more general communication skills. I aim to
4 Raymond MacDonald
convey this believe in the communicative potential of music, through a num- ber of theoretical, methodological and experimental examples in the follow- ing paragraphs.