This thesis draws on a video ethnography of music activities in a preschool setting in Sweden. It focuses on the participants’ co-construction of music activities and on their use of semiotic and material resources to constitute and sustain these activities. The videos document musicking (Small, 1998), that is, events involving a series of musical activities: work with instruments, dancing and movements, singing and listening. The data were collected during one year and includes 24 hours of video films (altogether 30 musicking events). The participants in the study are 1-3 years old children and their music pedagogues (preschool staff members who worked in the preschool on a daily basis). In terms of theoretical influence, the study is inspired by conversation analysis (Sacks, 1992), linguistic anthropology and work on aesthetic processes (Duranti & Black, 2012; Sawyer, 1997; 2003), as well as sociocultural theorizing (Lave, 1996; Rogoff, 1995; Wenger, 1998). The findings show that the individual young children (2-year-olds) engage in musicking, and that they also initiative various novel activities: such as conducting, dancing, singing, and exploring instruments. In these activities, mobility in the room is essential for the children`s access to instruments and other artifacts and for their possibility to participate in specific activities. The musicking events evolve as multimodal events, where different participation strategies are allowed and creative improvisations involve both musical and extra-musical actions. But a major finding is that the music pedagogues’ responsive uptake and creative improvisations are critical for the individual children`s ability to participate in specific activities and for bringing together the individual child and the group in collaborative musicking. / Forskarskolan: Globalisering, literacy och utforskande lärprocesser: Förskolebarns språk, läsande, skrivande och matematiserande (GUL).

This qualitative study explores the experiences of creative improvisation in music therapy sessions of a group of 12 first-year international students. The students took part in a group music therapy process which consisted of eight sessions. Music therapy is explored as a possible approach for offering first-year international students valuable social, emotional and psychological support in light of literature findings that note the continuous struggles faced by international students in their transition to university. Data collection was in the form of a focus group interview, which was conducted after the final session, and two video excerpts from different sessions within the process. I drew on these data sources to explore how music is used as a medium for expressing and sharing first-year experiences, and how the group music therapy sessions afford students opportunities for the development of mutually supportive relationships. Data were coded, then categorised and in this process, themes emerged. The emergent themes suggest that creative improvisation in group music therapy sessions facilitates moving from disconnection to building more friendships and deeper relationships; creates a platform for increasing openness towards exploring, expressing and sharing experiences and emotions concerning being a first-year international student; and how music as an alternative medium to verbal and/or other expression for expressing and interacting, allows for this expression of emotions and experiences, and connection in the group. The findings indicate that it was in expressing and sharing their experiences with one another through musicking that students were able to develop mutually supportive relationships. Copyright / Dissertation (MMus)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Music / unrestricted