The Role of Improvisation within Music Therapy

Investigation into the role of improvisation within the discipline of music therapy is achieved through academic research, interviews with performers and music therapy clinicians, and the examination of a case study of a seven year old boy with multiple impairments forms the basis of this study.
Musical examples based upon this research are offered as working models where the application of improvisation can be applied.

Contrasting the use of improvisation within performance, and the benefits of creative music within the health care environment, with the application of music therapy and its particular aims and goals is used in defining what music therapy is.

An investigation into the therapeutic application of music within the therapy environment, and psycho-dynamic principles, are used to clarify music therapy’s position within the health care system.

Examples of how improvisation can be applied are offered, detailing how improvisation can be used to develop an atmosphere of trust and exploration, leading to and developing an interpersonal relationship between client and clinician. Investigating these clearly shows that the needs of the client are central to this relationship.

Music therapy is the analytically informed, and evidence based use of music within the therapeutic environment to produce clinical goals, and clinical aims, that are centered on the needs of the client. This investigative research fully supports this premise.