Code-switching musicians: an exploratory study

There are populations of musicians who demonstrate considerable success-making music in formal school music ensembles and also in their own rock, digital, and ethnic groups in the larger musical community. We suggest helpful insights into the phenomenon of switching between various ways of being musical can be gleaned from the linguistic theory of code-switching. Although authors have identified a disconnect between the narrowly categorised music taught in schools and the wider variety of music in society, we have identified musical ‘code-switchers:’ people adept at navigating multiple musical worlds. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences and perceptions of these musicians who have demonstrated skill and comfort switching between formal ensembles in a school of music and informal ensembles of multiple genres outside of the school and to examine the viability of using code-switching to better understand flexible, comprehensive musicianship. Participants indicated both musical and social skills as being responsible for their code-switching success.