From musical culture for a child towards a child’s musical culture: women’s narratives in a child’s musical activity

A review of studies of musical children shows how views regarding children’s music education have changed over the centuries. The narratives of women who have brought up their children and now have grandchildren illustrate such transformations of attitude. Relatively short narratives of two fifty-year-old women have been chosen as the unit of analysis. They told of 1) their own early musical experiences, 2) the practices involving their children in musical activity, 3) the musical involvement of their grandchildren. Thematic narrative analysis reveals the changing nature of children’s involvement in musical activity, the role of parents in shaping a child’s musical culture as well as the level of involvement of persons participating and has been used to analyse the data. The data is analysed in the context of local cultures in which the children are living with attention to their family environment as well as national and cultural contexts that press upon the young lives of children.