Current Research:

Sociocultural Enablers and Inhibitors of Musical Creativity: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

a research project by Juniper Hill
Supported by a Fulbright CIES Fellowship (2011) and a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (2012-2013)
Hosted by the Sibelius Academy (Finland) and Cambridge University (UK)

Why are some music scenes more conducive towards creative risk-taking, divergent thinking, personal expression, and innovation? What makes other environments seem stifling towards creativity? And what can educators, administrators, and policymakers do to provide and enhance the enabling conditions for creativity in music, and for creativity in general?

There exists little theoretical work tackling the sociocultural enablers and inhibitors of musical creativity. The majority of creativity theories, both in music and in other domains, are based on studies of individuals' internal processes and outputs. Musicologists and music theorists, often analyzing compositional sketches and scores, have been more concerned with individual genius than with the cultural contexts of creativity.  Music psychologists' research on creativity has concentrated on cognitive processes. Though music education research on creativity does take into account the immediate classroom environment, it oftentimes overlooks broader cultural and social contexts.  This project uses ethnomusicological ethnographic research methods (such as participant-observation, interviews, and questionnaires) to study musical creativity in its social and cultural contexts. Cross-cultural comparisons in Finland, the US, and elsewhere will allow me to assess degrees of creativity occurring in differing sociocultural environments, and the factors influencing creativity in different contexts.

In this project I am exploring five sociocultural spheres that significantly influence creativity:

1. Beliefs and attitudes about creativity
How do culturally specific notions of talent and inspiration limit the parameters of who is allowed or encouraged to engage in creative activities?

2. Learning environments and transmission methods
Which pedagogical methods provide musicians with the tools to be creative, and which methods may serve to restrict creativity?

3. Social pressures
How do emotions like courage and fear shape the extent to which individuals diverge from or conform to socially sanctioned artistic conventions?

4. Financial and institutional infrastructures
How do arts policies, markets, institutional support, and state funding effect creativity?

5. Intellectual property
How do formal copyright laws and informal practices of ownership protect and encourage musicians' creative outputs on the one hand, or, on the other hand, restrict the availability of material and inhibit the important creative processes of recycling and collaboration?

The results of this research project will be presented in a book published by an academic press, as well as in various articles.