Supporting Retirement Socially and Musically by Technology: An Ethnographic Study of Local Community Musicians

Abstract

This paper describes an ethnography conducted to understand how people making the transitions to retirement engage in community music. We reflect on how people learn music and new technologies, how they interact, and what values they share within musical communities. We find that community music fosters social learning, and identify contexts in which time, space, individual differences and technology interact. The findings provide an understanding of musical and social practices of community music and the role of technology in retirement communities.