A Sense of Musical Self

Abstract

Abstract Our childhood memories can tell us about the ways in which our sense of music develops vis-à-vis dispositions and identities. Dispositions involve the natural inclination toward certain behaviors, which situate us in relationship to music and to others. The concept of musician is recollected at about the age children start attending school, perhaps due to school being one of the first places we are introduced to peers, who bring a variety of often unfamiliar experiences, allowing us to begin seeing our own dispositions as distinctive. Early dispositions for music were also recollected in stories that involved embodiment, reflecting mimesis, an effort to get inside, to become the musical sounds, or emulation, involving trying on various models of music making in our environment. Young children’s identification with music often takes the form of engagement in imaginative play, reconstructing familiar scenes, taking on roles of parent, teacher, and rock star.