“The Pause That Follows”..

Abstract

While music therapists work with sound and silence, there has been a focus on writing and researching about sound only. This essay attempts to redress this balance. It is based on an aspect of recent doctorate research that asked the question «is free musical improvisation a form of conversation ?» The research used detailed analyses of free improvised duets that were informed by the work of conversation analysts, and showed that many devices enabling conversations to take place were also heard in free improvised music. Given that current British Music Therapy grew out of a free improvising tradition, these findings have repercussions for clinical practice. In particular, a case is made for different ways of thinking about and listening to silences in the therapy room.

Keywords: Silence, Free musical improvisation, Clinical improvisation, Conversation.