Empowering later adulthood music education: A case study of a rock band for third-age learners

Abstract

This article presents a case study of a group of approximately 70-year-old women who are learning to play rock band instruments in a formal music school context. The study examines the individual and shared meanings that the participants assigned to taking part in the rock band. The study aligns with John Dewey’s view that the meanings of present learning experiences are constructed in a continuum of the past and the future. Narrative techniques are utilized to report the three main themes that emerged from the participants’ accounts, which have implications for increasing empowerment and musical agency: the meanings assigned to learning music in a rock band context, playing rock music repertoire, and performing publicly in a rock band. The study contributes to the increasingly relevant discussion of a growing field in music education, and challenges the common assumptions of what is designated in this article as ‘later adulthood music education’.

Keywords

Case study community music empowerment female musicians later adulthood music education lifelong learning musical agency rock band third age

Introduction

The progressive growth of the ageing population is a worldwide phenomenon. Although the high proportion of senior citizens in populations of industrialized countries is well attested, as for example in the USA where the number of people over 55 will comprise almost 30 percent of the resident population by 2020 (Toossi, 2012), it is in fact calculated that the majority of older people live in low-income countries, and the population of over 80 years olds is expected to quadruple globally by 2050 (WHO, 2012). This global demographic change presents new challenges for education worldwide, including music education, as the need for learning, self-development and cultural participation is expected to expand along with an individual’s lifespan (Aspin, Chapman, Evans, & Bagnall, 2012; Formosa, 2002). While it seems natural to relate formal music education primarily to children and youths, there is an increasing demand to address the needs of older people in the professional discourse, first and foremost by challenging music educators to seek the knowledge necessary to ‘better understand the ageing process’ (Harnum, 2007, p. 240).

Despite being a biological process, ageing is also subject to the social constructions by which each society and culture makes sense of old age (Featherstone & Hepworth, 2005; Gorman, 2000). In the developed world retirement is the boundary mark of old age, whereas in many developing countries old age is seen to begin at the point when active contribution to society is no longer possible; in some cases this is due to the loss of established roles as a result of physical decline, which is significant in defining who is old (Gorman, 2000). In Western culture the beginning of retirement age is defined as third age (Laslett, 1991). This concept is used in order to denote an active lifestyle committed to positive and successful ageing (Baltes & Baltes, 1990; Fernández-Ballesteros, 2011), as opposed to one of physical decline and social uselessness, thus offering retired people a new role in society (Tornstram, 2005). However, as the concept of successful ageing is considered to connect mostly with Western values, the concept of harmonious ageing has been proposed to describe the values in Eastern culture (Liang, 2012). All in all, self-contribution to individual wellbeing, as well as increased social participation, are becoming more and more significant for ageing people in all cultural contexts. Furthermore, new forms of lifelong learning are emerging and expanding to all levels of education, as third-age university programmes spread from North America to Europe (Formosa, 2005; Ojala, 2010). The transformative learning interest (Mezirow, 1997), in other words the motivation to seek a life change or reform through learning, drives third-age learners to gain new skills and knowledge in science and the arts that they perhaps did not have a chance to pursue earlier in their lives. Whilst it is expected that everyone ought to have equal rights and opportunities for participation in an ‘inclusivist approach to lifelong learning’ (Aspin et al., 2012, p. xlviii), the pursuit of such transformative learning experiences is not unproblematic for many third-age learners, since they are often ‘marginalized to different degrees from society’ (Formosa, 2005, p. 401). Likewise, the educational field tends to disregard ageing people, for example by considering them as a single homogenous group, underrating their learning abilities, or unambitiously assuming that virtually any kind of education for older adults is empowering as such (Glendenning & Battersby, 1990, pp. 220–221).

As in other educational fields, the ageing population has also been ‘underserved’ (Harnum, 2007, p. 229) by music educators and music education researchers. The case study presented in this article, of third-age beginner music learners in Finland, indicates that third-age learners still have limited possibilities to participate in au courant music learning practices, such as rock bands, despite it being a governing learning context in today’s music education in Nordic countries (Lindgren & Ericsson, 2010; Muukkonen, 2010; Väkevä & Westerlund, 2007). Although there has been miscellaneous research on the utilization of new technology for teaching music to older adults (Harnum, 2007; Pike, 2011; Taylor, 2011), a comprehensive music pedagogy for students in their later adulthood has not yet been established. As Pike (2011) has observed, music educators lack pedagogical tools designed for third-age novice learners, especially those focusing on choices between different musical instruments and cross-genre repertoires (p. 117). It is still rare to use alternative approaches, such as playing electronic instruments or composing with GarageBand (Harnum, 2007), in music education for ageing people. Instead, the current third-age generation seem to be pigeonholed as not being interested in technology, and they are often expected to be content with church choirs and other classical music activities without any clear path for development or achievement. Yet, at the same time, it is supposed that the future third-age generation is likely to express musical agency through contemporary musical styles, such as rock ‘n’ roll across the globe, as ‘the spread of African-American musical practices has established a global lingua franca’ (Cook 2003, p. 210).

It is vital that music education should disassociate itself from these types of incorrect and misleading assumptions about the educational needs of ageing people (Formosa, 2005, p. 401), which Glendenning and Battersby (1990) refer to as the ‘conventional wisdom’ (pp. 220–221). Hence, the main goal of this article is to open up discussion about the aims and values of music education specifically designed for people in their later adulthood. This will be done through the presentation of a case study of a group of women in their third age who are learning to play in a rock band within a formal music school context.

(Re)constructing later adulthood music education

A globally established concept of music education designed specifically for older adults does not yet exist. General pedagogical literature applies the concepts of andragogy as pedagogy for adults, gerogogy as pedagogy for the elderly (Battersby, 1987; Formosa, 2002), and more generally, older adult education (Formosa, 2005). In this article, the term later adulthood music education is favoured to denote music education for learners in their third age, or even fourth age (see Laslett, 1991). The term has been launched in Finland by the author with a motivation to name a growing field and to find equivalence with an already established concept of early childhood music education.

Despite the lack of diversity in the field, later adulthood music education is not a novelty per se. According to published literature, a few music programmes focused on the needs of older adults have already been established, such as New Horizons in Australia and North America (Coffman, 2009; see also Tsugawa, 2009). Although these programmes address the overall learning goal of enhancing later adulthood music education, they potentially exclude beginner learners as the members are expected to have a musical background (Dabback, 2010, p. 67). Moreover, these ensemble-based programmes offer narrow musical repertoires concentrating on Western classical music or wind band repertoires, of which the latter has been criticized as having a sacred and inviolable position in American instrumental music education (Allsup & Benedict, 2008). Such inflexibility in the musical repertoire offered to third-age learners has been criticized by Dabback (2010), who states that ‘replication of existing school music paradigms in [American] adult populations does not ultimately meet the requirements of society’ (p. 67). There is a lack of research on how to ‘approach teaching and learning interactions’ in such music programmes for ageing people (p. 66).

In contrast to cultural contexts wherein ‘adult music education resides in the galaxy of community music’ (Harnum, 2007, p. 241), in the particular Finnish context of this case study community music is still a lesser known practice. Firstly, it is noticeable that many of the community music programmes designed for older adults seem to be led by volunteer musicians, often called facilitators (Varvarigou, Creech, Hallam, & McQueen, 2012), instead of professional teachers. Secondly, the participants are usually placed in large groups, where they either sing or play a simple percussion instrument while the expert musicians take responsibility for the musical quintessence. From a pedagogical standpoint, this restricts the participants themselves from achieving musical agency. Thirdly, the initial goals of such programmes are generally focused on the health, social and wellbeing effects of music (Varvarigou et al., 2012), implicitly ignoring any interest that individuals may have in music learning. As Koopman (2007) has justly criticized, ‘most literature on community music describes specific projects of community music without dealing systematically with educational issues’ (p. 152). It should be emphasized that the aim of this study is not to underestimate the overall benefits of music for the wellbeing of older people. Rather, the study seeks to shift the focus from ‘secondary benefits of musical participation as the sole justification of music in [older peoples’] education’ (Harnum, 2007, p. 232) towards exploring the empowering and pedagogically meaningful outcomes of later adulthood music education.

The case study

The basis for this case study grew out of my encounters with Riskiryhmä, a group of six retired now approximately 70-year-old women in the Resonaari music school¹ in Helsinki, Finland, where I worked as a teacher for students with special educational needs. Having started in 2007, Riskiryhmä was initially Resonaari’s pioneering project in promoting music education for retired people with the support of the outreach group Helsinki Missio.² Following an introductory session held at one of Helsinki Missio’s gatherings, the participants enrolled in the music school rock band despite not having any established musical background; some of the participants had been singing in a choir, but none of them had previous experience of playing electrical instruments. Thus, they all started at the same level with their new instruments (Table 1). The participants came up with the name Riskiryhmä as it has an apt double meaning in Finnish, meaning either a risk group or a brisk group.

Table 1.

Riskiryhmä’s members.

Name (pseudonym)	Instrument
Aino	Vocals, keyboard
Alma	Drums
Maria	Keyboard
Pikku	Vocals, electric guitar
Sisko	Electric bass
Suvi	Keyboard

Riskiryhmä began regular weekly rehearsals with their two pedagogically engaged and experienced teachers, both of whom were professional music educators. The classes always took place in the same rehearsal room in the music school. In the very beginning all group members also bought their own instruments and other equipment for playing and rehearsing at home. Riskiryhmä’s musical repertoire consisted of classic rock ‘n’ roll pieces from the 1960s–1980s (Table 2). Soon, their public performances outside the music school setting attracted media attention in Finnish newspapers and television, where the idea of older women playing in a rock band was justifiably considered as something new and exciting.

Table 2.

Examples of Riskiryhmä’s music repertoire 2007–2011.

Crocodile Rock, written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin, performed by Elton John (1972)

Final Countdown, written by Joey Tempest, performed by Europe (1986)

Lady in Black, written by Ken Hensley, performed by Uriah Heep (1971)

Sunshine of your Love, written by Jack Bruce, Pete Brown & Eric Clapton, performed by Cream (1967)

As Riskiryhmä soon started to stand out as a cheerful group that really enjoyed their ‘rockin’ grannies’ status, I became more and more interested in hearing their stories, with an aspiration to understand them both for their ‘uniqueness and commonality’ (Stake, 1995, p. 1) in regard to later adulthood music education. In 2012, when this study was reported, Riskiryhmä was still going strong and performing on a regular basis.

Theoretical and conceptual foundation

The theoretical foundation of the study firstly stems from narrative inquiry, as it relies on methods for understanding experience as lived and told stories (Barrett, 2007; Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007), incorporating the whole spectrum of the participants’ lifespan experiences. The study is thus based on the premise of Dewey’s (1934/2005) pragmatist philosophy, according to which the meanings of present learning experiences are constructed and narrated in the stretch between past, present and future life. Also Clandinin and Rosiek (2007, p. 41) trace their philosophical roots back to Dewey by stating that in narrative inquiry experience needs to be understood as being continuous. Secondly, the theoretical roots of this study are to be found in critical pedagogy, which fundamentally argues not only ‘to empower students by giving them knowledge’ and skills but also ‘educate them for transformative action’ (Giroux, 1988, p. xxxiii). As pointed out extensively in the literature, older people are in many ways oppressed due to ageist assumptions (Nelson, 2002), stigmatization (Zebrowits & Montepare, 2000) and disregard for their marginalized position (Glendenning & Battersby, 1990) in a society that idealizes youth on social, political, cultural and educational levels. The purpose of this study is thus to contribute to later adulthood music education by attempting to ‘theorize and develop a pedagogy that embodies forms of experience in which teachers and students display a sense of critical agency and empowerment’ (Giroux, 1988, p. 87), and articulating ‘pedagogical experiences within social forms and practices that speak to developing more critical, open, explorative, and collective modes of learning’ (p. 87).

Thirdly, this study draws on an assumption that agency can be argued to have both individual and collective dimensions. According to humanist psychology, agency is traditionally gained through individual achievements, while the sociological view argues, in DeNora’s (2000) words, that agency is ‘the opposite of social sleep’ (p. 158). She continues by stating that ‘to possess agency, to be an agent, […] is the ability to possess some capacity for social action and its modes of feeling’ (p. 158). For music education this means that music can be used to increase social coordination and interaction alongside individual empowerment, and that both dimensions are equally important (Karlsen & Westerlund, 2010, p. 232). More specifically, this study leans on Karlsen’s (2011) comprehensive notion of musical agency not only as an individual or social outcome of musical practice, but also as a researcher’s lens for investigating music education from the perspective of the learner’s experience. Karlsen draws upon the work of music sociologists, such as Christopher Small’s definition of musical agency suggesting that building musical agency is realized in both individual and collective dimensions, in and through doing and learning music, or as Small (1998) puts it, musicking. According to Small (1998, p. 134), musicking is a social process whereby our ideal relationships are constructed through the actions of exploration, affirmation and celebration. Hence, musicking is genuinely an empowering process as it leaves those taking part to explore, affirm and to celebrate their values ‘with a feeling of being more completely themselves, more in tune with the world and with their fellows’ (p. 183).

Fourthly, this study explores the concept of empowerment as ‘an expansion of agency’ that implies ‘an increase in power, understood as control or a real ability to effect change’ (Ibrahim & Alkire, 2007, p. 10). For example, among women in developing countries, agency and empowerment are claimed to be ‘gaining control over personal decisions, domain-specific autonomy, household decision-making, and the ability to change aspects in one’s life at the individual and communal levels’ (Ibrahim & Alkire, 2007, p. 10). However, it has been noted in literature across several disciplines how the pursuit of an active lifestyle in an educational context by ageing people, especially for women, is not always empowering as such (Formosa, 2005; Ibrahim & Alkire, 2007; Ojala, 2010; Shor, 1992). This is arguably due to prevalent social norms as ‘yet another example of a patriarchal discourse where women are silenced and made passive through their invisibility’ (Formosa, 2005, p. 403). As a result, in a learning situation women may feel themselves as the ‘other’ (Björck, 2011; Formosa, 2005). As the critical educational gerontologists Glendenning and Battersby (1990) have argued, many educational programmes for older adults are based upon the incorrect assumptions ‘that any type of education emancipates and improves the quality of life of older persons’ (pp. 220–221). Instead, education for older adults specifically ‘should relate to them gaining power over their lives’ (p. 220) by enhancing the students’ individual needs and supporting their self-directed learning interests. Only in this way may it become an empowering and transformative learning process. As stated in a study of a Freirian perspective to nursing education programme to the frail elderly (Hage & Lorensen, 2012), the empowerment of the patient is dependent on educating the nurse through the dialogue where the patient’s own meaning of being elderly is elevated. Similarly as the nurse, also the educator must be ‘interested in learning from the dialogue’ and willing to accept that ‘the outcome of the dialogues very well may be different from her own preferences and solutions’ (Hage & Lorensen, 2012, p. 245). With this perspective foremost in mind, this study has been carried out as a critical examination of what can be interpreted as empowering, as well as how that concept is used in the literature and how it should be used in the context of later adulthood music education.

Data collection and methods

The purpose of the case study was to examine what kinds of individual and shared meanings the participants, as beginner learners, assigned to using a rock band as their learning context. While the study does not completely equate with the characteristics of a narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007), the study process was carried out by means of various narrative techniques used in qualitative research (e.g. Bruner, 2004; Polkinghorne, 2007), with the intention to ‘issue claims about the meaning life events hold for people’ (Polkinghorne, 2007, p. 6) as ‘the storied descriptions people give about the meaning they attribute to life events is the best evidence available to researchers about the realm of people’s experiences’ (p. 9). Moreover, the study has narrative features, as it takes its shape from stories told by the participants to the researcher, resulting in a ‘storying process’ (Lewis, 2011; Polkinghorne, 2007, p. 1) that is here understood as a reciprocal interaction wherein both the participants’ and the researcher’s experiences take part. The study endeavoured ‘to obtain “data” from a deeply human, genuine, empathic, and respectful relationship with the participant about significant and meaningful aspects of the participant’s life’ (Josselsson, 2007, p. 539). As such, I aimed to be as explicit as possible regarding the participants’ informed consent, and to establish a trustful atmosphere throughout the research process.

Interview process

The six participants were each interviewed in two group interviews and six separate individual interviews. The fact that we knew each other prior to the research study, as I had worked and they had studied in the same music school, helped to establish a free atmosphere for open discussions during the interviews. The first group interview was conducted in April 2010, in the familiar music school setting where the participants assumedly associated the space itself with their musical agencies. The main themes of the interview concerned the participants’ motivation for starting music studies, the meaning of music in their lives and how it might have changed after joining the music school, and their expectations and future plans concerning the rock band. The group interview took approximately 2.5 hours, although the informal discussion continued after I had switched off the recorder.

The second group interview was conducted in March 2011, focusing on questions about their being part of the research project, and assuring their informed consent before the further development of the research project. This group interview lasted 1.5 hours.

One-on-one interviews were conducted in June 2011, with each of the participants separately. The participants were willing to be individually interviewed, and they found it comfortable to be interviewed in the music school setting on quiet weekend mornings with no other people around. Since the first group interview was conducted a year earlier, each individual session began with me reading aloud the transcribed comments of that particular participant from the group interview material. The aim of this procedure was to remind the participant of the themes that she had brought up in the group interviews, and this seemed to function as a starting point for the discussion as she could continue on that theme by clarifying or even disagreeing with the earlier statements. The duration of each individual interview was approximately 1 hour.

All interviews were recorded and transcribed, after which I utilized narrative techniques in order to formulate accounts (Van Manen, 1990). The process continued by means of vertical and horizontal analysis, a common way of analysing and representing narrative data (Hunter, 2010); I constructed separate stories from the individual participants’ accounts during the group interview (vertical analysis) and looked for similarities and differences in all participants’ accounts (horizontal analysis).

In the group interviews, the participants were encouraged to share stories about both the individual and shared experiences that learning to play in a rock band had created for them. However, the stories as they told them were not limited to the music school setting, or here-and-now experiences, but drew from their whole lifespan and music-related experiences at different stages of their lives. Hence, the outcome of the interviews was a rich and diverse data set for current and future research, making possible the purposive selection of ‘information-rich cases’ (Polkinghorne, 2005, p. 140). In the group interviews, the participants appeared as ‘united in a shared experience of trying to make meaning of their life experience’ (Loughlin, 1993, pp. 320–321), building a discourse of ‘collective identity’ through seeking mutual understanding of shared experiences, as is the usual habit of focus-group interviews (Pollack, 2003, p. 461). However, the individual interviews resulted in somewhat contradictory accounts when compared to the group interviews. Thus, the individual interviews not only completed the storying process, but also significantly shaped the horizontal narrative analysis of the shared accounts. Furthermore, two of the participants truly engaged with the research process by sending me written stories that complemented the interview discussions. As these personal and carefully produced materials were delivered to me, I realized how being involved in the research project offered the participants the possibility to change their ‘frames of reference’ by re-evaluating past and present experiences, and to make plans that could bring about new ways of defining their world (Mezirow, 1997, p. 7). The interviews functioned therefore as ‘a sensitive and powerful method’ that may contribute ‘to the empowerment of the oppressed’ (Kvale, 2006, p. 497).

The emergent themes

As a result of the storying process and data analysis, three distinct themes that implicated increasing empowerment and construction of musical agency among the participants emerged from the accounts: the meanings assigned to learning music in a rock band context, playing rock music, and public performing in a rock band.

The meanings assigned to learning in a rock band context

The accounts stated that the opportunity to learn music with a teacher’s guidance was the most significant reason for taking part in the rock band. The participants defined themselves first and foremost as music learners rather than musicians, and the rock band was considered more than just a hobby, perhaps similar to what Harnum (2007) refers to in Coffman’s terms as ‘serious leisure’ (p. 229). The participants assigned the two teachers significant roles both as supporters in their learning process and as social and emotional mentors. However, the individual stories revealed that for some of the students, such as Suvi and Maria, skill progression and musical development were rather insignificant goals because they simply considered themselves too old to be learners. As Suvi questioned: ‘what do I need to learn anymore, at this age?’. In contrast, Sisko and Alma stated that they wanted to become better musicians and to be able to play more difficult songs, and were therefore rehearsing on a regular basis. In Aino’s and Pikku’s accounts, high motivation for learning even seemed to cause frustration, since they occasionally tended to critically analyse their lack of musical skills or poor performances on stage.

The participants actively constructed a unified commitment to the rock band, but their personal relationship to Riskiryhmä varied considerably. Maria and Suvi defined Riskiryhmä as a pleasant social activity where the familiarity of the group played a significant role; they might easily resign from the band if the group members changed. For Aino and Alma, however, Riskiryhmä was a setting for supporting their personal missions to learn music, something that both of them had dreamed of since childhood. Furthermore, Sisko called Riskiryhmä ‘a life-saver’ that has empowered her over long-term loneliness and chronic depression. Pikku even believed that joining the rock band lead to a transformative phase in her personal life story.

When the participants reflected on their relationships with the teachers, they agreed that learning in a group with the teachers was enjoyable, and overcoming difficulties in learning was easier since ‘it helps when we all are equally bad players so no one needs to be ashamed in front of the teacher’ (Pikku). However, some of them had requested individual lessons from the teachers in addition to the group rehearsals in order to improve their playing skills.

The participants assigned the two teachers a significant role in their educational process, one that recognized their long-term commitment to the rock band:

Yes, it surely is due to the leaders [teachers] who have always been present and allowed all the mistakes. And they have always praised us no matter how we play. Although I have always had the internal demand that everything needs to go well. (Pikku)

Not only had the teachers taught them to play, they had also offered them mental support when they were struggling on their rocky learning path. This encouragement from the teachers played a significant role in keeping the band together, as the participants revealed that there have been emotional and social controversies between the band members from time to time. Nevertheless, these issues had not affected their social commitment to the band:

We don’t need to put up with each other but we want to stay as a band so we try to put up with each other. (Sisko)

[Thanks to the rock band] I have a reason to get up and start the week every Monday morning [for Riskiryhmä’s weekly rehearsals]. (Maria)

If someone doesn’t show up [to the band rehearsals], we always call her to check that everything’s OK. (Sisko)

The meanings assigned to playing rock music

The musical repertoire of Riskiryhmä was mainly selected by the teachers, not only for pedagogical purposes but also because the teachers preferred that these third-age learners would play the old 1960s–1970s rock ‘n’ roll that connected with their lifespan. Nevertheless, the participants were asked to write a wish list of the songs they would like to play in the rock band, and the teachers acknowledged some of the requests. While this may appear as teacher-centred practice, the participants did not dispute the musical repertoire in their accounts, although some of the participants admitted that it would be nice to try to play different genres, something ‘smoother’ (Alma). However, they all agreed that the core of the musical repertoire should remain the same, because the teachers were understood to know what music is pedagogically meaningful. They also stated that even playing unfamiliar music does not matter as long as they learn and get to play. The music of this genre also constructed ‘the rock band image that we want to maintain’ (Pikku).

The teachers’ idea of featuring music that would have historical meaning to the members of Riskiryhmä was not quite achieved. On the contrary, it turned out that musical repertoire did not have a personal connection to the participants’ earlier lives, as they indicated that they had never heard most of the songs before.

I lived through the 70’s completely isolated. I did not have a radio or a television, nor in the 80’s when came all the Creams and Uriah Heeps. I thought that Uriah Heep is some kind of a humbug name and when I went to the store and asked for Uriah Heep’s song Lady in Black, the shop assistant picked it up for me just like that. I was stunned that it was a real author. (Sisko)

The participants had different strategies for taking on this new musical repertoire. Some of the songs felt ‘strange’ (Maria), ‘ugly and noisy at first glance’ (Suvi) but the social commitment to Riskiryhmä motivated them to learn to play the songs quickly. Some of the participants intentionally familiarized themselves with the genre by listening to the records of the featured bands, reading the lyrics of their songs, and rehearsing the songs at home: ‘I always find a recording of a new song for myself and I listen to it a lot, and see how the lyrics go. I have all our songs on CD.’ (Alma)

All in all, the fact that the chosen musical repertoire stuck to the old rock ‘n’ roll was not an indifferent issue for the participants. The participants found it substantial that they play the music of the rock n’ roll genre and not ‘some depressing old people’s music’ (Pikku). Furthermore, they felt that they did not have an ownership of contemporary popular music, and that it would ‘feel awkward to play the music of today’s youth’ (Aino). Instead, they were willing to create a personal historical connection to a musical repertoire more matched to their lifespan, at least chronologically speaking, although the songs themselves were often unfamiliar at first. For Pikku, a lover of classical music, playing in a rock band allowed for more opportunities to make music of her own.

Yesterday I was in a concert where they performed a piece from the opera Samson and Delilah […] There is this famous air that I have tried to flounder myself in a singing lesson […] So I enjoy that kind of music more when sitting in the audience, without the experience of personal participation [as playing in the rock band]. (Pikku)

Likewise, playing rock music was emancipating for Pikku, after years of singing old-fashioned Finnish adult hits in sing-along gatherings for retired people.

The song that I dislike the most in these sing-along gatherings is Rakastan elämää [I love the life] by Georg Ots, and then there is this another, Kultainen nuoruus [The Golden Youth], which is the climax of all dislikings! I can’t stand it, I don’t want anything that is connected to oldness and… my youth was not golden in any way. (Pikku)

The meanings assigned to performing publically in a rock band

Three of the participants who had a background in choral singing made comparisons between the rock band and choir, stating that playing in a band involved more effort from the student than singing in a choir, including mastering the instrument and putting oneself forward on stage, performing as a solo player or lead singer.

Performing in choir feels different. I used to be very timid in the choir and did not get the same feeling that I had in the rock band from the beginning. (Alma)

In a rock band you perform as a whole person, not only as a voice amongst the others like in the choir. (Pikku)

When I see [Riskiryhmä’s] performance on videotape I’m like ‘oh, my’, but on the other hand it is an educational experience. (Aino)

The rock band instruments also possessed a certain status value for the participants in performing situations, thus creating ‘a transformative space of becoming’ (Björck, 2011, p. 137). For Alma, the drums even helped her to overcome her feelings of stage fright.

I have always known that I am a drummer. I used to tap my fingers all the time and make rhythms in my head. But all my life I reasoned to myself that there are dreams that cannot be fulfilled and that music is something that is not meant for me. But here I am now! I am usually very nervous in performing situations, but when I am performing behind the drums I don’t suffer from that tension at all. It just feels like I belong here. (Alma)

Pikku’s account in turn endorsed how holding a guitar in one’s hand is a bodily experience that represents a certain tradition of rock culture and entitles one to be a musician, to ‘explore a different kind of identity’ (Small, 1998) and to ‘take the permission to be “other”’ (Hohenthal-Antin, 2001). This exploration has also affected her appearance, since ‘this Resonaari chapter has given me an opportunity to change my looks. It is fun to search for clothes or shoes or whatever that belong to a certain system [the style of rock ‘n’ roll musician]. I usually look for them from flea markets.’ Pikku continues: ‘When I was young I wasn’t rebellious because my parents would not have approved of that. Now I am re-living my youth in a way. This band, and actually the rock ‘n’ roll songs particularly have had an effect on me that has also changed the way I look. In a way, [Riskiryhmä] makes everything possible.’

Finding empowerment and musical agency in a formal music learning context

Contrary to the popular music pedagogy research on informal learning practices, which ideally take place without the presence of a teacher (Folkestad, 2006; Green, 2008; Söderman & Folkestad, 2004), this study argues for the significance of formal learning practices with the presence of a pedagogically engaged teacher. As claimed in Koopman’s (2007) critical statement on community music, music education should always aim at ‘durable musical growth’ and give all people the chance to engage with ‘music education rather than short-lived musical kicks’ (p. 161). This principle should also hold true for older people involved in musical activities, nurturing the idea of lifelong learning.

Lindgren and Ericsson (2010) refer to several studies that indicate the blurred lines between formal and informal music learning practices in Swedish schools: informal learning is absolutely realizable within the school framework and, similarly, formal learning is incorporated in informal, recreational musical practices (p. 36). Formal music learning practices do not merely imply a teacher’s role as an expert or a leader, but also that of ‘a counselor whose task is to support, encourage, and set emotional standards rather than pedagogical ones’ (Lindgren & Ericsson, 2010, p. 44). This indicates that the teacher’s presence in (in)formal learning situations, such as a rock band, does not necessarily restrain students’ possibilities in taking over musical agency, but quite the opposite. Furthermore, as suggested by Pike (2011), music pedagogues of today are challenged to have a responsibility to engage third-age learners with music learning, for example by exploring the use of technology and the design of collaborative learning environments, and both these goals are easily realized in a rock band context for third-age learners.

Establishing empowerment as a goal for later adulthood music education is not a straightforward issue per se. Ojala’s study (2010) shows how older women who are studying in a third-age university programme often feel restrained rather than empowered because of community and cultural prejudices toward studying during old age. Many third-age learners may suffer from ‘self-confrontation’ and ‘retirement trauma’ (Tornstram, 2005, p. 15, 60) instead of experiencing themselves as successfully ageing persons. Furthermore, Björck (2011) states how women and girls who attempt to claim space in (masculine) popular music practices are on the one hand expected to learn to be strong and gain self-confidence, but on the other hand are ‘categorized as others’ (p. 59). Looking at popular music practices from a feminist perspective, this leads to a paradoxical situation where ‘the same acts that are connected to empowerment appear to also have objectifying potential, thereby functioning as disempowering’ (p. 59). Hence, educators need to become aware of their own assumptions, interpretations, beliefs, habits of mind or points of view as well as the assumptions of the learners (Mezirow, 1997). This may result in an empowering learning context where the learners can question their oppressive realities, and their status quo (Shor, 1992).

Reflecting upon the experiences that the participants of Riskiryhmä related during the study process, it can be seen how the two teachers had an essential role, not only as experts in the related genre but also as problem-solvers of pedagogical, emotional and social challenges, thus contributing to the empowerment and musical agency of the participants. Karlsen (2011) argues that in the process of building musical agency it is crucial to have access to music-related experiences in different contexts, formal and informal, and across one’s lifespan. This is all the more vital because those experiences are unequally available to individuals, not only because of ‘differences in social background and class’ (Karlsen, 2011, p. 4), but also because of the ageist assumptions that exist within the field of music education. Nowadays, older people are not seen as sources of wisdom, but ‘as feeble yet lovable, doddering but dear’ (Cuddy & Fiske, 2002, pp. 3–4). However, there is a fine line between being compassionate and oppressive: as stated in critical pedagogy, ageism is a powerful discriminatory force that places older people in ‘a culture of silence’ (Formosa, 2002, p. 39; see also Freire, 1970/2000).

By applying Small’s (1998) terminology to the case study of Riskiryhmä, the participants firstly implemented exploration of a rock musician identity through the physical sensation of holding a guitar or sitting behind the drums and, most of all, performing publicly on stage. Musical performance is a safe place for allowing those taking part to see ‘how they fit’ in the role of musicianship, ‘to experience it without having to commit themselves to it at least for more than the duration of the performance’ (p. 183). Secondly, learning to play rock songs and performing them on stage together created affirmation between the participants, as if they were telling themselves, one another, and all those who were listening or watching: ‘how we like to music is who we are’ (p. 220). Thirdly, the rock band provided the participants with feelings of pride and success, ‘feeling good about themselves and about their values’ (p. 184), thus being an instrument of celebration. In this sense, Riskiryhmä evidently represented breaking away from the expected culture of silence and ‘role expectations’ (Tornstram, 2005, p. 66), thus showing that learning to play in a rock band was a powerful method for the authorization of their musical agency (Karlsen & Westerlund, 2010).

Concluding remarks

Retirement and the beginning of third age is often a milestone in life that prompts people to find new definitions for being in the world. New forms of later adulthood music education can provide the opportunity for an adult person to fulfil a childhood, or more recent, dream and start learning to play and make music. It is worth considering how the research in this field could benefit the work of music educators when developing and reformulating curricula in formal music institutions based on the principle of lifelong learning. As a result of my experience in the case of Riskiryhmä, both as a music educator and a researcher, I would propose that the rock band should be considered more widely as a meaningful learning context for third-age learners, for numerous reasons. Firstly, the rock band format brings flexibility to the musical repertoire; secondly, the use of rock band instruments that are easy to pick up and play instantly opens up ways for constructing musical agency; and thirdly, the usual rock band setting of four to six players gives teachers a chance to interact with the students on personal level without losing the musical and pedagogical benefits of the group context. Furthermore, offering third-age learners alternative learning contexts, such as the rock band, represents one step further in the process of making music education more democratic.

When paying attention to the older population as potential learners, we as music educators are challenging ourselves to take a new, more democratic stance in our practices as well as in our philosophical thinking. It is necessary to recognize, however, that the general discussion on active third age, successful ageing and lifelong learning does not necessarily match with the reality of the individuals’ lives: pursuing an active lifestyle during old age can be a struggle if the person is constantly facing a marginal or disempowered position. As issues of the older population’s wellbeing and quality of life expressed in and through music-related practices, from community music programmes (e.g. Varvarigou et al., 2012) to the therapeutic use of music (e.g. Stige, Ansdell, Elefant, & Pavlicevic, 2010), are increasingly addressed in multi-disciplinary academic research, one can ask if the benefits of music in the lives of older people should not only be justified by abstract notions of the ‘somewhat fuzzy concept of quality of life’ (Harnum, 2007, p. 232), but rather more concretely, through valuing positive and empowering learning experiences that may lead to the awakening of musical agency. ‘Understanding ageing through different perspectives’ (Tornstram, 2005, p. 19), as well as acknowledging the risks of ageism, is therefore crucial for the further development of later adulthood music education. We may hope that Riskiryhmä represents not only the breaking of stereotypes of older women, but also serves as a manifesto for a truly empowering later adulthood music education.

Footnotes

Funding

This research has been funded by the University of the Arts Helsinki, Sibelius Academy.

Notes

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