So, there is a gap between the teaching on UK music therapy training courses that accept and train students whose first-study instrument could be any orchestral instrument, the clinical practice where a wide range of instruments are being used, and the existing literature regarding these instruments in music therapy. This book attempts to bridge that gap.
Clients will have a different experience if they are faced with a violin, a tuba or a concert harp, for example. Some music therapists may use their instrument in all sessions, others may only use it with specific clients, or at specific times. Improvisation will be slightly different on each instrument, depending on the tessitura, tone colour and harmonic possibilities. In this book the three editors seek to address these issues by asking practising music therapists to write about their experience of using their first instrument in music therapy sessions. Authors reflect on their own relationship with their instrument, their own love of the instrument, the different ways they use it and what they see as the advantages and disadvantages of that instrument in music therapy. Authors have chosen to write in different ways and some chapters have emphasised some aspects more than others. The editors have chosen to maintain this diversity rather than attempt to standardise the structure of each chapter. Nevertheless, each of the chapters starts with an overview of the instrument itself (which varies in length and detail), includes a number of case vignettes and concludes with a section outlining the characteristics of the instrument in clinical music therapy practice. All the authors have obtained permission from clients to write about the work and publish photographs. Names and details have been changed to maintain confidentiality.
Over 50 music therapists have written for this book. Nearly all the contributors have written about their first instrument, although a few, such as Tomlinson (flute) and Derrington (trumpet), write about instruments they do not consider to be the one they are most expert at, and a few music therapists are equally proficient on several instruments. Most of the authors are from the UK but there are also authors from the USA, Italy, Slovenia, Cyprus and Norway. When looking for contributions the editors found it relatively easy to locate music therapists using popular instruments such as the violin, the flute and the clarinet. It was harder to find double bass players and brass players and the editors were not able to find French horn playing music therapists, although, in the concluding chapter, when I write about training music therapy students, I have included a letter that one of the students wrote to her French horn. I am very grateful to Caroline Swinburne for allowing me to publish this letter and pleased to report that she has now been practising as a music therapist for over a year, and regularly uses her French horn in her work.
The editors decided to include all orchestral instruments as well as harp and guitar. We also included the accordion because this instrument is used by a number of music therapists but has not been written about very much in the past. However, we did not include percussion, keyboard or voice as these instruments have been written about more extensively in the music therapy literature. The same could be said about the guitar, but we felt that most of the literature mentions the use of the guitar as an accompanying instrument rather than as a melodic instrument, so it was worth including a chapter exploring the use of the guitar in its own right. Because of the problems of space it was decided not to include the steel pans, the hang, or instruments from other countries such as the Indonesian Gamelan, the Chinese harp or the erhu. Perhaps a future book could be devoted to the use of these instruments in music therapy.
Since the emphasis in this book is on the use of the music therapist’s own instrument in clinical settings, the work described here is all improvisational music therapy where live music is created by the therapist to engage, support or aid the client in some way. The use of recordings of different instruments in music therapy, or of other receptive music therapy methods, has not been documented in this book. Again this might be a topic for a future publication.
In each of the chapters, the editors have tried to ensure that case studies in different clinical areas have been included, such as work with children and adolescents, adults with learning disabilities, adult psychiatry and work with the elderly.
The use of the voice, the piano and percussion has been explored and written about in the music therapy literature. However, no previous book has examined how therapists use other specific instruments. This book will be of interest to music therapists, student music therapists, music therapy educators and anyone interested in music therapy, including healthcare professionals, teachers and parents. More generally, it will be relevant to those who are intrigued by the unique qualities of particular musical instruments.
References
Alvin, J. (1966) Music Therapy. London, UK: Stainer and Bell.
Bright, R. (1993) ‘Cultural Aspects of Music in Therapy.’ In M. Heal and T. Wigram (eds) Music Therapy in Health and Education. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Bunt, L., and Hoskyns, S. (2002) The Handbook of Music Therapy. Hove, UK: Brunner-Routledge.
Carpente, J. (2011) ‘Addressing Core Features of Autism: Integrating Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy within the Developmental Individual Difference.’ In T. Meadows (ed.) Developments in Music Therapy Practice: Case Examples. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Darnley-Smith, R. and Patey, H. (2003) Music Therapy. London, UK: Sage.
Erkkilä, J. (2011) ‘Punker, Bass Girls and Dingo-man: Perspectives on Adolescents’ Music Therapy.’ In T. Meadows (ed.) Developments in Music Therapy Practice: Case Examples. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Fever, J. (2012) The Use of the Hang in Music Therapy. Unpublished MA thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.
Fouche, S. and Torrance, K. (2011) ‘Crossing the Divide: Exploring Identities within Communities Fragmented by Gang Violence.’ In T. Meadows (ed.) Developments in Music Therapy Practice: Case Examples. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Glynn, J. (2011) An Exploration of the Steel-pan in Music Therapy. Unpublished MA thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.
Haire, N. and Oldfield, A. (2009) ‘Adding humour to the music therapist’s tool-kit: Reflections on its role in child psychiatry.’ British Journal of Music Therapy 23, 1, 27–34.
Lo, F.S.Y. (2011) The Use of the Harp in Music Therapy. Unpublished MA thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.
Loombe, D. (2009) The Use of Piano Accordion in Music Therapy: A Qualitative Study and Critical Analysis of My Own Case Work. Unpublished MA thesis, Anglia Ruskin University.
McTier, I. (2012) ‘Music Therapy in a Special School for Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Focusing Particularly on the Use of the Double Bass.’ In J. Tomlinson, P. Derrington and A. Oldfield (eds) Music Therapy in Schools: Working with Children of All Ages in Mainstream and Special Education. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Meadows, T. (ed.) (2011) Developments in Music Therapy Practice: Case Examples. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Nordoff, P. and Robbins, C. (1971) Therapy in Music for Handicapped Children. London, UK: Victor Gollancz.
Nordoff, P. and Robbins, C. (2007) Creative Music Therapy: A Guide to Fostering Clinical Musicianship (2nd edition). Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Oldfield, A. (2006) Interactive Music Therapy, A Positive Approach: Music Therapy at a Child Development Centre. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Oldfield, A. (2011) ‘Exploring Issues of Control through Interactive Improvised Music Making.’ In T. Meadows (ed.) Developments in Music Therapy Practice: Case Examples. Gilsum, NH: Barcelona Publishers.
Oldfield, A. and Flower, C. (eds) (2008) Music Therapy with Children and Their Families.. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Powell, H. (2004) ‘A Dream Wedding: From Community Music to Music Therapy with a Community.’ In M. Pavlicevic and G. Ansdell (eds) Community Music Therapy.. London, UK: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Roe, N. (2011) An Exploration of the Use of the Therapist’s First Instrument: The Experience of Interaction and Emotion in Music Therapy Focussing upon the Violin. Unpublished MA thesis, Anglia