A recent special issue of Qualitative Inquiry (December 2016) throws a welcome spotlight on the place of songs within qualitative research. In this essay, I share a story that contributes to the gathering conversation around music and songs as a (perhaps unique) form of qualitative inquiry. My contribution focuses specifically on songwriting as a form of research, which has received limited attention to date within the qualitative inquiry literature. The story is inspired by recent explorations of songwriting as reflexive practice, and I share it with the aim of expanding understanding and inviting further dialogue on the processes of writing (songs as) qualitative research.
AlexanderB. K. (2016). “A song for you”/“killing me softly”: Lyrical dialectics of design, desire, and disdain (a performative introduction). Qualitative Inquiry, 22, 771-774.
2.
BartleetB.EllisC. (2009). Musical autoethnography: Creative explorations of the self through music. Samford Valley: Australian Academic Press.
3.
BoylornR. M. (2016). Killing me softly or on the miseducation of (love and) hip hop: A Blackgirl autoethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 22, 785-789.
4.
BreslerL. (2008). The music lesson. In KnowlesJ.ColeA. (Eds.), Handbook of the arts in qualitative research (pp. 225-237). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
5.
CallierD. M. (2016). Living in C minor: Reflections on the melodies of blackness, queerness, and masculinity. Qualitative Inquiry, 22, 790-794.
6.
CarlessD. (2010). The autoethnographic process: Starting a new story. In MunceyT. (Ed.), Creating autoethnographies (pp. 132-146). London, England: SAGE.
7.
CarlessD. (2017). It’s a leap of faith, writing a song. Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 6, 104–111.
8.
CarlessD.DouglasK. (2009). Songwriting and the creation of knowledge. In BartleetB.EllisC. (Eds.), Musical autoethnography: Creative explorations of the self through music (pp. 23-38). Samford Valley: Australian Academic Press.
9.
CarlessD.DouglasK. (2011). What’s in a song? How songs contribute to the communication of social science research. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 39, 439-454.
DenzinN. K. (2003). Performance ethnography. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
13.
DouglasK. (2012). Signals and signs. Qualitative Inquiry, 18, 525-532.
14.
DouglasK. (2016). Song writing as reflexive practice: “Breathing too loud” to “signals and signs.”Qualitative Inquiry, 22, 798-802.
15.
DouglasK.CarlessD. (2005). Across the Tamar: Stories from women in Cornwall. Independently produced audio CD: Bristol, UK.
16.
HolmanJ. S. (2016). “One for my baby and one more for the road”: Queer affect and Billie Holiday. Qualitative Inquiry, 22, 775-778.
17.
JenoureT. (2002). Sweeping the temple: A performance collage. In BagleyC.CancienneM. (Eds.), Dancing the data (pp. 73-89). New York, NY: Peter Lang.
18.
LeavyP. (2009). Method meets art: Arts-based research practice. New York, NY: Guildford Press.
19.
LuckettS. D. (2016). Standing on the edge of my life: Recuperating fat sexuality in beats and measures. Qualitative Inquiry, 22, 823-826.
20.
PattiC. J. (2009). Musical artefacts of my father’s death. In BartleetB.EllisC. (Eds.), Musical autoethnography: Creative explorations of the self through music (pp. 57-72). Samford Valley: Australian Academic Press.
21.
Scott-HoyK. M. (2009). Beautiful here: Celebrating life, alternative music, adolescence and autoethnography. In BartleetB.EllisC. (Eds.), Musical autoethnography: Creative explorations of the self through music (pp. 39-56). Samford Valley: Australian Academic Press.
