Jamming and Learning: Analyzing changing collective practices of changing participation

By Lars Brinck

This article reports a long-term ethnographic study on jamming and learning from an entwined artistic and educational perspective.

The study investigates aspects of learning during a professional band's jamming and recording eight groove-jazz frameworks and a series of subsequent concerts with pre-academy students 'sitting in'. Analyses apply a situated learning theoretical perspective on the band members' as well as the students' participation. 

The study's final argument is two-fold: Revitalizing jamming as a studio-recording practice within popular music highlights important aspects of professional musicians' interactive communication processes. And transferring this artistic endeavor into an educational practice suggests an increased focus on students 'sitting in' with professional bands.

The article is published in Music Education Research. Read the article at Taylor & Francis Online here.