When we think of meaning, we typically think of a straightforward dictionary definition. Many scholars, howeverincluding music scholarssee meaning as something broader. While they might ask, what does [this piece of] music mean?, they do not expect the same piece, even the same snippet of melody or type of distortion, to mean the same thing to everybody. Music is too often tied to individual memories, tastes, and other personal preferences to allow for singular or exact definitions. But that doesnt make it meaningless.
In his book, Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening (Wesleyan University Press, 1998), ethnomusicologist Christopher Small coins the term musicking to remind us that music isnt a thing but an activity: To music is to take part, in any capacity, in a musical performance, whether by performing, by listening, by rehearsing or practicing, by providing material for performances (what is called composing), or by dancing. He claims that the act of musicking establishesa set of relationships, and it is in those relationships that the meaning of the act lies. Small argues against a tradition of music history and analysis that sees musical works (and their meanings) as autonomous, without context. He proposes instead that music is very much a product of its historical, social, and cultural context, and so are its meanings. Collegiate a cappella is a wonderful example of the deeply social meanings of music (and musicking). In my ethnomusicological research, nearly all a cappella singers found their group meaningful in some way. Some meanings have little to do with the the music itself. Some alumni of a group at the University of Michigan told me about their spring break tour journal, in which they would record the groups activities, funny moments, and other memories. Entries may relate to more musical matters, but most probably didnt. The desire to document the tour indicates that the experience is important enough to be remembered and recalled later, probably to invoke a common experience, good times, and close personal bonds. But the most profound meanings often lie at the intersection of the musical and the social. One Boston-area co-ed group I worked with invested particular meaning in Patty Griffins When It Dont Come Easy. Much can be said of the song itself: a soothing reassurance that when you break down, Ill drive out and find you, even when you think things couldnt get any worse. Their arrangement, too, took the best of the original recordings scoring (like its slow crescendo, emotional climax, plummet to silence and subsequent rebuilding) and even improved upon it (by transposing its hokey-sounding horns up an octave into the soprano voices). But for this group the song was more than that. After learning their parts, they would only sing it in the dark, even during their concerts. There were no visual distractionsno gestures, looks, or cuesall communication was aural and musical. They stood close, lowering their guard and allowing each other into their personal space. They stood in a circle (in rehearsal, at least), facing the center, so each voice was heard equally. They had to trust that each person would be there to sing his or her part and support the others. No one would be singing alone. The songs lyrical content (when you forget my love, Ill try to remind you / And stand by you, when it dont come easy) met with both its musical content (voice parts supporting each other in beautiful, gut-wrenching harmonies) and the groups social content (their trust and love for each other) to form the songs meaningmetaphorical, perhaps, but also very real. They cried onstage while singing this song in concert because it enabled them to embody, to articulateto musictheir profound relationships to each other. As the music director observed, you could feel it. Im sure many of us have had similar a cappella experiences. The point is that our music is more than just notes on a page, it is a way of expressing our relationships to each other in a manner other thanand perhaps more powerful thanlanguage. Of course, as Small points out, all musical performances articulate relationships, from a symphony to the myriad traditional musics populating the globe to the recent Live 8 concerts. But a cappella is one way we all can feel it. So next time youre remembering (or living) a great a cappella moment, take a second to reflect on the meanings generated by your act of musicking, and the relationships that act articulates.  Josh Duchan
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