The Concept of Music in Music Therapy

Journal/Book: Musiktherapeutische Umschau. 1984; 5: STUTTGART. G. Fischer Verlag. 295-305.

Abstract: Many scientific studies of musical phenomena concentrate exclusively on the physiological, mental or social effects of music on man. There has been little research do far into the specific "logic" of music itself, as manifested for example in the process of music-making (improvisation). The author attempts to go into this question more closely. After a schematic presentation of the meaning of music in various music therapy approaches, the author develops a theory in which music is regarded as a form of symbolic interaction. Consulting the work of ALFRED LORENZER, music's frequently cited ambivalence is theoretically deduced and its functions explained. Musical improvisation - the preferred medium of many music therapist but often experienced by music teachers as "chaos" - can also ne understood as symbolic interaction made audilbe, an "intermediate world" with double meaning. This approach could have reciprocal consequences in several directions. ABSTRACT TRUNCATED

Keyword(s): Improvisation, music-therapy-approaches, symbolic-modes-of-expression, reciprocal-consequences.

Zurück | Weiter