ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the possibility of rethinking the concept of musical improvisation in relation to very young children in preschool. By connecting theories from the fields of linguistic anthropology, Early childhood education and Musicology, the text problematises assumptions about (implicit) boundaries between musical actions and other communicative actions in connection to musical improvisation. By extension, questions of power are discussed, such as who has the power to determine where boundaries go between musical actions and extra-musical actions? Who has the right to define the concept of music, which is at the core in musical improvisation? Who owns the frames of the improvisatory event?
The chapter departs from a social constructionist perspective, in which categories such as music and improvisation are seen as social and cultural constructs. In the conclusion, a suggestion is put forward to use a broad concept of music, closely related to Christopher Small’s ideas of musicking, when improvising musically with very young children – an approach in which one does not delimit musical improvisation events only to ‘pure’ musical actions, but where events also could encompass other actions and phenomena.
