The Transformative Effects of Music In Individual and Collective Sensemaking

Music can facilitate transformations of one’s identity. Perceptual features of musical practice along with features of the larger community in a live musical setting synergize to prime, cause a reevaluation, and facilitate a reconstruction of a part of one’s identity. By applying literature on sensemaking, we see how the ability for music and fandom can arouse certain psychological effects on the cognitive and emotional processes of the participants, affecting what is being thought of and how. Harmonic, melodic, rhythmic, and lyrical content in music arouse various degrees of tension and resolve, inducing cognitive and emotional effects in the listener. Situated in a collective environment, elements of the collective amplify the experience through synchrony and collective effervescence. Following the musical experience, the community collectively and iteratively negotiates meaning which is then used by individuals in future musical experiences to understand musical passages and determine new personal relevance. The result is the music and community facilitating the individual to spark and empower a reevaluation and subsequent reconstruction of their identity, a transformation of identity.