Hi all,
Over the weekend I presented to students and therapists at Indiana Purdue University. Part of the discussion revolved around music being a domain of its own. This is a topic that my colleague, Dr Brian Abrams and I, chat about quite often. (As a matter of fact, Dr. Abrams will be discussing this at his upcoming talk at St. Mary of the Woods this coming weekend). Would you agree that when a client is engaged in a musical experience, with his/her therapist, that it is the experience of playing music that crosses into all conventional domain areas (e.g., social, emotional, physical, cognitive, etc.)? If we agree that this is true, then why is it that on most music therapy assessments is music either a) stated as a separate area?, b) not listed as a domain area?, or c) not listed at all (except to write the client’s musical preferences). If the experience of making music does in fact cross into all other conventional domain areas, should music simply BE the domain that the Music Therapist is assessing and working with? It would be great to hear from others regarding this subject.
Best,
John
YOU CAN ALSO JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE FACEBOOK: IMCAP-ND (MUSIC THERAPY ASSESSMENT)
I’ll bite.
If we consider each domain as separate from the other (categorical data), then we could argue that the music experience is a distinct domain. However, if the domains are not discrete factors then, I think, music becomes one way to express the interactions of all these domains, which are all factors in what it means to be human. While the scientific method (i.e. quantitative methodologies) strongly favors a reductionistic perspective, the breadth and depth of qualitative research suggests to me that we must be open to the fullness of our experiences whether they are musical or otherwise.
I think the question can then be framed with this. As a music therapist can we draw information from the music experience in such a way that we aid our clients in better meeting the full range of their physical, psychological, social, etc. needs and also tap into their strengths as tools they may then use in new ways.
I think there is also the parallel issue of what element of music is it that elicits the many changes and growth we see in our clients, the melody, the rhythm, timbre, etc. And, the role of the therapist (probably a separate discussion).
That’s a start. Looking forward to others thoughts and comments.
Hey John, Thanks for “biting!” – appreciate your post.
Best,
John
My disclaimer: I am not a music therapist but I use music whenever possible in my work caring for young children. Challenging to do when working in a daycare type environment but most effective in a one-on-one situation in the child’s home or my own.
Now to my response to John Foley (With apologies. I started this a week ago before going on vacation)
“…the melody, the rhythm, timbre, etc.”? All of the above. Keeping it simple I used music from infancy last year with my newborn granddaughter, born in April. She was ‘incarcerated and swaddled’ in the NICU for five days at three days of age – causing extremely stressed parents, a very anxious mother who wanted to breastfeed her newborn (because of the benefits in protecting her from breast cancer from which her grandmother died) and surrounded by extreme noise – beep, buzzers and crying babies. What to do? I sat in the rocking chair holding baby Emma over my heart and began to hum a tune (not the one I’d planned to be ‘her’ song with me) that her dad’s barbershop harmony chorus sings so movingly – Lucky Old Sun.
I know it calmed her in the few times her mother was absent and it has remained ‘our’ song for the past 10 months – less necessary now that she is thriving in her parents’ at home care and surrounded with Dad’s music on a daily basis – but the song still comes in useful on occasion.
More recently we have another tune – a truly crazy English nonsense song by The Goons (Peter Sellers, of Pink Panther fame, began performing with The Goons on British radio in the 1950s) – The Ying Tong Song. Emma immediately calms, her body slows down when on the changing table, and she looks at me. Not laughing as usual, just listening to her crazy English grandma singing!
Music is whole body and we don’t know which facet or what genre will captivate a child, especially those who are desperately anxious in their first year of life. In my work I use made up songs personalized to fit a child or the current situation, songs that just pop out of my head – some children’s songs from my childhood, crazy comedic songs that I recall (see above), or if push comes to shove CDs that some anxious young children are ‘addicted’ to (like Disney tunes) due, in my opinion, to excessive and repetitive DVD watching.
Could there be a correlation between their anxiety and excessive DVD watching, albeit musicals? I think so. However, when the music alone is selectively used it has greater purpose and I find it to have a repairable effect on every child, in all domains.
Thanks for your thoughts, Helen.
Best,
John