Natalie A. Roese and Julia Merrill
Amateur Ensemble Music Making: Between Self and Community, and Experience and Result
Amateur musicians describe tensions between personal goals, collective experience and the work of sustaining an ensemble.
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Daisy Fancourt
Art Cure: The Science of How the Arts Transform Our Health
A broad arts-and-health book provides routes into underlying research that must be assessed in its own setting.
Michael J. Bradley, Phoebe Robertson and Taylor Iery
Lifelong Participation in Community Bands: Bridging Formal Music Education and Community-Based Engagement
A supplementary narrative synthesis connects formal music education with continued community band involvement.
Kent C. Grover
Lived Experiences of Navy Musicians Adjusting to Life in the Armed Forces
Navy musicians describe identity, adjustment and mentorship during the transition into military life.
Aoife Quinlan; Keelin Leahy; Jane O’Dea; James McGarry
Music Is the Space Between the Notes…
Adult learners describe the value of supportive teaching and the difficulty of making space for practice.
Annie O. Mok
Sites of Becoming: How Non-Formal Music Learning Helps Forge Musical Selves in Culturally Diverse Contexts
Non-formal music learning is examined as part of cultural identity and the development of musical selves.
Justin K. Stanton
The Impact of Military and School Band History and How It Affects National Guard Service Member Musician School Band Directors
National Guard musicians who also teach describe connections between their military and school band roles.
Nicole Espinosa and colleagues
The associations between playing a musical instrument and grey matter in older adults at risk for dementia: a whole-brain VBM analysis
An exploratory memory-clinic imaging study finds some brain differences but no significant cognitive difference between musician groups.
W. Scott Barger
We Want a Band: A History of Community Bands in Oklahoma
A history of Oklahoma community bands supplies local stories and leads for further archival work.
Kristin Bloska; colleagues
Expanding Access to Adult Community Choirs: A Scoping Review to Identify Facilitators and Barriers to Choir Membership
Choir access research highlights an important gap between understanding current members and understanding people who never join.
Waterman, Parkes, Cimon & Stewart
Expanding the Music Circle through Networked Improvisation in an Inclusive Ensemble
An inclusive online ensemble offers practical examples of adapted participation and the limits of technology.
Elizabeth H. MacGregor; Stephanie E. Pitts
I don’t care who joins my choir: Investigating attitudes to diversity and inclusivity in lower- and upper-voice choirs
Choir participants’ attitudes reveal a gap between a general welcome and who actually gains access.
E. White; Stephanie E. Pitts
Joining Alone: Factors That Influence the Musical Participation of Young Adults after Leaving School
Young adults’ experiences after school point to the importance of musical fit, social entry and access to instruments.
Lei Zhang; Bernhard Ross; Yi Du; Claude Alain
Long-term musical training can protect against age-related upregulation of neural activity in speech-in-noise perception
Brain imaging compares speech-in-noise processing among older lifelong musicians, older nonmusicians and younger adults.
José Cidade; Alexandra Sá Costa; João Caramelo
Motivation for Participation in Civil Wind Bands: Contributions for Non-Formal Educational Contexts
A Portuguese civil wind band survey finds that fellowship, musicianship and the conductor all matter to current members.
Andrea Creech; Colin Enright, editors
Pedagogies for Later-Life Music Learning and Participation: Facilitating Creative Musical Development in Later-Life
Later-life music learning calls for responsive teaching, meaningful choices and attention to who can take part.
Worschech et al.
Quality of Life in Older Adults Is Enhanced by Piano Practice: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial
A piano trial reports small relative changes in selected quality-of-life domains, with limits to its later follow-up.
Sara D’Amario; Laura Bishop
Self-reported experiences of togetherness in classical music ensembles
Advanced music students describe moments of togetherness alongside uneven or disappointing ensemble experiences.
Edward A. Roth
Shared flow and emotional synchrony through group instrumental improvisation: a feasibility study of music-based social connection
A small improvisation feasibility study explores reported flow and connection without establishing a treatment effect.
Helen English; Suzanne Lewis; Jane Davidson; Nicholas Goodwin
Transformative engagement with community music-making for older adults: A scoping review
A review of community music in later life maps reported positive change and the conditions surrounding participation.
National Endowment for the Arts; National Archive of Data on Arts and Culture
50 States of Arts Participation: 2022
State-level arts participation estimates provide a broad setting for questions about musical opportunity.
Robin Hake and colleagues
A Survey on Hearing Health of Musicians in Professional and Amateur Orchestras
Professional and amateur orchestral musicians report hearing concerns and uneven use of protection.
National Endowment for the Arts
Arts Attendance, Art-Making, and Social Connectedness: Spring/Summer 2024
National survey data place arts participation and social connectedness in a wider United States context.
Brydie-Leigh Bartleet; Emma Heard
Can Community Music Contribute to More Equitable Societies? A Critical Interpretive Synthesis
Community music can support individual experiences of inclusion while wider inequalities persist.
José Cidade; João Caramelo; Alexandra Sá Costa
Civil wind bands beyond music education: A scoping review (2010–2021)
International civil wind band literature covers social, civic and educational questions beyond musical instruction.
Emilie Louise Anderson
Cultivating Harmony Across Generations: Exploring the Benefits of Intergenerational Music Making
Seven interviewees reflect on wellbeing, growth and relationships in an intergenerational symphonic band.
Audrey-Kristel Barbeau
Pilot Study on the Effects of Music-making on Cortisol, Alpha-amylase and Immunoglobulin-a Among Older Amateur Musicians
An eight-person rehearsal pilot does not establish a stress or immune benefit from band playing.
Gaia Vetere; Gareth Williams; Clive Ballard; Byron Creese; Adam Hampshire; Abbie Palmer; Ellie Pickering; Megan Richards; Helen Brooker; Anne Corbett
The Relationship between Playing Musical Instruments and Cognitive Trajectories: Analysis from a UK Ageing Cohort
A United Kingdom aging-cohort analysis links musical experience with selected cognitive scores, without measuring a slower rate of decline.
Florian Worschech and colleagues
Fine motor control improves in older adults after 1 year of piano lessons: Analysis of individual development and its coupling with cognition and brain structure
A year of piano instruction is examined through motor performance and its relationship to cognition and brain structure.
Jessica Piso
Flute Choir as a Pedagogical Workshop: Case Studies in Youth, Collegiate, Community, and Advanced Adult Settings
Flute ensemble directors describe repertoire, instrument access and ways of adapting musical parts.
Kristin Jünemann and colleagues
Increased functional connectivity in the right dorsal auditory stream after a full year of piano training in healthy older adults
A piano trial examines changes in functional brain connectivity after one year.
Guiyue Ma; Xiaoqin Ma
Music Intervention for Older Adults: Evidence Map of Systematic Reviews
An evidence map organizes reviews of music interventions for older adults, with substantial clinical and dementia-related coverage.
Damien Marie and colleagues
Music interventions in 132 healthy older adults enhance cerebellar grey matter and auditory working memory, despite general brain atrophy
Brain and working-memory outcomes are examined after two forms of music activity in older adults.
Megan K. E. Lummiss
My Musical Self: Examining Social Influences of Community Band Membership on Musical Identity Using Social Identity Theory
Eastern Ontario band members describe musical identity through social comparison and continuity during the pandemic.
Christopher Long
Composing for Amateurs—A Practical Exploration of Interactive Creativity and Socio-musical Relationships
A composer’s work with amateur ensembles explores trust, challenge and flexible creative roles.
Jessica A. Williams
Leading Through Music: A Comparative Case Study on the Effects of Military Band Performance
Two Army band settings provide accounts of leadership, morale and civic performance.
Aline Chacur; Rodrigo Serrat; Feliciano Villar
Older adults’ participation in artistic activities: a scoping review
A wide arts review finds much more attention to benefits than to barriers and participation across the life course.
Audrey-Kristel Barbeau; Mariane Generale; Andrea Creech
Online Group Music-Making in Community Concert Bands: Perspectives From Conductors and Older Amateur Musicians
Online band activity maintained some contact while exposing limits of technology and shared music making.
Jennifer A. Bugos and Yan Wang
Piano Training Enhances Executive Functions and Psychosocial Outcomes in Aging: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial
A piano trial finds selected executive-function and self-efficacy changes, without an overall stress or immune biomarker effect.
Arafa et al.
Playing a Musical Instrument and Risk of Dementia among Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies
Three observational cohorts suggest an association between instrumental activity and lower dementia incidence, without proving prevention.
Jennifer Gumble
The Impact of Collegiate Marching Band on the Intra- and Interpersonal Competencies and Capacities of Alumni: A Qualitative Case Study
College marching band alumni reflect on skills and relationships they associate with their participation.
Ann M. Harrington
Aspects of Ensemble Participation and Feelings of Belonging Among New Horizons Members
New Horizons members describe belonging through rehearsal, performance and everyday communication.
Florian Worschech and colleagues
Improved Speech in Noise Perception in the Elderly After 6 Months of Musical Instruction
Speech-in-noise results from a music trial varied by listening condition and participant group.
Xia Guo and colleagues
Musical instrument training program improves verbal memory and neural efficiency in novice older adults
A keyboard-harmonica program reports selected verbal-memory improvements, with several design constraints.
Huan Zhu; Stephanie E. Pitts
When the music stops: the effects of lockdown on amateur music groups
Amateur musicians describe disrupted rehearsals, lost contact and varied responses to online music during lockdown.
Jennifer MacRitchie, Matthew Breaden, Andrew J. Milne and Sarah McIntyre
Cognitive, Motor and Social Factors of Music Instrument Training Programs for Older Adults’ Improved Wellbeing
A small older-adult piano program produces mixed performance findings alongside accounts of achievement and social experience.
Stephanie E. Pitts
Leisure-Time Music Groups and Their Localities: Exploring the Commercial, Educational, and Reciprocal Relationships of Amateur Music-Making
Amateur music groups’ local relationships involve shared resources, educational connections and volunteer demands.
Studer et al.
Does Trumpet Playing Affect Lung Function? A Case-control Study
A comparison of high-brass players and other musicians does not establish better lung function from playing.
Andrew Goodrich
Spending their leisure time: adult amateur musicians in a community band
Continuing players in one auditioned band describe musical challenge and friendship within the demands of work, travel and everyday life.
Wesseldijk, Ullén & Mosing
The Effects of Playing Music on Mental Health Outcomes
A large twin study complicates simple claims that playing music either improves or harms mental health.
Victoria J. Williamson; Michael Bonshor
Wellbeing in Brass Bands: The Benefits and Challenges of Group Music Making
Brass band members report friendship, purpose and musical challenge alongside pressures and physical concerns.
Andrew John Schultz
Adulthood and Music Participation in a Community Band: A Collective Case Study of the Lived Experiences of Adult Community Band Members
Seven returning players describe the relationships and life circumstances that helped them resume band participation.
Duwayne Clark Dale
Community Bands of Kentucky: Participation, Engagement and the Fulfillment of Basic Psychological Needs
Kentucky community band members describe engagement and psychological needs within selected active ensembles.
Joshua Eric Long
Sustained Adult Community Band Participation: Influences and Emotions of Music Making
Long-standing participation in one community band is explored through invitation, family connections and musical emotion.
Stephen Sanford Murray
Basic psychological needs and the New Horizons musician: a cross-case analysis of six older adults participating in a New England New Horizons ensemble
Six older musicians show how confidence, choice and relationships interact in a New Horizons ensemble.
Sarah E. Wilson
Playing with Others: The Community, Motivations, and Social Structures of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Concert Band
One concert band’s members describe a sense of community alongside dissatisfaction with parts of the musical experience.
Debbie Rohwer
Task Difficulty, Practice Techniques, and Confidence in Adult Concert Bands
Adult band members describe difficulty, practice choices and confidence while preparing specific music.
Stephanie E. Pitts; Katharine Robinson
The Violin in the Attic: Investigating the Long-Term Value of Lapsed Musical Participation
Musical experience can retain value after someone stops performing in an ensemble.
Susan Hallam and Andrea Creech
Can Active Music Making Promote Health and Well-being in Older Citizens? Findings of the Music for Life Project
Music for Life participants reported higher wellbeing at baseline, but the study did not find significant improvement over time.
William Leonard Dyer
Development and Maintenance of Identity in Aging Community Music Participants
Retired musicians describe different ways of maintaining identity across community ensembles.
Stephanie E. Pitts; Katharine Robinson
Dropping In and Dropping Out: Experiences of Sustaining and Ceasing Amateur Participation in Classical Music
Continuing and stopping amateur music can involve changes in fit, confidence, support and life circumstances.
Daisy Fancourt; Rosie Perkins; Sara Ascenso; Livia A. Carvalho; Andrew Steptoe; Aaron Williamon
Effects of Group Drumming Interventions on Anxiety, Depression, Social Resilience and Inflammatory Immune Response among Mental Health Service Users
A group drumming study reports promising psychological changes, with important limits to its comparison design.
Stephanie E. Pitts; Katharine Robinson; Kunshan Goh
Not Playing Any More: A Qualitative Investigation of Why Amateur Musicians Cease or Continue Membership of Performing Ensembles
Accounts of leaving and continuing show that ensemble membership depends on a changing relationship between music and everyday life.
Department of the Army, Center of Military History
77th Army Band (The Pride of Fort Sill!) — lineage and honors
The official 77th Army Band document records organizational lineage and honors relevant to Fort Sill history.
Sofia Seinfeld and colleagues
Effects of music learning and piano practice on cognitive function, mood and quality of life in older adults
A small piano study reports mixed cognitive, mood and quality-of-life findings after four months.
Lee Higgins
Community Music: In Theory and In Practice
A conceptual account of community music emphasizes hospitality, facilitation and cultural democracy.
Tammy L. Kuntz
Self-Reported Personal Traits of Adult Amateur Musicians
Adult amateur musicians’ self-descriptions offer context for participation, with important sampling and measurement limits.
Pamela G. Taylor
The Role of Music-making in the Identity Construction of Members of an Adult Community Concert Band
Members of a New Orleans concert band describe identity through shared music and attainable challenge.
Kenneth A. Douglas
A Descriptive Analysis of the Psychological Needs of Adults Participating in Music Ensembles: A Survey of New Horizon International Music Association Ensemble Participants
New Horizons participants describe musical, social and practical needs within adult ensembles.
Gary Cook
PAS Museum: History and Metamorphosis
An institutional history traces the Percussive Arts Society museum’s development and move from Oklahoma to Indiana.
Brenda Hanna-Pladdy and Alicia MacKay
The Relation Between Instrumental Musical Activity and Cognitive Aging
Older adults with different musical histories show differences on selected cognitive measures.
Kate A. Gee
Lives and Careers in Music: A Social Identity Perspective on Brass Music-making
Brass musicians’ lives and careers are explored through social identity across amateur and professional settings.
William M. Dabback
Music and Identity Formation in Older Adults
Musical identity can develop through beginning, returning or changing instruments, without everyone adopting the same label.
Roger Mantie
A Survey of Community Bands in Ontario
An Ontario band survey draft is listed as a research lead while its published counterpart is checked.
Tyler C. King
Factors Influencing Adults’ Participation in Community Bands of Central Ohio
Central Ohio band members describe how enjoyment, leadership, repertoire and travel relate to their participation.
Nathan B. Kruse
Andragogy and Music: Canadian and American Models of Music Learning among Adults
Adult learners’ preferences challenge the assumption that everyone wants the same amount of self-direction.
Martha Jayne Griffith
Personality Traits and Musical Interests of Adult Learners in an Instrumental Music Program
New Horizons learners describe varied interests and needs for practical accommodation.
Timothy S. Brophy
Prolegomenon
A short editorial is retained as a bibliographic lead, separate from the studies it introduces.
Don D. Coffman
Voices of Experience: Interviews of Adult Community Band Members in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
Adult band members in Tasmania describe how instruments, encouragement and graded opportunities shape their musical experience.
Michael Hartz
The American Community Band: History and Development
A historical account of American community bands offers a starting point for following local organizations and their sources.
William David Spencer
An Attitude Assessment of Amateur Musicians in Adult Community Bands
A large survey documents attitudes among active members of adult community bands in the 1990s.
Richard Charles Dugger
A Case Study of Interpersonal Influences in a Band Music Setting: Bohumil Makovsky (1878–1950) and His Association with Selected Individuals Involved in Instrumental Music in the State of Oklahoma, Volume I
An interview-based historical dissertation examines Bohumil Makovsky’s interpersonal influence in Oklahoma band music.
James Aubrey Jarrell
An Analysis of Achievement, Procedures, and Activities of Selected High School Band Programs in Oklahoma
A 1971 Oklahoma dissertation documents practices and achievement in selected high school band programs.
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