Music as a marker of identity — functions in personal, collective and educational contexts in multicultural Montenegro

Music as a marker of identity

Music reaches into the psychological and aesthetic dimensions of human experience, shaping both who we are as individuals and how we connect with others through shared sonic experiences. It functions as a key to identity at every level—personal, collective, and global.

Multicultural societies like Montenegro reveal the specific character of their ethnic groups through an ethno-musicological lens, where music becomes a vehicle for national identity. The concept of identity, especially in culturally mixed settings, remains fluid and changeable, shifting as cultures engage in dialogue with one another. A central question emerges: how far does this flexibility extend in musical expression, and does it support an ethnocentric view of separate, closed circles?

Within the school system, music education introduces what can be called a "music mother tongue." This approach helps form both cultural and national identity while also moving beyond ethnocentrism. When young students learn songs and dances from their own country and region—through singing, dancing, and listening—they encounter the distinctive qualities of their own musical heritage and that of other peoples.

This study explores how music can act as a tool for communication between cultures, advancing interculturalism as a creative, nonverbal form of dialogue in Montenegro's multicultural society.

The relationship between music and identity

Music's role in shaping identity—whether ethnic, social, anthropological, musicological, or psychological—has drawn substantial scholarly attention. The way we perceive and experience music helps establish a feeling of belonging to a particular group, whether that group is defined by ethnicity, aesthetic taste, gender, or other criteria.

Music also contributes to the construction of individual identity. It begins with personal preferences for specific musical styles and extends to the capacity for creating and performing music, which adds a unique personal dimension. Through music, people recognize themselves, while simultaneously fulfilling a natural desire for affiliation.

Two types of music identity

The broad spectrum of identity expressions offered by music has become a focus within music psychology. Researchers discuss the conceptualization of music identities and the fundamental conceptual differences among them. The question arises: does every person possess a music identity? Relatively few individuals claim complete indifference to music. Musical taste varies considerably, with some people expressing very clear and almost exclusive preferences—showing little range of variation—while others, influenced by shifting moods and circumstances, experience the same music in diverse ways.

In this framework, music identity can be understood as part of one's own self, but also as an element of collective belonging that is especially pronounced during adolescence. Analysis of music identities leads to a further division:

• Identities in Music (IIM) – This category defines identity through various forms of musical engagement. When considering musicians, identity is shaped by their roles as composers, performers, or educators. Research on orchestra sections suggests that string players, wind players, and percussionists exhibit different personality profiles compared to pianists, singers, and conductors. The implication is that a professional musician's identity forms in relation to the instrument they play. Studies examining different genres—classical, pop, rock, and jazz—reinforce that identities in music can rest on distinctions between musical activities, as well as on more specific factors like instruments and genres.
• Music in Identities (MII) – This meaning concerns how music reveals and channels non-musical aspects of identity, such as gender and nationality. Investigations have shown that developing awareness of gender affiliation and differences shapes musical perspectives. For instance, girls tended to see themselves primarily as solo singers, while boys saw themselves as composers. These findings demonstrate that identity differences appear not only in how people engage with music, but also in their musical tastes. The preference for a particular style or genre develops alongside a growing consciousness of gender identity.

The spread of modern technology over the last twenty years, together with the rise of the internet, has increased music's presence in our lives to an unprecedented degree. People frequently identify themselves—and divide themselves—based on the music they listen to. This identification in a narrower musical context also extends to a broader cultural landscape, where someone who listens to music we do not accept or understand can seem to share little in common with us. These divisions correspond to different forms of subculture; one of the most noticeable is the split between those who enjoy turbo-folk and those who strongly oppose it, as well as the values that accompany these musical choices. Such boundaries imply a set of parameters for mapping identity determinants—through contrasting perceptions of a specific music type, we can detect non-musical differences in our identities.

Discussions of music and identity most often point to the role of music in forming or recognizing national identity. The ethnic dimension of music falls within ethnomusicology, which initially focused on the musical heritage of distant cultures. In this context, music becomes a cultural feature that emerges from tradition—both in its utilitarian function linked to specific events and in its artistic form, where it serves as a key component of experience itself. How is music filtered and defined across time? How does music reflect a particular culture? These questions, which arose in musicology and anthropology, eventually led to their convergence and the emergence of ethnomusicology. If the concept of culture is essential for understanding any entity, then music represents one of its most powerful connections.

Just as personal identity cannot be established without relating to an "Other," ethnic identity cannot be determined without contact with a different entity. The foundation for building social identity lies in the ability to distinguish between "me—others" and "we—they," a distinction present in all languages and cultures that creates ongoing tension in social relationships. Cultural and national identities remain variable categories shaped by the blending of cultures and intercultural dialogue. This dialogue does not have to suppress the unique qualities of individual cultures; rather, it supplements them with the results of their interaction.

Music education and identity formation

Music education investigates how music can be used in non-verbal communication between cultures and in building constructive attitudes within a multicultural reality. Presenting what can be called "the spirit of culture" in education through art involves learning about folklore, characterized by its rich diversity. To explore cultural identity, open the mind to a collective identity based on cultural idioms, and simultaneously develop a constructive approach to diversity, the educational process should convey the spirit of culture specifically through art. The educator's responsibility is to present musical heritage affirmatively, even when it may seem anachronistic to students depending on their age and the resulting biases.

During class, when working on a particular aspect of musical folklore, the teacher should articulate several classifications related to folk music:

• Circumstances of music creation, such as customs including calendar and non-calendar, older and more recent examples
• Music types, including instrumental, vocal, and dance forms
• Geographical idioms and regional expressions

The creative act of music gives voice to the national element, placing it in a context that is creative, spiritual, and open toward other cultures. Teaching programmes in Montenegro's reformed education system emphasize building cultural and national identity through music culture instruction. Musical folklore appears consistently across three cycles, interpreted through the study of folk songs, national instruments, and simple folk dances. The music of national minorities is also included, with the programme incorporating a significant number of Albanian, Croatian, and Serbian folklore elements. Textbooks directly correspond with teaching programmes, and their authors aim to present musical heritage in an engaging way that appeals to elementary school students.

Throughout multicultural Europe, a strategy exists to implement intercultural education and develop it within the curriculum at every stage of learning. These aspects typically evolve through socio-psychological workshops, where students from diverse ethnic, social, and cultural groups identify with one another and communicate. The workshops aim to promote empathy, solidarity, and respect toward interculturalism as a form of equalizing relations between different cultures, opposing nationalism by breaking down national barriers and broadening horizons toward a civil society. Within its Eurydice programme (2009), the European Commission focused on interculturalism through artistic disciplines. Most participating countries established identical goals: cultural diversity, protection of culture, development of personal expression, and creativity. Music education carries out intercultural work through sonorous context, music genres, instruments, and the capacity for musical understanding, beginning with experiences from early childhood. The dimensions of music as a universal language open up the possibility for constructing an identity linked to a particular culture, as well as developing the multi-layered quality of identity through a sense of belonging within a broader multicultural framework.

Music and national identity

Contemporary music teaching should build on the principle of drawing from rich traditional musical material. In multiethnic communities like Montenegro, this means employing the folklore heritage of all nations living within the country's territory. New plans and programmes for the school subject Music Culture, along with textbooks created in recent years, incorporate essential elements of folk dance and traditional instruments such as the gusle, tapan, fife, and diple. They combine universal archetypal melodic and rhythmic patterns to develop musical thinking.

The starting point in music teaching must be the folk song. This approach is certainly not new—many European countries with established music education systems have long followed this model. Instructional material rests on a national musical pattern, sometimes transparent, sometimes layered, as a foundation upgraded by the traditional major-minor system.

This work takes a music-educational perspective rather than a musicological one, focusing on how traditional musical material is used and interpreted within music culture teaching, as well as its influence on the formation of different identity types. There is a fundamental question: why should anything as powerful yet transient as national music tradition exist if there is no record of it? It represents a musical portrait of a nation, created by the hands of many generations. The greatest loss would be the death of this tradition, forgotten by its descendants.

Although the idea that Montenegrins lack musicality was unfairly promoted, it was convincingly refuted by Slobodan Jerkov's master's thesis and doctoral dissertation. Composer Nikola Hercigonja recognized hidden beauty and strength in Montenegrin musical tradition. He wrote that he could see and feel revealing thoughts about life, about its beautiful and ugly aspects—an artistic shaping of impressions from the outside world, a celebration of life as it is, using a tradition so ancient that only its finest elements remain.

Hercigonja described how the folk singer relives life through their miniature artistic achievement, simultaneously feeling that intimate happiness of artistic creation—an irreplaceable joy—and sensing the magnitude of things worth singing about, the magnitude of the anonymous hero of the song. Inspired by Montenegrin folklore for his oratorio "Mountain Wreath," he portrayed Montenegrin music in these words: like Orlov Krs with its greenery and flowers, a gray monotony, a crudeness, yet interwoven with the most vivid and finest shades. The richness and distinctiveness of folk dances in Montenegro arise from the many different ethnic communities who have lived alongside each other, mutually dependent and influencing one another over centuries, all within a relatively small area.

Hercigonja also wrote about the dances, noting that a magical quality reemerges—something found only among older people. The cadences of instrument players typically hold to a high pitch but also include an often-improvised, unprepared ending, reminiscent of Renaissance practice. Montenegrin dances contain much ethos and ritual; they maintain the closest link with life, forming what can be called the atomic nucleus of folklore.

Folk music examples are chiefly connected with promoting the idea of multiculturalism in the twenty-first century, regardless of varying approaches to the term and its implementation.

Using folk songs in the process of teaching music culture represents the most important form of national musical material for educational purposes. The first musical language a child should learn—their "music mother tongue"—is the folk song, a musical language heard since the time of mothers and grandmothers. The folk song is the most natural musical content for learning.

Folk songs embody respect for norms built and established over centuries, deeply rooted in every person's mind and representing the musical behavior of the environment where they are sung. That behavior comes through a lengthy process of individual interaction with musical stimuli. These songs are generally well known and assimilated through familiar native singing, while also carrying customary and obvious meaning, sometimes with connotations that are difficult—or even impossible—to fully interpret. The native melody acts as a "sound line" that, stemming from the deepest layers of the spirit, links terms into the integrity of sound expression. This quality is most clearly heard in primitive singing, where the telling is nearly half poetry, much as it is with a child.

Knowledge of folk songs is the starting point for music learning and musical literacy. Folk songs are the musical language of a specific environment, and their knowledge serves as a foundation for learning music theory more easily. A basic characteristic of the folk song is the strict connection between textual and melodic patterns. Just as native input material plays a significant role in learning one's mother tongue, in learning first songs the most important factor is the song a child hears in their immediate surroundings. This should be what is closest to them: folk songs.

Musical experience gained by a child in a particular culture relies on a melodic-rhythmic idiom—the sound pattern typical of that culture. The simple melody of a folk song mainly corresponds to the child's potential. This melody also originates from the nature of the language itself, forming an inseparable unity with it.

From an aesthetic standpoint, the folk song is a stratified archetype refined over centuries, a messenger from ancient times expressed in one of the most beautiful forms of human expression: a living musical entity. The quality of the folk song as a musical whole has passed the most relevant criterion—time measured in centuries, during which only what is universal and genuinely human survives and endures.

Writer and composer Miloje Milojević described the songs sung by Montenegrins as having a very primitive structure but not lacking unique content and expression. To the contrary, he found them full of emerging pristine power—an expression of a person speaking directly from themselves, a rawness so genuine, slightly wild, musically achieved in a rudimentary way, yet pure and unalloyed. The singing found in Montenegro today is undoubtedly among the oldest in Europe. One of its primary features is its exceptional autochthony. Despite urbanisation and the conditions of modern life and thought penetrating every area of Montenegro, folk music creativity continues to resist the pressures of modernization. This region can be considered a rare reservation of songs, most of which originated as early as the age of paganism.

Montenegrin folk singing belongs to the South Dinaric singing area, characterized by monophony, narrow ambitus melodies, epic singing accompanied by one-string fiddles, and rites dominated by pure lyricism.

From a pedagogical perspective, beginning music education with folk singing represents a justified and scientifically grounded approach that forms the foundation for further development.

Singing carries a motivational element as well — it overcomes resistance to abstract and dry musical terminology (Drobni, 2005, p. 125). Since a child learns to read and write by acquiring native speech in its immediate environment (Stojanović, 2001), the acquisition of musical knowledge logically begins after learning the native melody through folk songs. Psychologists believe that “music experiences in a particular culture make one closer to a melodic idiom typical for that culture, which leads to noticing certain structural features that form a melody as a whole” (Mirković Radoš, 1996, p. 15). Based on these features, other tone systems characteristic of different music cultures are then learned (Stojanović, 2001).

The most typical singing in Montenegro is undoubtedly that accompanied by fiddles. Montenegrin people expressed and lived their entire spiritual life through epic decasyllabic verse — through fiddling. The Montenegrin fiddler is the last living rhapsodist in Europe. Yet we often tend to label this music “monotonous” and “primitive,” which is fundamentally untrue. This is confirmed by German musicologist Becking, who states that “for the epic goal and content it aims at, this music is, in both technical and artistic terms, highly perfect and adequate.” Wunsch shares this opinion, noting that “the fiddle note system, along with the playing technique, is about a thousand years old … and in artistic terms perfectly fits the intentions of a heroic-epic expression” (Wunsch, 1934, p. 32). According to Hercigonja, the Montenegrin fiddler is to a certain extent similar to Gregorian psalmody — “vere dignum et justum est…” (Hercigonja, 1952; Marjanović, 2002, p. 11).

Children should be introduced to the means of folk music expression as early as school age. Chronologically, these means included song, play, dance, and typical actions integrated into the syncretic whole of ancient folk expression modes — rites. At the foundation of all folk expressions lies a musical archetype: an “imprinted form” that has always existed within our spirits. Like all archetypes, the musical archetype is genetically inherited and represents a universal pattern not only of musical thinking but also of perception, feeling, and behavior. Archetypes are innate and invisible frameworks of all experience, manifested in the form of emotionally charged symbolic pictures.

To understand how folk song, play, and dance shape identity and correspond with other identities, one must define the basic formula of folk music expression, isolate the constant, and grasp the “creative power of the formula” (Dizdarević-Krnjević, 1997, p. 138). The formula represents generally fixed places that, through the principle of repetition, acquire a typically national and universal character. It is typically national because it carries the essence of folk music expression, and universal because it arises from ethnographic forms that meet general human needs. Music lessons should instill in children the desire to know their country’s musical folklore, to cherish and preserve such musical practice, and to maintain and continuously implement it. “When a man who grows out of folklore – into a different culture – is deprived of folklore, he is deprived of soul, ethics, and aesthetics – and nothing can replace that. The folklore content usually vanishes, and the life juice with it” (Hercigonja, 1953, quoted by Marjanović, 2002, p. 11).

Music is transposed through numerous forms of identity: from the archetypal foundation based on musical tradition to everyday musical experiences that define us culturally, psychologically, and sociologically. As part of national identity, music purifies the specifics of a particular ethnos. When interpreting the connections between music and identity, one must not forget the possibilities music offers as a medium — to know and accept the other and the different through creative musical dialogue. World music, stemming from the global ethno-musicological heritage, has contributed to cultural linkage worldwide. As a multiethnic country, Montenegro can similarly develop more intensive cultural dialogue. The music of its ethnic groups should be part of intercultural communication, opening ethnocentric circles. In this way, music becomes a constructive part of Montenegrin multicultural identity.