Pamela Burnard is an internationally recognised academic whose name has become synonymous with matters of ‘musical creativity’ or, as she argues here, ‘creativities’. Burnard's writing to date serves as a substantial platform for Musical Creativities in Practice, reflecting her longstanding interest and rounded understanding of this subject matter. In the past, she has written both on the creative processes of composition and improvisation (e.g. Burnard, Reference BURNARD1999, Reference BURNARD2000, Reference BURNARD2002; Burnard & Younker, Reference BURNARD and YOUNKER2002) and musical creativity itself (Burnard, Reference BURNARD2006a, Reference BURNARD and McPherson2006b, Reference BURNARD, Finney and Burnard2007, Reference BURNARD and Odena2011; Burnard & White, Reference BURNARD and WHITE2008). It is no surprise, then, that Musical Creativities is a well-crafted book.

Part 1, ‘The field of music’, takes a historical tour of the concept of musical creativity, both looking at conceptions and scrutinising myths. The author debunks the Romantic stereotype of creators as individual geniuses here. She also outlines her perspective on the dilemmas surrounding the study of creativity:

In order to frame multiple ‘creativities’, which she does very effectively, Burnard utilises Pierre Bourdieu's (1930–2002) philosophical tools of ‘habitus’, ‘field’ and ‘capital’ to expose and explain differences between genres. The notion of ‘field’ connotes a ‘separate social universe having its own laws of functioning’ (Bourdieu, Reference BOURDIEU1993) whereas ‘habitus’ is ‘a compilation of collective and individual trajectories (relating to aims and orientations, tastes, and desires)’ (p. 45 of this review book). Habitus produces creative capital (for some musicians, writes Burnard, examples might be the building of a catalogue of widely-distributed albums, the acquisition of status through high-volume record sales, or successful world tours); such capital constitutes advantage and disadvantage in society (p. 273). Burnard argues:

While there is academic rigour provided by her theoretical underpinnings, the premises upon which the book rests (and Bourdieu's ideas) may seem rather esoteric to the layperson. I suspect the book will largely be enjoyed by an academic audience or more thoughtful reader.

Part 2, ‘Narratives of practice’, introduces: originals bands and their members (e.g. Australian guitarist Steve MacKay, pianist and vocalist Leah Kardos and Scottish bass player Adam Scott); singer-songwriters (Pippa Andrew and Roshi Nasehi); and DJs (Jazzie B, founder of Soul II Soul, Rob Paterson and the Taiwanese XUAN Liu). It then moves onto composed and improvised music and interactive audio design. This is a detailed exploration of real-world, contemporary music-making illustrating an array of musical creativities. As Burnard explains ‘Sometimes their work resists easy classification in any one sector or particular industry’ so we must ‘. . . pay attention to how [they] . . . think, act, and create; to understand what their practices are grounded in; and on what capital the processes and principles of their practices operate’ (p. 3). This is rich, fertile ground, complicated to navigate, yet the author traverses it extremely well. No doubt, research students in universities will also be fascinated to read Appendix A, which outlines and reflects upon the research methods employed.

Part 3, ‘The field of music education’, turns to teaching and learning. Readers might note the high potential to sidestep practical implications for education, the ever-important ‘So what?’ with a subject matter like this, through sheer theorising and academic voyeurism in relation to industry musicians’ narratives. However, Burnard does not fall into that trap at all. She operationalises an expanded concept of musical creativity in relation to, for instance, the internet and e-learning. She also offers practical advice in this part of the book for enabling a spectrum of musical creativities with students (p. 261). How learners might be engaged through discussion and reflection are mentioned here, in tandem with the place of ‘. . . industrial experience in practices of musical creativities in the curriculum areas in which educational change can be vigorously pursued’ (p. 261). As she rightly observes, though, there are immense challenges ahead, not least valuing creativities in personally relevant and culturally specific ways, and involving teachers both as subjects and agents in the educational process. This will be an extremely useful book for undergraduate students, or those involved with music education scholarship at higher levels, then, alongside works like Musical Imaginations: Perspectives on Creativity, Performance and Perception (Hargreaves et al., Reference HARGREAVES, MIELL and MACDONALD2011), which also considers education, or Musical Creativity: Multidisciplinary Research in Theory and Practice (Deliège & Wiggins, Reference DELIÈGE and WIGGINS2006).

Creativity is such a powerful ingredient in all music-making: Musical Creativities in Practice is a detailed examination written by a seasoned expert in beautiful prose, which draws on compelling narrative material and takes a meticulous theoretical position. It is a well-structured work, too, but does require deep cogitation from the reader. Those wanting to turn directly to creativity and primary teaching (specifically) might first read Teaching Music Creatively (Burnard & Murphy, Reference BURNARD and MURPHY2013). Nonetheless, depth and expertise must never be criticised and, as such, Musical Creativities comes highly recommended as a major contribution to scholarship in this arena.