Abstract

Community music is a successful concept in the world of music and music education. Based on ethnomusicological research, community music tries to implement the notion of music for all that transforms societies and people. While celebrating informal learning and the musical amateur, community music has never really been philosophically challenged or critically analyzed. This might be surprising because community music is a rather vague concept. This paper critically analyzes some of community music’s foundations in terms of epistemological or ethnomusicological issues, Kitsch, the notion of learning, and the relation to higher education. In order to improve musicking internationally, it is crucial to start critically investigating the very foundations of community music and with regard to fostering a collaboration with music education.