Music ensembles as self-organized groups

Making music in small groups can be viewed as a form of intensive team work. This chapter examines the self-organized nature of music-making, taking as its departure point current thinking in organizational studies. In achieving their goals, self-organized music groups need to balance flexibility and creativity within a framework of “rules” or conventions, within a genre or community of practice. Organizational characteristics of music ensembles are presented as a number of tensions, in which competing forces of stability versus change, collectivity versus individuality, and maturity versus emergence are balanced. These tensions are managed in relation to an organizational structure consisting of roles, leadership, and communication processes, as well as constraints and developments over time. These perspectives offer ways to reflect on group dynamics and musical creative processes, and the internal and external forces impacting rehearsal and performance.