Abstract
In contemporary societies, music forms an essential part of young people’s lives. A growing body of research has suggested that young people are deeply involved in various kinds of musical activities, and pop music (both listened to and sung) plays a central role in their everyday lives. Involvement in musical performance does not seem to be quite as popular as just listening to music. The balance of listening and performing has changed due to the development of recording technology. Digitally recorded music produces vast numbers of copies, and enables people to listen to music everywhere. However, over the past twenty years, participation in musical performance has increased among young people thanks to the continued popularity of karaoke. Technological developments have had a significant influence not only on listening devices but also on karaoke machines. For example, karaoke can be enjoyed with mobile systems and has become portable and ubiquitous. This research investigates the singing practice of adolescents and young people in their everyday lives and at school, in two different countries, Japan and Portugal. It attempts to understand the meaning of singing in their lives by asking why, where, with whom, what, and how young people sing, and by focusing on the reasons why they sing in everyday life situations and at school and on their attitudes towards singing. Researching young people’s singing in these two countries becomes relevant, considering the great popularity of Karaoke in Japan and its increasing practice in Portugal, as well as differences between education systems and the emphasis given to singing in the school curriculum and within the school activities.
Research Team
Graça Boal Palheiros, Hiromichi Mito (co-researchers)
Funding Body
Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science
Participating Institution
Meiji Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
Period
2011-2015
Keywords
Singing activities, everyday life, karaoke, music education