Abstract
Community Music (henceforth, CM) has rapidly become one of the most innovative areas of music education and practice, especially abroad and, although to a lesser degree, in Italy. Its strength lies in responding to special needs related to the educational sphere, the socio-cultural context at large, and the need for inclusion, integration, and social change.
The approaches to CM are highly varied and differentiated and, to a certain degree, differ from place to place: some countries or regions such as Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and other countries of the Commonwealth (e.g. Australia and New Zealand) have a long history of promoting and supporting CM initiatives, while others, such as the United States, Canada and some European countries, host different types of CM organisations and networks. In countries such as Portugal, Japan, South Africa and China, the practice of CM is relatively new. The element that is common to all these experiences is the need to meet social and cultural needs through participation in musical practice in informal, non-formal and even formal contexts while developing and strengthening the CM model in different directions.