Learning as improvised development of practice - Jam as a community of practice

By Lars Brinck

On the basis of the author's phenomenographic studies of the experiences of American musicians with jamming, the article discusses whether the jam band’s spontaneous, improvisational practice can provide a new understanding of the learning process of rhythmic musicians as a general social phenomenon.

By considering the jam band’s practice from a theoretical social learning perspective, it is argued that the creative practice should be viewed as a collectively-oriented movement toward new possibilities of action. In this way, a constantly expanding learning environment is established in which the altered manner of participation of the musicians and the altered expression of the music are seen as one and the same movement. 

You can read the article, HERE