Community music in the United States: An overview of origins and evolution

The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution community music has made and can make to cultural education in the United States, both in its own right and in the context of education as a whole. The paper gives a bird's-eye view of the historical highlights of community music-making activity in various parts of the country, particularly outlining the types of activity prevalent within the southeast of the country. Finally, some thoughts are presented regarding the collaboration (or lack thereof) between formal music education in the schools and community music-making, concluding that community music and music education could benefit from closer cooperation.