Introduction

This introduction reframes the amateur-professional binary in music as a historically produced social construct rather than a means for value-laden distinction based on skill or employment. Drawing on Small’s concept of musicking—music as participatory, relational activity—and Regelski’s advocacy for amateuring in its best sense, it argues that this binary has long defined musical pedagogy and its values and continues to shape how learners develop their identity and agency as musicians. This chapter shows how teaching models such as the master-apprentice model have perpetuated an imbalance of power and authority, especially since the nineteenth century and the associated professionalization and institutionalization of music. It presents participatory music-making as a means to dismantle these constructs and foreground love, belonging and shared agency in education. This volume as a whole proposes pedagogical practices that balance skill and joy, challenge traditional hierarchies and sustain meaningful musical participation across professional and amateur spheres.