1 Musical Language of Loneliness: Narratives in Aesthetic Education and Arts-Based Inquiry

I write about a redefinition of traditional music education as both the learner and the educator examine their language of aesthetic expression. In narratives both characters enter into a relational discourse about their perception of musical meaning, their relationship with musical discourse and their reflections through the process of arts-based inquiry. The student musician demonstrates the process of arts-based inquiry by incorporating metaphor into the musical experience: the body becomes metaphor for movement and sound as expressed in the lived experience of swimming and flute playing. There is poetry, photography and sounds of swimming, breathing and improvisation. I begin with the student musician who is speaking in the first person