The connection between words and music in music therapy improvisation: An examination of a therapist's method.

摘要

This study examines the relationship between lyrics and music in improvised songs that were created in music therapy. The material was drawn from the therapy process of a woman who came to music therapy as a result of being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. I served as both researcher and therapist. The research framework that provides the context for the study is naturalistic inquiry (Lincoln and Guba, 1985) and the clinical framework that provides the context for the therapy process is Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy (Nordoff and Robbins, 1977).;The study builds on the current literature regarding Nordoff-Robbins music therapy in several ways. It addresses the dearth of literature regarding adult work and psychological processes. It addresses directly the interaction between music and words, something that has not been extensively written about. And it sheds further light on the shared mutual process of song formation---words and music---between therapist and client, with special focus on the musical directions that emerge within the process of improvisation and how these can result in music that has clinical significance and benefit for the client. I present my ideas regarding the process of creating improvised songs and explain how this process is a form of transformative music psychotherapy (Bruscia 1998).