The Song Circle

A Community Music Practice in Contexts of Social Exclusion

Abstract

This essay analyzes the Song Circle (Rueda de canciones), a community music device implemented in social inclusion contexts in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Conceiving music as a social and relational practice, it proposes a shift from a performative logic toward a participatory approach, in which musical experience operates as a space for encounter and the building of social bonds. Drawing on a qualitative methodology based on participant observation and field records, it describes the conditions for the device’s implementation and its relational effects among populations affected by social vulnerability and high group turnover. The essay concludes that, through simple structures and flexible, group-oriented facilitation, music can operate as a powerful relational resource —without clinical or therapeutic aims— that enables participation, the emergence of speech, and a sense of belonging.