We and They, Part 2 of 2

A second example of music’s role in group cohesion and identification is its use in the context of sporting events. Indicative of this point is Queen’s, “We Will Rock You,” a popular staple of American football games. The song begins with an uncomplicated rhythm of eighth note tom-tom beats on the first and third beats of the measure with a combination of snare and handclap quarter notes on the second and fourth beats.  After a few measures of the percussion solo, the vocal melody begins, an aggressive melody with little pitch variation. After the performer recites the melodic incantation call, the response by the audience is to unite with the performer in singing the chorus.  

In the song’s re-purpose for American football games, the performer/audience binding affect acts to unite team and fans. While fans do not participate in the game itself, they do experience the sporting event and unite with the team against an opponent by participating in the group activity of singing in unison and experiencing the shared arousal and excitement evoked by the music.  In a similar way baseball fans are united in the seventh-inning stretch by the communal singing of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame;”  however, unlike the call and response, martial anthem of American football described above, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” is a gentle waltz.  The song’s pleasant rising and falling variation in pitch, its slow tempo and cheerful, nostalgic lyrics call fans to pause and to embrace the game, regardless of outcome.

Dowling & Harwood (1986, p. 236) state that music’s role as  “…a cohesion-facilitating group activity—an expression of social solidarity,” began with the earliest, hunter-gatherer social groups. While music’s ability to unify individuals and to strengthen group bonds is not unique—civic associations, political parties, even the clothes we wear or the cars we drive can mark in-group, out-group distinctions—the fact that music continues to influence group coordination and identification tens of thousands of years later is testament to the depth of its affect and adaptive value.

References

Bowker, J. (1997). Music. The concise oxford dictionary of world religions.  Retrieved October    25, 2009, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Music.html.

Dowling, W. J.,  & Harwood, D. L. (1986).  Music cognition. San Diego: Academic Press.

Storr, A. (1992). Music and the mind. New York: Ballantine Books.