Why that instrument? A bibliographic study of the reasons instruments are chosen by music therapy clients

ABSTRACT

Music therapy clients’ musical instrument choices and their underlying reasoning can be very useful in understanding the client’s inner world. To shed light on this subject, we conducted a bibliographic study in which we surveyed four leading music therapy journals (British Journal of Music Therapy, Journal of Music Therapy, Music Therapy Perspectives, and Nordic Journal of Music Therapy) and leading music therapy books that contain case studies and clinical vignettes. Fifty-three examples were found where the client explicitly chose an instrument and the choice was explicitly interpreted by the client or the music therapist. An analysis of these examples revealed two dimensions by which instrumental choices are made: (1) The way the instrument is used (sensorially or symbolically); and (2) The attributes of the instrument (its sound, shape, or bodily action made when interacting with the instrument). The findings are discussed in light of existing music therapy theories. Recommendations for further studies are suggested.

KEYWORDS:

• Music therapy
• musical instruments
• symbolism
• bibliographic study
• psychological development

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed from https://doi.org/10.1080/08098131.2016.1272625

Notes

¹ It is important to note that the line of thought suggested in this article is related to music therapy approaches that support a musical setting with various instruments from which the client can choose. Therefore, the generalizations made in this article are not relevant to approaches such as GIM, which relies mostly on receptive music, and Neuro-assessment sessions, where choice of instruments is not central.

² Also known as bibliographical research or bibliographical analysis.

³ “Research credibility” is applied in qualitative research to assure that the analysis and the interpretation of the data are not skewed toward the personal views of the researcher. There are several ways to do this, one of which was applied in the present study, where peers review and analyze the data separately, and then discuss differences of interpretation and eventually come to equal terms.

⁴ A built in bias should be noted: Case material that is analyzed here was initially written by the music therapists who then provided their account of what their clients did, how they chose one instrument or the other, and what reason they gave for this choice. Therefore, take caution when reading the findings and remember that it was the music therapists' perception of what happened in the room rather than what actually might have happened there “in reality”.

⁵ It is important to stress that in this category we refer not only to the conventional ways in which instruments are played (e.g. pressing the piano keys with the fingers) but also to many other ways in which clients choose to use the instrument (e.g. hiding underneath the piano, using fists to play on the keys, using the piano as a stand for other instruments, etc.).

⁶ Note that other attributes of the instruments, such as the material it is made of (e.g. wood, metal, plastic) and the tactile experience it gives (e.g. dry, wet, cold, hot) are possible categories in this dimension. However, no such examples were found in the 53 cases in this study.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Avi Gilboa

Dr. Avi Gilboa is a music therapist experienced working with autistic children, hospitalized children, and children with ADHD. He is currently head of the music department and head of the music therapy program at Bar-Ilan University and head of the Music Therapy program at the Haredi College for the Ultra-Orthodox in Jerusalem, Israel. His fields of research include theoretical and clinical issues in music therapy, and social aspects of music. E-mail address: [email protected]

Yael Almog

Yael Almog is a music therapist experienced with children and adolescents with communication disorders, emotional difficulties, post trauma, and other psychological difficulties. Her clinical orientation is psychodynamic and she works at the pediatric psychiatric unit at Tel-Hashomer Hospital and at her private clinic. Yael completed her MA thesis at Bar-Ilan University. E-mail address: [email protected]