It is somewhat embarrassing that I did not “discover” it before, but I only recently realized a striking parallel between the terms dancing and musicking. Music as a verb (“to music”) is only used by a small subset of music researchers, while “to dance” is universally accepted. Why?
Musicking
Christopher Small introduced the term musicking in the 1990s as a framework for understanding music as a social activity, using music as a verb (“to music”) rather than a noun (“music”). Though still not universal in musicology, the term has gained traction in music education and therapy, where participation in communal music practices is central.
In my book Sound Actions, I introduced the term musicking technology to describe technologies that interact with musical activities. I also developed the musicking quadrant to categorize four types of musical activities: production, performance, perception, and analysis. The conclusion in my book was that new technologies connect these practices in various ways, as sketched in this figure:
Figure 1: The musicking quadrant categorizing four types of musical activities: production, performance, perception, and analysis.
Musicking & Dancing
In many cultures, music and dance are coupled; you cannot think of one without the other. This is why more scholars are now using the compound music–dance to underline the interconnection between the two.
Western art music, however, is often separate from dance (and other forms of bodily motion). An exception is classical ballet, which is performed with dancers on stage (and musicians typically below). In both classical music and ballet, there is also a clear separation between performers on stage and the audience in the hall.
In many other cultures, including folk, child, and popular culture, musicking and dancing are integrated. This is also the case in my home country, Norway, where folk music is, by definition, dance music. Some fiddlers may play on stage in front of an audience, but the norm is for everyone to participate, either by playing, singing, or dancing.
Children’s singing games often involve a combination of singing, clapping, and coordinated movement. Yesterday, at a family pre-Christmas party, the whole family engaged in “walking around” the Christmas tree, as we call it in Norwegian. This involves holding hands while walking/dancing around the Christmas tree, singing songs that often involve repetition, changes of direction, and speed-ups. Such musicking–dancing to connect the two terms is an example of an embodied, participatory practice rooted in social bonding.
Why dancing and not musicking?
Both musicking and dancing involve people creating meaning through movement and sound. Together, they serve as complementary modes of human expression. Strangely, “dancing” is—and has been for a long time—an everyday term, while “musicking” is a highly specialized academic term. I do not know why these two terms have such different histories. I also do not know why I have not thought of the connection before, given that I have been researching both music and dance for so many years. Oh well, it further supports the idea that musicking—and thinking about music-as-activity—should be normalized.