Music in Everyday Life

by Tia DeNora

The power of music in everyday life is widely recognized and this is reflected in social theory from Plato to Adorno that portrays music as an influence on character, social structure and action. This book uses a series of ethnographic studies and in-depth interviews to show how music is a constitutive feature of human agency. Drawing together concepts from psychology, sociology and sociolinguistics it develops a theory of music's active role in the construction of social life and highlights the aesthetic dimension of social order and organization in modern societies.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Sociology, Social Science, Research

181 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 1996

Reviews

[May · Rating 2 out of 5]

DeNora's analysis and concepts are pretty solid and you'd think music would be exciting subject matter, but I had a hard time reading this. It's dense and dry, and she seems to restate the same points over and over again. Maybe it's because I haven't had a lot of exposure to the sociology of culture, but not all the writing is like this, right?

[Michal Puchovský · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kniha dobrá a zaujimavá, len skutočne teoretická s pomerne komplikovaným jazykom. Najlepšie boli časti, ktoré boli prepojené s terénnym výskumom, ako napríklad tie o hudobných stratégiách predajcov šatstva v obchodoch a jeho vplyve na nakupujúcich.

[Alexander Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does an excellent job at handling multiple slippery theoretical threads and tying them into a conceptual tapestry that lets us view the picture of music in everyday life as a technology of self, place, discourse and more. Highly recommend.

[amberrrr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I found the book fairly interesting as it allowed me to think of the different ways in which we could use music to influence behaviour.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

tia denora's book has been on my radar for quite sometime now, mainly because i have such a keen interest on how we choose to interact with music in real life, ecological settings.

sometimes i feel like this field is highly related to what i'm interested in, and other times i don't -- this was the flip-flop process i went through while reading the text. from discussions of what women listen to in the bath, to intimate encounters, to aerobic classes, to shopping, denora presents an ethnographic (and probably more sociological) study of women's thoughts on music in everyday life. like i said, i found some of this interesting - especially the section on social activities (intimate encounters, parties, etc). However, I was expecting more in-depth data in the form of interview transcriptions regarding more common place social interactions (hanging out with friends at a bar, having small dinner parties, going out to dinner). What music do we listen to during these moments, and how does our experience of that shape our continual interactions with these people? If we experience a positive musical experience with someone, will we be more likely to call him/her our friend? I guess my interest falls more toward the culture end - how is culture shaped by music? Rather than Denora's interest, which seems to be: how does music act as an agent for human action/motivation; in other words, what does music do to us?

overall, the text is helping me understand how humans interact with music on a more passive level (passive meaning we don't turn on the music when we go to the store, it's already there, we just choose to listen or not to listen).

i recommend this book to academics (and deep thinkers) :) who have an interest in how ordinary folk interact with music (during these activities i mentioned).

<3

[Noelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although a bit dated, provides a great basis for thought on how we interact with music as a technology to shape our world. I especially enjoyed the dialogue on the creation of self - how we use music to form our current space, mood, and even to write and rewrite memories.

[Laur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for my dissertation literature review and found the subject matter and field work so interesting. This book has planted a seed for me to investigate further music in every day life, it was really enjoyable and clearly set its aims using a plethora of evidence.

[The Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

DeNora's writing style is frustratingly convoluted. Her ideas are interesting but she seems to have a wonderful ability to make to most interesting of subjects dry and nearly unreadable. I found myself drawn to the book by its ideas and repulsed by its prose.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly informative and very accessible for those in and out of the musical profession.

[Amin · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you feel confused and lost within the modern discussions of musicology, especially about the popular music, this book is a very good guide to clarify all those grey clouds of your mind.