Reflexivity or routine? Music in everyday life of Polish adolescents

Katarzyna M. Wyrzykowska

The Graduate School for Social Research, Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences

k.wyrzykowska@sns.waw.pl

7th Conference of the European Research Network Sociology of the Arts Vienna, 5 – 8 September 2012

Introduction• Music in everyday life: from

meaningful omnipresence to useless background

• Importance of music in young people life: from Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (S.Hall, P.E.Willis, D.Hebdige, and others) to its more recent critical reception (S.Thornton, A.Bennett, D.Muggleton and others)

But what does it really means that music is important for adolescents?

Mood?

Relaxa

tion?

Noth

ing

at

all?

Iden

tity?

• The main goal of this presentation: to show the various strategies of music usage by Polish adolescents during the practices of their everyday life.

• How they are situating music in their lives – is music an important tool used to organize their activities or maybe it is just a useless background?

• In what circumstances do they use music – to what kind of activities (reading, studying, travelling etc.) music is attached to and why? Etc.

• Subject of investigation: music listening

Plan of presentation

• Approaches to study music in everyday life

• Basic information’s about my study

• Presentation of my research

• Summary of presentation

Approaches to study music in everyday life

• S.Firth: Music reflects an individual’s identity, helps to place ourselves in socio-cultural reality [1996]

• T.DeNora: Music as a mean to organize daily practices. It helps to organize internal (e.g. regulates mood) as well as social world (e.g. helps to integrate group). Music often shapes actions and prescribe deeper meaning to them [2000]

• A.C.North, D.J.Hargreaves, J.J Hargreaves : Music role in everyday life depends on how it is used by social actors and on the degree to which they engage with it (degree of engagement social context of music listening, alone or with others? etc.) [2004]

Approaches to study music in everyday life

Scientific background: sociology, cultural studies, psychology

Situation/activity (when? with whom?)

Modes of listening(how? when?)

Music genre(what?)

Basic information’s about my research

• Presentation is based on my PhD research (“Adolescents participation in music culture as a part of their lifestyle”)

• Qualitative study. Main tool: IDI’s (but also FGI’s and participatory observation)

• 60 IDI’s (purposive sampling, 31 boys and 29 girls), made between December 2011 – April 2012

• Purposive sampling criteria • Adolescents aged 16 – 19 • Permanently living and studying in Warsaw • With no formal music education (amateurs)

Research financed by National Scientific Center (agreement number DEC-2011/01/N/HS6/00972)

Warsaw

Music and other leisure activities

• Music activities• Listening • Playing instrumnts • Other (e.g. composing, participating in concerts etc.)

• Meeting with friends / spending time with friends

• Computer activities (e.g. playing games, surfing in the Net etc.)

• Reading (books, journals etc.) • Sport • Studying / doing homework

What do You usually do in Your free time?

How much time do they spend on music listening?

Daily frequency of music listening

• All the time (even during nights)

• Most of the time (7h and more)

•A few hours (2h – 6h)

• Just a little (less then 2h)

But [!] only one person claimed that she is not listening to music everyday

Reasons of choices concerning music

• Main reasons:• Music is important element of their lives• Helps to do effectively other activities• Helps to regulate their mood – to isolate from

problems, to create a good mood, to increase energy level etc.

• Evokes memories

How they are justifying their needs for certain presence of music (or lack of it) in their lives?

• Those who listen to music very often (almost whole day and sometimes even during a night)

„Well.. I like, for instance, listen to music while reading in order to create certain kind of atmosphere… hmm.. in the evening, I like to seat down and relax with music” Franek

“For me music is like an air, it is something.. I could not live without music!” Magda

• Listen to music a few hours everyday

• Main reasons:• Have no need to listen so often• Other activities gives more pleasure / are

more interesting• Music serves only as background for other

activities• Music distracts (e.g. while studying)

„It is like this: when I’m in the mood – music is important to me, when I am not – it doesn’t mean that I need music all the time” Kacper

“I like jogging. I tried to do that with music.. but I can’t, music distracts me to much” Ignacy

Reasons of choices concerning music

• Listen a little, less then two hours and sometimes not everyday

• Main reason: • Have no need • They don’t feel that music contribution

to their lives is that valuable

“Well, I would say.. I’m not that kind of person that is under influences of music in case of character, values, taken actions or the way of dressing up” Kasia

“Because music is not a main part of my life” Ania

Reasons of choices concerning music

To what kind of activities music is attached to and why?

• Most frequently mentioned activities

• Travelling / while moving from one place to another (on food or by car, bus etc.)

• While studying • Falling a sleep

• Computer activities

• Having a rest

• Cleaning the room / flat

• Reading

• Waking up

Travelling / while moving from one place to another (on food or by car, bus etc.)

• Main reasons• To kill the boredom• To isolate from other people / from

outside world• To stay awaken (in the morning)• To evoke positive energy while

walking

“In case of journey, short or long, music is its indispensable element. Yes, travelling is tiresome and music for sure makes it more pleasurable ”Kostek

“For instance when I’m travelling alone by car I feel so lonely. This silence.. Yes, at that point I can listen to some music I really like” Anita

While studying

• Yes always, 22 respondents

• Main reasons• Facilities studying• Music builds pleasant atmosphere• To kill the silence

Music and studying/doing homework linked together ambiguous attitudes

“When I’m doing my homework I always listen to music (…) No, it isn’t distractive. I would rather say that it makes things easier. When I listen to music while doing other things, I can evoke certain kind of mood, kind of rhythm to do other things” Wiktoryna

While studying • It depends, 13 respondents

• Main reasons• Depends on subject of the study

• Music distracts especially while studying Mathematics

• Presence of words and language of the song matter!• Music with words is more distractive then fully

instrumental• Polish language distracts more then others

• Depends on mood – simply sometimes they need it, sometimes they don’t

• No, never, 25 respondents • Main reasons

• It distracts in all cases (subject of the studies makes no difference)

• Have no need to do so

Falling a sleep

• Main reason: music helps to fall a sleep (regulates mood, helps to calm down and relax)

“I listen to music when I go to bed and I can’t fall a sleep” Alina

“Even when I’m falling a sleep I like to liisten to Beethoven or other classical pieces, because it helps me to calm down and mellow out.. and then I feel much better” Konrad

Computer activities (e.g. playing games, surfing in the Internet etc)

• Main reasons• Music serves as a background (they simply can not stand

silence) • Helps doing other things• Regulates mood

“When I’m using computer, I listen to music. In fact whatever I’m doing on computer music is always there, quiet or loud, but it is always there” Czesław

“When I’m at home, when I’m doing something on computer I always listen to music as background for this activities” Zuzia

Modes of listening

• Hearing music• Music as a background/soundtrack for

other activities• Lack of (or a little) attention paid to

music itself and/or textual level

• Listening to music• Reflexive listening to music • Music as subject of practice, as a main

activity • A lot of attention is paid to music itself

(melody, rhythm, sound of instruments etc) and/or to textual level of music

Modes of listening

• In most cases, respondents use both modes and often mix them creating kind of in-between modes

• Hearing mode appeared more often

• 6 respondents admitted that they don’t listen to music reflexively at all (no deeper reflection about music)

Modes of listening - examples

• Kostek, male, 19 years old

• Listening mode when he listens to lyric ballad• Mixed mode while cleaning a flat (or his room) • Hearing mode while travelling to school by bus.

• Darek, male, 16 years old

• Different mode of listening = different music genre

• Listening mode Polish rap • Hearing mode punk/hard rock • Listening mode not everyday, time to time.

Dominant hearing mode.

• Łucja, female, 18 years old

• Music plays marginal role in her life

• Only 1 activity to which music is attached to doing other things on computer (music as background)

• Listens only to radio, doesn’t pay much attention to what is played (hearing mode). No listening mode at all

Modes of listening - examples

Summary

• There are various strategies of music use

• From fully engaged passionate to indifferent type• Dominant types mixed types, that locate music in the

middle of daily practices

• Musical self-awareness – modes of listening are adapted to individual needs and mood in certain moment/situation

• Often form of activity have prescribe to it music genre

• Deafening silence – silence as something unnatural, something disturbing that need to be overcome

Book references

• DeNora Tia, 2000, Music in Everyday Life, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Frith Simon, 1996, Music and Identity, In S.Hall,P. Du Gay (eds.), Questions of Cultural Identity, London: Sage Publications, pp. 108 – 127.

• North Adrian C., Hargreaves David J., Hargreaves Jon J., 2004, Uses of Music in Everyday Life, Music Perception, vol. 22, No 1, pp. 41 – 77.