ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the concept of ideology with specific reference to music, and attempts to show some ways in which the concept continues to be relevant to the understanding of the construction of musical value. It suggests how ideologies of musical value are perpetuated through the education system, and how this perpetuation is also tied up with the reproduction of social groups, not merely despite but partly as a result of the recent incorporation of a variety of musical styles into the curriculum. This chapter invokes the notion that 'individual freedom is a basic human right' to provide a brief illustration of such an understanding of ideology. It attempts to describe each one as briefly and clearly as possible, and then relates it to the example of 'individual freedom', in order to show how this concept operates ideologically.
