Developing Musical Expression, Communication, and Wellbeing

Through music people express themselves, their ideas, thoughts and feelings. Music holds affordances for meaning making and communication that can be beneficial for health and wellbeing. Through various socially engaged practices, people use musicking to communicate with each other. Music can be used to enhance wellbeing in various contexts, including health care settings and as a tool for social impact. Musical expression and communication have the potential to enhance people's sense of wellbeing; however, this does not happen automatically and can be particularly challenging for those studying or working within the music profession. Therefore, it is vital to explore the variety of processes involved in developing musical expression and communication that enhance wellbeing for all involved. These processes include (but are not limited to) psychological, educational, and artistic domains.

Researchers have explored how musical expression can be developed in traditional, mainly Western, classical and popular learning and teaching settings; however, there is not much research available on the development of musical expression and communication across musical genres and styles, or in co-creative or socially engaged music practices. Research has shown that a focus on communication can be beneficial for musicians' sense of wellbeing. Furthermore, studies exploring co-creative practices in health care settings have demonstrated that person-centred musicking can enhance wellbeing. Conversely, a focus on technical perfection in performance, or demands for self-expression can have detrimental effects on musicians. Overall, there is a need for more empirical research exploring the relationship between musical expression, communication, and wellbeing. Therefore, this special issue aims to explore how developing musical expression and communication in various social contexts can contribute to a sense of wellbeing of everyone involved, musicians and audiences, co-creators and listeners.

This Research Topic focuses on practice-based, theoretical, and empirical research that contributes to, and explores, the development of musical expression and communication and how this relates to the wellbeing of musicians and audiences, co-creators and listeners in various contexts. These contexts may relate to musicians' performance practice, musicians' health and wellness, music education and/or musicians' socially engaged artistic practices. Topics and questions that will be of interest to this special issue include (but are not limited to):

- What is required for creating musical expression and communication that enhance wellbeing?
- What is the role of social or cultural contexts in the artistic or educational processes of developing musical expression, communication, and wellbeing?
- How can a focus on expression and communication contribute to caring musical cultures?
- What are the implications of research findings in this area for pedagogical contexts?

This includes manuscripts (Original Research, Hypothesis & Theory, Review, Perspective, Conceptual Analysis, and Opinion) from the fields of music psychology, performance science, performing arts medicine, musicians' health and wellness, dynamical systems theory, music education, educational psychology, positive psychology, social psychology, and socially engaged artistic research.

IMPORTANT: Please note that we will only consider manuscripts after a manuscript summary has been submitted and accepted.