tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/music-therapy-8126/articlesMusic therapy – The Conversation2024-02-28T16:52:42Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2216302024-02-28T16:52:42Z2024-02-28T16:52:42ZMusic therapy could help manage the pain of bereavement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576549/original/file-20240219-23-d4z3wf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C47%2C7892%2C5249&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/seniors-nursing-home-making-music-rhythm-1513123493">Kzenon/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Grief has always inspired songwriters. Popular songs including Let Me Go, by Gary Barlow, Eric Clapton’s Tears in Heaven and The Living Years by Mike and the Mechanics, were all written as a way of working through the grief of losing a loved one. </p>
<p><a href="https://youtube.com/shorts/vYrJwka114o?feature=shared">Tears in Heaven</a> deals with the sudden loss of Clapton’s four-year-old son. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/jan/25/mike-rutherford-precious-living-years-father">The Living Years</a> addresses the songwriters’ mutual regrets over disagreements with their fathers while they were alive. </p>
<p>The songs are as poignant and heartrending as you might expect from something written about close family bereavement.</p>
<p>Barlow’s Let Me Go, however, is a remarkably upbeat and joyful record, written from the perspective of the pop star’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gary-barlow-dawn-poppy-stillbirth-b2159067.html">stillborn daughter, Poppy</a>. </p>
<p>Barlow <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/when-corden-met-barlow-gary-barlow-speaks-in-depth-about-his-stillborn-daughter-for-the-first-time-9325750.html">has said</a> that writing the song in the voice of his daughter helped keep her memory alive and offered an opportunity for celebration as well as grief. </p>
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<p>But you don’t have to be a famous musician for music to play a role in helping you to work through grief. </p>
<h2>Music helps communicate the unspeakable</h2>
<p>Music can help people cope with grief in <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00302228221121490?icid=int.sj-abstract.citing-articles.3">a variety of ways</a>. It can help create connection with a deceased loved one. It can help those grieving to explore spirituality (hope and meaning in life) and deal with challenging emotions. Many people have an <a href="https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/talkabout/articles/songs-that-helped-me-through-grief/292607">intimate connection to the songs</a> that have helped them through bereavement.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bamt.org/music-therapy">Music therapy</a> harnesses people’s innate connection to music as a means of expression. The therapy helps them communicate and deal with emotions that might otherwise be overwhelming, painful and hard to put into words. </p>
<p>The therapy is conducted by a professionally trained music therapist, using activities like singing, playing instruments, writing lyrics or listening to music to help patients and their loved ones navigate end-of-life and bereavement. This could include helping to improve communication and intimacy between the patient and loved ones, aiding spiritual exploration or even managing physical pain and symptoms. </p>
<p>Music therapy boasts a rich history in end-of-life care, supported by a growing body of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0269216316635387">academic evidence</a>. </p>
<p>As part of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12904-017-0253-5">our previous research</a>, we offered music therapy to people with life-limiting illnesses, such as terminal cancer, in hospice care. The research suggested that music therapy may not only be of benefit to patients, but also to their loved ones. Music can evoke positive memories and allows a depth of communication that can’t always be achieved through words. </p>
<p>Music therapy at end of life, then, can help provide a more comforting environment to say goodbye to a loved one and helps create a unique, lasting memory to hold onto after they die.</p>
<p>It is <a href="https://spcare.bmj.com/content/early/2018/02/22/bmjspcare-2018-001510?versioned=true">common</a> for music therapists working in end-of-life care settings to include the person’s loved ones in their therapeutic practice. This suggests there is demand and recognised value in music therapy as a support for people both before and after the death of their loved one. But what does the evidence tell us? </p>
<h2>Preventing prolonged grief disorder</h2>
<p>Along with our colleagues, we conducted <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-024-01364-z/metrics">a systematic review</a> to identify all the research published worldwide on music therapy with loved ones of people with life-limiting illness, before and after death. </p>
<p>We discovered a total of 34 studies, which used music therapy in different ways. For example, by supporting people with life-limiting illness and their loved ones within the same session or by bringing groups of loved ones together. We found that no conclusions could be made on the effectiveness of music therapy as a form of bereavement support, as there was a lack of high-quality trials.</p>
<p>However, rich accounts of people’s experiences of music therapy provided insight into how it can influence the ability to cope with grief and improve quality of life and <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-020-0532-4">mental wellbeing</a>. </p>
<p>Music therapy also seemed to protect against prolonged grief disorder or <a href="https://www.cruse.org.uk/understanding-grief/effects-of-grief/complicated-grief/">complicated grief</a> (when someone experiences debilitating long-term emotional distress after a bereavement). Family and loved ones of people with life-limiting illness shared how music therapy helped reduce depression, anxiety, family conflict, poor perceived social support, difficulty accepting loss, and difficulty accessing positive memories – all of which are warning signs of complicated grief</p>
<p>Our research review showed that group singing “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02682621.2018.1493646">fostered feelings of</a> connection, awareness, and support”. Other studies with loved ones also shared insights into how music therapy helped them prepare for the loss of their loved one, and increased their <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-022-01116-x">spirituality</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-020-0532-4">care industry is increasingly</a> seeing the importance of social connections when it comes to supporting the grieving process. This is especially important in a <a href="https://www.ageing.ox.ac.uk/blog/Resocializing-Social-connectedness-in-a-post-pandemic-world%20">post-pandemic world</a> where the risk factors for complicated grief such as depression, anxiety and poor perceived social support have been heightened through severing of personal relationships and community groups.</p>
<p>A report by The World Health Organization recently suggested that the <a href="https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289054553">arts can help improve health and wellbeing</a> by addressing complex problems, such as prolonged grief, which are resistant to other more conventional treatments. This suggests there may be an important role for music therapy in bereavement support.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221630/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research suggests that music therapy can help support people before and after a loved one’s death.Lisa Graham-Wisener, Lecturer of Health Psychology, Queen's University BelfastTracey McConnell, Marie Curie Senior Research Fellow , Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2149242023-11-14T16:33:17Z2023-11-14T16:33:17ZHow music heals us, even when it’s sad – by a neuroscientist leading a new study of musical therapy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557134/original/file-20231101-27-vcga1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C152%2C5998%2C3677&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/music-activates-brain-listening-playing-stimulates-1353984893">Sangoiri/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><blockquote>
<p>When I hear Shania Twain’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNZH-emehxA">You’re Still The One</a>, it takes me back to when I was 15, playing on my Dad’s PC. I was tidying up the mess after he had tried to [take his own life]. He’d been listening to her album, and I played it as I tidied up. Whenever I hear the song, I’m taken back – the sadness and anger comes flooding back.</p>
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<p>There is a renewed fascination with the healing powers of music. This resurgence can primarily be attributed to recent breakthroughs in neuroscientific research, which have substantiated music’s therapeutic properties such as emotional regulation and brain re-engagement. This has led to a <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10560-022-00893-x">growing integration</a> of music therapy with conventional mental health treatments.</p>
<p>Such musical interventions have already been shown to help people with <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/f42a82f350c32a106111ca17ac5db5fe/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=37213">cancer</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29149141/">chronic pain</a> and <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15401383.2012.685020">depression</a>. The debilitating consequences of stress, such as elevated blood pressure and muscle tension, can also be <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2020.1846580">alleviated through the power of music</a>.</p>
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<p><em>Across the world, we’re seeing unprecedented levels of mental illness at all ages, from children to the very old – with huge costs to families, communities and economies. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/tackling-the-mental-health-crisis-147216?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=ArticleTop&utm_campaign=MentalHealthSeries">In this series</a>, we investigate what’s causing this crisis, and report on the latest research to improve people’s mental health at all stages of life.</em></p>
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<p>As both a longtime music fan and neuroscientist, I believe music has a special status among all the arts in terms of the breadth and depth of its impact on people. One critical aspect is its powers of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166432821005222">autobiographical memory retrieval</a> – encouraging often highly personal recollections of past experiences. We can all recount an instance where a tune transports us back in time, rekindling recollections and often imbuing them with a range of powerful emotions.</p>
<p>But enhanced recollection can also occur in dementia patients, for whom the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/sep/20/a-moment-that-changed-me-i-played-my-way-to-people-with-dementia-the-effect-was-magic">transformative impact of music therapy</a> sometimes opens a floodgate of memories – from cherished childhood experiences and the aromas and tastes of a mother’s kitchen, to lazy summer afternoons spent with family or the atmosphere and energy of a music festival.</p>
<p>One remarkable example is a widely shared <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT_tW3EVDK8">video</a> made by the <a href="https://musicaparadespertar.com/">Asociación Música para Despertar</a>, which is thought to feature the Spanish-Cuban ballerina Martha González Saldaña (though there has been <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/11/10/933387878/struck-with-memory-loss-a-dancer-remembers-swan-lake-but-who-is-she">some controversy</a> about her identity). The music of Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky appears to reactivate cherished memories and even motor responses in this former prima ballerina, who is moved to rehearse some of her former dance motions on camera.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake appears to reactivate long-unused motor responses in this former ballerina.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In our laboratory at Northumbria University, we aim to harness these recent neuroscience advances to deepen our understanding of the intricate connection between music, the brain and mental wellbeing. We want to answer specific questions such as why <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpain.2023.1210572/full">sad or bittersweet music</a> plays a unique therapeutic role for some people, and which parts of the brain it “touches” compared with happier compositions.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1053811919301284?via%3Dihub">Advanced research tools</a> such as high-density electroencephalogram (EEG) monitors enable us to record how the brain regions “talk” to each other in real-time as someone listens to a song or symphony. These regions are stimulated by different aspects of the music, from its emotional content to its melodic structure, its lyrics to its rhythmic patterns.</p>
<p>Of course, everyone’s response to music is deeply personal, so our research also necessitates getting our study participants to describe how a particular piece of music makes them feel – including its ability to encourage profound introspection and evoke meaningful memories.</p>
<p>Ludwig van Beethoven once proclaimed: “Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind, but which mankind cannot comprehend.” With the help of neuroscience, we hope to help change that.</p>
<h2>A brief history of music therapy</h2>
<p>Music’s ancient origins predate aspects of language and rational thinking. Its roots can be traced back to the Paleolithic Era more than 10,000 years ago, when early humans used it for communication and emotional expression. <a href="https://news.cnrs.fr/articles/the-sound-of-palaeolithic-music">Archaeological finds</a> include ancient bone flutes and percussion instruments made from bones and stones, as well as markings noting the <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080704130439.htm">most accoustically resonant place within a cave</a> and even <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-music-of-an-ancient-rock-painting-was-brought-to-life-185475">paintings depicting musical gatherings</a>.</p>
<p>Music in the subsequent Neolithic Era went through <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-archaeology-tells-us-about-the-music-and-sounds-made-by-africas-ancestors-143809">significant development</a> within permanent settlements across the world. Excavations have revealed various musical instruments including harps and complex percussion instruments, highlighting music’s growing importance in religious ceremonies and social gatherings during this period – alongside the emergence of rudimentary forms of music notation, evident in <a href="https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2022/04/music-ancient-mesopotamia">clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia</a> in western Asia.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Four prehistoric musical instruments" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557113/original/file-20231101-21-el7lrd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Prehistoric musical instruments.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Musical_instruments_of_prehistory.jpg">Musée d'Archéologie Nationale/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>Ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle both recognised music’s central role in the human experience. Plato outlined the power of music as a pleasurable and healing stimulus, stating: “Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination.” More practically, Aristotle suggested that: “Music has the power of forming the character, and should therefore be introduced into the education of the young.”</p>
<p>Throughout history, many cultures have embraced the healing powers of music. Ancient Egyptians incorporated music into their religious ceremonies, considering it a therapeutic force. Native American tribes, such as the Navajo, used music and dance in their healing rituals, relying on drumming and chanting to promote physical and spiritual wellbeing. In traditional Chinese medicine, specific musical tones and rhythms were believed to balance the body’s energy (qi) and enhance health. </p>
<p>During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Christian church was pivotal in popularising “music for the masses”. Congregational hymn singing allowed worshippers to engage in communal music during church services. This shared musical expression was a powerful medium for religious devotion and teaching, bridging the gap for a largely non-literate population to connect with their faith through melody and lyrics. Communal singing is not only a cultural and religious tradition, but it has also been <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.4102/ve.v40i1.1910">recognised as a therapeutic experience</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Grey-haired man in jacket sitting at a desk reading," src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557117/original/file-20231101-25-aqs9xd.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=759&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Benjamin Rush.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benjamin_Rush_by_Sully.jpg">NYPL Digital Gallery/Wikimedia</a></span>
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<p>In the 18th and 19th centuries, early investigations into the human nervous system paralleled the <a href="https://www.musictherapy.org/about/history/">emergence of music therapy</a> as a field of study. Pioneers such as American physician <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Benjamin-Rush">Benjamin Rush</a>, a signatory of the US Declaration of Independence in 1776, recognised the therapeutic potential of music to improve mental health.</p>
<p>Soon afterwards, figures such as Samuel Mathews (one of Rush’s students) began conducting experiments exploring <a href="https://collections.nlm.nih.gov/catalog/nlm:nlmuid-2562064R-bk">music’s effects on the nervous system</a>, laying the foundation for modern music therapy. This early work provided the springboard for <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2307/3345004#:%7E:text=Abstract-,E.,relating%20music%20education%20to%20medicine.">E. Thayer Gaston</a>, known as the “father of music therapy”, to promote it as a legitimate discipline in the US. These developments inspired similar endeavours in the UK, where <a href="https://academic.oup.com/mtp/article-abstract/36/1/1/4916024">Mary Priestley</a> made significant contributions to the development of music therapy as a respected field.</p>
<p>The insights gained from these early explorations have continued to influence psychologists and neuroscientists ever since – including the late, great neurologist and <a href="https://www.oliversacks.com/oliver-sacks-books/musicophilia-oliver-sacks/">best-selling author</a> Oliver Sacks, who observed that:</p>
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<p>Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears. It is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear.</p>
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<h2>The ‘Mozart effect’</h2>
<blockquote>
<p>Music was my profession, but it was also a special and deeply personal pursuit … Most importantly, it gave me a way to cope with life’s challenges, learning to channel my feelings and express them safely. Music taught me how to take my thoughts, both the pleasant and the painful ones, and turn them into something beautiful.</p>
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<p>Studying and understanding all the brain mechanisms involved in listening to music, and its effects, requires more than just neuroscientists. Our diverse team includes music experts such as Dimana Kardzhieva (quoted above), who started playing the piano aged five and went on to study at the National School of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria. Now a cognitive psychologist, her combined understanding of music and cognitive processes helps us delve into the complex mechanisms through which music affects (and soothes) our minds. A neuroscientist alone might fall short in this endeavour.</p>
<p>The starting point of our research was the so-called “Mozart effect” – the suggestion that exposure to intricate musical compositions, especially classical pieces, stimulates brain activity and ultimately <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED390733.pdf">enhances cognitive abilities</a>. While there have been subsequent mixed findings as to <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-20917-004">whether the Mozart effect is real</a>, due to the different methods employed by researchers over the years, this work has nonetheless triggered significant advances in our understanding of music’s effect on the brain.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D was found in one study to enhance cognitive abilities.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In the original 1993 study by <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/365611a0">Frances Rauscher and colleagues</a>, participants experienced enhancement in spatial reasoning ability after just ten minutes of listening to Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-18075-020">our 1997 study</a>, which used Beethoven’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEiYmeeV6sI">second symphony</a> and rock guitarist Steve Vai’s instrumental track <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IrWyZ0KZuk">For the Love of God</a>, we found similar direct effects in our listeners – as measured both by <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/electroencephalogram/">EEG</a> activity associated with attention levels and the release of the hormone <a href="https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/dopamine-the-pathway-to-pleasure">dopamine</a> (the brain’s messenger for feelings of joy, satisfaction and the reinforcement of specific actions). Our research found that classical music in particular enhances attention to how we process the world around us, regardless of one’s musical expertise or preferences.</p>
<p>The beauty of EEG methodology lies in its capacity to track brain processes with millisecond accuracy – allowing us to distinguish unconscious neural responses from conscious ones. When we repeatedly showed simple shapes to a person, we found that classical music sped up their early (pre-300 millisecond) processing of these stimuli. Other music did not have the same effect – and nor did our subjects’ prior knowledge of, or liking for, classical music. For example, both professional rock and classical musicians who took part in our study improved their automatic, unconscious cognitive processes while listening to classical music.</p>
<p>But we also found indirect effects related to arousal. When people immerse themselves in the music they personally enjoy, they experience a dramatic shift in their alertness and mood. This phenomenon <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9280.00345">shares similarities</a> with the increased cognitive performance often linked to other enjoyable experiences. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in full.</span></figcaption>
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<p>In a further study, we explored the particular influence of “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/program-music">program music</a>” – the term for instrumental music that “carries some extramusical meaning”, and which is said to possess a remarkable ability to engage memory, imagination and self-reflection. When our participants listened to Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, they reported experiencing a <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1027%2F1618-3169%2Fa000166">vivid representation of the changing seasons</a> through the music – including those who were unfamiliar with these concertos. Our study concluded, for example, that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Spring – particularly the well-recognised, vibrant, emotive and uplifting first movement – had the ability to enhance mental alertness and brain measures of attention and memory.</p>
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<h2>What’s going on inside our brain?</h2>
<p>Music’s emotional and therapeutic qualities are highly related to the release of neurochemicals. A number of these are associated with happiness, including oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins. However, dopamine is central to the enhancing properties of music.</p>
<p>It triggers the release of dopamine in regions of the brain devoted to <a href="https://rewardfoundation.org/brain-basics/reward-system/#:%7E:text=The%20Striatum&text=It%20is%20the%20region%20of,%2C%20reinforcement%2C%20and%20reward%20perception.">reward and pleasure</a>, generating sensations of joy and euphoria akin to the impact of other pleasurable activities such as eating or having sex. But unlike these activities, which have clear value related to survival and reproduction, the evolutionary advantage of music is less obvious.</p>
<p>Its strong social function is acknowledged as the main factor behind music’s development and preservation in human communities. So, this protective quality may explain why it taps into the same neural mechanisms as other pleasurable activities.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
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<p>The brain’s reward system consists of interconnected regions, with the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00276-014-1360-0">nucleus accumbens</a> serving as its powerhouse. It is situated deep within the subcortical region, and its location hints at its significant involvement in emotion processing, given its proximity to other key regions related to this.</p>
<p>When we engage with music, whether playing or listening, the nucleus accumbens responds to its pleasurable aspects by triggering the release of dopamine. This process, known as the dopamine reward pathway, is critical for experiencing and reinforcing positive emotions such as the feelings of happiness, joy or excitement that music can bring.</p>
<p>We are still learning about the full impact of music on different parts of the brain, as Jonathan Smallwood, professor of psychology at Queen’s University, Ontario, explains:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Music can be complicated to understand from a neuroscience perspective. A piece of music encompasses many domains that are typically studied in isolation – such as auditory function, emotion, language and meaning.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That said, we can see how music’s effect on the brain extends beyond mere pleasure. The <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/amygdala">amygdala</a>, a region of the brain renowned for its involvement in emotion, generates and regulates emotional responses to music, from the heartwarming nostalgia of a familiar melody to the exhilarating excitement of a crescendoing symphony or the spine-tingling fear of an eerie, haunting tune.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811920308363?pes=vor">Research</a> has also demonstrated that, when stimulated by music, these regions can encourage us to have autobiographical memories that elicit positive self-reflection that makes us feel better – as we saw in the video of former ballerina Martha González Saldaña.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-solve-our-mental-health-crisis-214776">How to solve our mental health crisis</a>
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<p>Our own research points to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/hippocampus">hippocampus</a>, crucial for memory formation, as the part of the brain that stores music-related memories and associations. Simultaneously, the <a href="https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/posts/know-your-brain-prefrontal-cortex">prefrontal cortex</a>, responsible for higher cognitive functions, closely collaborates with the hippocampus to retrieve these musical memories and assess their autobiographical significance. During music listening, this interplay between the brain’s memory and emotion centres creates a powerful and unique experience, elevating music to a distinctive and pleasurable stimulus.</p>
<p>Visual art, like paintings and sculptures, lacks music’s temporal and multisensory engagement, diminishing its ability to form strong, lasting emotional-memory connections. Art may evoke emotions and memories but often remains rooted in the moment. Music – perhaps uniquely – forms enduring, emotionally charged memories that can be summoned with the replaying of a particular song years later.</p>
<h2>Personal perspectives</h2>
<p>Music therapy can change people’s lives in profound ways. We have had the privilege of hearing many personal stories and reflections from our study participants, and even our researchers. In some cases, such as the memories of a father’s attempted suicide elicited by Shania Twain’s You’re Still The One, these are profound and deeply personal accounts. They show us the power of music to help regulate emotions, even when the memories it triggers are negative and painful.</p>
<p>In the face of severe physical and emotional challenges, another participant in our study explained how they had felt an unexpected boost to their wellbeing from listening to a favourite track from their past – despite the apparently negative content of the song’s title and lyrics:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Exercise has been crucial for me post-stroke. In the midst of my rehab workout, feeling low and in pain, an old favourite, What Have I Done To Deserve This? by the Pet Shop Boys, gave me an instant boost. It not only lifted my spirits but sent my heart racing with excitement – I could feel the tingles of motivation coursing through my veins.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Wn9E5i7l-Eg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Pet Shop Boys gave added motivation to a post-stroke rehab workout.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Music can serve as a cathartic outlet, a source of empowerment, allowing individuals to process and cope with their emotions while supplying solace and release. One participant described how a little-known tune from 1983 serves as a deliberate mood inducer – a tool to boost their wellbeing:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Whenever I’m down or in need of a pick me up, I play <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXmABxvHTG4">Dolce Vita by Ryan Paris</a>. It is like a magic button for generating positive emotions within myself - it always lifts me up in a matter of moments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As each person has their own tastes and emotional connections with certain types of music, a personalised approach is essential when designing music therapy interventions, to ensure they resonate with individuals deeply. Even personal accounts from our researchers, such as this from Sam Fenwick, have proved fruitful in generating hypotheses for experimental work:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If I had to pick a single song that really strikes a chord, it would be <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNjO3sZ-85w">Alpenglow by Nightwish</a>. This song gives me shivers. I can’t help but sing along and every time I do, it brings tears to my eyes. When life is good, it triggers feelings of inner strength and reminds me of nature’s beauty. When I feel low, it instils a sense of longing and loneliness, like I am trying to conquer my problems all alone when I could really use some support.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Stimulated by such observations, our latest investigation compares the effects of sad and happy music on people and their brains, in order to better understand the nature of these different emotional experiences. We have found that sombre melodies can have particular therapeutic effects, offering listeners a special platform for emotional release and meaningful introspection.</p>
<h2>Exploring the effects of happy and sad music</h2>
<p>Drawing inspiration from <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938418308576">studies</a> on emotionally intense cinematic experiences, we recently <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4087/4/2/14">published a study</a> highlighting the effects of complex musical compositions, particularly Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, on dopamine responses and emotional states. This was designed to help us understand how happy and sad music affects people in different ways.</p>
<p>One major challenge was how to measure our participants’ dopamine levels non-invasively. Traditional functional brain imaging has been a common tool to track dopamine in response to music – for example, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. However, this involves the injection of a radiotracer into the bloodstream, which attaches to dopamine receptors in the brain. Such a process also has limitations in terms of cost and availability.</p>
<p>In the field of psychology and dopamine research, one alternative, non-invasive approach involves studying how often people blink, and how the rate of blinking varies when different music is played.</p>
<p>Blinking is controlled by the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/basal-ganglion">basal ganglia</a>, a brain region that regulates dopamine. Dopamine dysregulation in conditions such as Parkinson’s disease can affect the regular blink rate. Studies have found that individuals with Parkinson’s often exhibit <a href="https://n.neurology.org/content/34/5/677#">reduced blink rates or increased variability in blink rates</a>, compared with healthy individuals. These findings suggest that blink rate can serve as an indirect proxy indicator of dopamine release or impairment.</p>
<p>While blink rate may not provide the same level of precision as direct neurochemical measurements, it offers a practical and accessible proxy measure that can complement traditional imaging techniques. This alternative approach has shown promise in enhancing our understanding of dopamine’s role in various cognitive and behavioural processes.</p>
<p>Our study revealed that the sombre <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPdk5GaIDjo">Winter movement</a> elicited a particularly strong dopamine response, challenging our preconceived notions and shedding light on the interplay between music and emotions. Arguably you could have predicted a heightened response to the familiar and uplifting <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LiztfE1X7E">Spring concerto</a>, but this was not the case.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZPdk5GaIDjo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Vivaldi’s Winter movement was found to elicit a particularly strong dopamine response.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our approach extended beyond dopamine measurement to gain a comprehensive understanding of the effects of sad and happy music. We also used <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10044923/">EEG network analysis</a> to study how different regions of the brain communicate and synchronise their activity while listening to different music. For instance, regions associated with the appreciation of music, the triggering of positive emotions and the retrieval of rich personal memories may “talk” to each other. It is like watching a symphony of brain activity unfold, as individuals subjectively experienced a diverse range of musical stimuli.</p>
<p>In parallel, <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/comments?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0110490">self-reports of subjective experiences</a> gave us insights into the personal impact of each piece of music, including the timeframe of thoughts (past, present, or future), their focus (self or others), their form (images or words), and their emotional content. Categorising these thoughts and emotions, and analysing their correlation with brain data, can provide valuable information for future therapeutic interventions.</p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4087/4/2/14">preliminary data</a> reveals that happy music sparks present and future-oriented thoughts, positive emotions, and an outward focus on others. These thoughts were associated with heightened frontal brain activity and reduced posterior brain activity. In contrast, sad tunes caused self-focused reflection on past events, aligning with increased neural activity in brain areas tied to introspection and memory retrieval. </p>
<p>So why does sad music have the power to impact psychological wellbeing? The immersive experience of sombre melodies provides a platform for emotional release and processing. By evoking deep emotions, sad music allows listeners to find solace, introspect, and effectively navigate their emotional states.</p>
<p>This understanding forms the basis for developing future targeted music therapy interventions that cater to people facing difficulties with emotional regulation, rumination and even depression. In other words, even sad music can be a tool for personal growth and reflection.</p>
<h2>What music therapy can offer in the future</h2>
<p>While not a panacea, music listening offers substantial therapeutic effects, potentially leading to increased adoption of music therapy sessions alongside traditional talk therapy. Integrating technology into music therapy, notably through emerging app-based services, is poised to transform how people access personalised, on-demand therapeutic music interventions, providing a convenient and effective avenue for self-improvement and wellbeing.</p>
<p>And looking even further ahead, artificial intelligence (AI) integration holds the potential to revolutionise music therapy. AI can dynamically adapt therapy interventions based on a person’s evolving emotional responses. Imagine a therapy session that uses AI to select and adjust music in real-time, precisely tailored to the patient’s emotional needs, creating a highly personalised and effective therapeutic experience. These innovations are poised to <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frai.2020.497864/full">reshape the field of music therapy</a>, unlocking its full therapeutic potential.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman listening to music with wireless headphones." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557136/original/file-20231101-17-6t5sr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/557136/original/file-20231101-17-6t5sr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557136/original/file-20231101-17-6t5sr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557136/original/file-20231101-17-6t5sr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557136/original/file-20231101-17-6t5sr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557136/original/file-20231101-17-6t5sr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/557136/original/file-20231101-17-6t5sr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Neurofeedback technology could create individual ‘music-brain maps’ that aid self-therapy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woman_listening_to_music_with_wireless_headphones_neon_light_(50810419882).jpg">Vu Hoang/Wikimedia</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In addition, an emerging technology called <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/neurofeedback">neurofeedback</a> has shown promise. Neurofeedback involves observing a person’s EEG in real-time and teaching them how to regulate and improve their neural patterns. Combining this technology with music therapy could enable people to “map” the musical characteristics that are most beneficial for them, and thus understand how best to help themselves.</p>
<p>In each music therapy session, learning occurs while participants get feedback regarding the status of their brain activity. Optimal brain activity associated with wellbeing and also specific musical qualities – such as a piece’s rhythm, tempo or melody – is learned over time. This innovative approach is being developed in <a href="https://www.urncst.com/index.php/urncst/article/view/345">our lab and elsewhere</a>.</p>
<p>As with any form of therapy, recognising the limitations and individual differences is paramount. However, there are compelling reasons to believe music therapy can lead to new breakthroughs. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3425/8/6/107">Recent strides in research methodologies</a>, driven partly by our lab’s contributions, have significantly deepened our understanding of how music can facilitate healing. </p>
<p>We are beginning to identify two core elements: emotional regulation, and the powerful link to personal autobiographical memories. Our ongoing research is concentrated on unravelling the intricate interactions between these essential elements and the specific brain regions responsible for the observed effects.</p>
<p>Of course, the impact of music therapy extends beyond these new developments in the neurosciences. The sheer pleasure of listening to music, the emotional connection it fosters, and the comfort it provides are qualities that go beyond what can be solely measured by scientific methods. Music deeply influences our basic emotions and experiences, transcending scientific measurement. It speaks to the core of our human experience, offering impacts that cannot easily be defined or documented.</p>
<p>Or, as one of our study participants so perfectly put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Music is like that reliable friend who never lets me down. When I’m low, it lifts me up with its sweet melody. In chaos, it calms with a soothing rhythm. It’s not just in my head; it’s a soul-stirring [magic]. Music has no boundaries – one day it will effortlessly pick me up from the bottom, and the next it can enhance every single moment of the activity I’m engaged in.</p>
</blockquote>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leigh Riby does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Music therapy has been shown to help people suffering with cancer, chronic pain and depression. Our research is testing which parts of the brain are affected by different kinds of musicLeigh Riby, Professor of Cognitive-Neuroscience , Department of Psychology, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2058812023-06-26T16:14:13Z2023-06-26T16:14:13ZHow music therapy can help rebuild the lives of refugees<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532732/original/file-20230619-15-kln7gp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=44%2C22%2C7304%2C4704&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Music therapy is well-placed to provide support in addressing trauma and promoting wellbeing.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/music-note-art-sound-instrumental-concept-465116960">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past 20 years, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide due to conflict has reached a figure <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/who-we-are/figures-glance">in excess of 90 million</a>. This has more than doubled since the early 1990s, a time period labelled “<a href="https://academic.oup.com/jrs/article/33/4/639/6209808">the decade of displacement</a>” by the United Nations Refugee Agency. This rate of increase shows no signs of slowing and has been fuelled by the current situations in Syria and Ukraine.</p>
<p>Whatever the reason for displacement, there is no doubt that <a href="https://istss.org/getattachment/Education-Research/Briefing-Papers/Trauma-and-Mental-Health-in-Forcibly-Displaced-Pop/Displaced-Populations-Briefing-Paper_Final.pdf.aspx">being forced to leave your homeland is traumatic</a>. The journey to a safer place can be physically and emotionally challenging. <a href="https://www.europeanea.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Stress-and-refugees.pdf#:%7E:text=Common%2520reactions%2520after%2520traumatic%2520life%2520events%2520include%253A%2520-,plan%2520for%2520the%2520future%253B%2520pre-occupation%2520with%2520the%2520past.">Shock and denial</a> are often the first emotions experienced by refugees. </p>
<p>Long-term problems include unmanageable emotions, flashbacks and difficulty with relationships. Physical symptoms such as nausea and headaches may also occur. While practical support such as providing physical safety, food and clothes and medical help are crucial, psychological support also needs to be offered.</p>
<h2>Music therapy</h2>
<p><a href="https://academic.oup.com/mtp/article-abstract/41/1/e30/6608838?redirectedFrom=fulltext">Music therapy</a> is well-placed to provide support in addressing trauma and promoting wellbeing. It is a psychological therapy which is regulated by the <a href="https://www.hcpc-uk.org">Health and Care Professions Council</a> (HCPC) in the UK. Music therapists use a range of music-based interventions including interactive music-making, songwriting and listening to music. These help to build a therapeutic relationship with participants. </p>
<p>Music therapy offers a flexible and accessible way of supporting wellbeing and sharing difficult experiences. It can also bring positive memories of the cultures from which refugees have come. These can be shared with others and help to build resilience.</p>
<p>In the early stages of trauma, music can be part of a psychological first aid (PFA) package. PFA is usually offered in the initial aftermath of a traumatic event as well as in later stages. It seeks to provide people with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18181708/">safety, connections and hopefulness</a>. The integration of these elements into music-based and music therapy interventions is useful for refugees. </p>
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<p>Music is something found in every culture. People carry their own musical experiences with them wherever they go and can call on them for solace. Music can also be a go-to resource for those needing comfort. With such a huge range of musical genres and styles, there is something for everyone. </p>
<p>Because music is comprised of a series of different patterns – something the brain is attracted to and actively <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35352057/">seeks out</a> – there are opportunities for emotional regulation. This is central to supporting refugees’ wellbeing. </p>
<p>Moreover, music-making with a music therapist in the immediate aftermath of trauma offers the opportunity to build relationships, stabilise feelings and reduce anxiety. These are crucial steps in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5744879/">mitigating the impact of trauma</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A boy and a man sit at a table. The boy is playing a colourful xylophone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532739/original/file-20230619-27-nobb2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/532739/original/file-20230619-27-nobb2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532739/original/file-20230619-27-nobb2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532739/original/file-20230619-27-nobb2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532739/original/file-20230619-27-nobb2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532739/original/file-20230619-27-nobb2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/532739/original/file-20230619-27-nobb2t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Music is comprised of a series of different patterns, something the brain is attracted to and actively seeks out.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/male-psychologist-working-little-boy-office-2097484426">Pixel-Shot/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During the course of <a href="https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/2539/2310">my research</a>, I have worked with a range of displaced people, including refugees and asylum-seeking families, focusing on families with children under the age of 3. My studies have shown that people who have had music therapy find it useful and supportive for a number of reasons. </p>
<p>It offers a safe space to meet others in music without the need for words or explanations. This space supports the development of feelings of safety as well as awakening creativity – something that is vital for mental health. Music therapy also fosters and builds connections with others in the same situation. </p>
<p>My projects used the core principles of PFA linked to music therapy for small groups of asylum-seeking families from Albania, Egypt, Syria and Pakistan. The simple, structured activities needed minimal English, so were accessible. </p>
<p>Movement to music, communication through rhythm games, free improvisation and songs from participants’ homelands as well as music from the UK were all used to engage the groups. This helped families feel a sense of belonging in their new home.</p>
<h2>Feeling safe</h2>
<p>The predictability of the sessions’ content was also helpful. People who experience trauma need help to feel safe, and providing a structured session does this. They also facilitated language development and social skills for the children. </p>
<p>Bonding as a family, something that can be disrupted by trauma, was also improved. To support this therapists can use lullabies and children’s songs from the original cultures of the families, as well as UK-based tunes – Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is always very popular.</p>
<p>Music and music therapy are useful tools to employ in planning PFA and continuing therapeutic support for refugees. While it is important to be sensitive to the wishes of refugee families who may not be ready to engage in musical activities, it is crucial that this provision is available to those who do wish to access it. </p>
<p>Refugees who engage with music and music therapy in their new homes often report improvements in their ability to manage their situation and move forward. Finding ways to offer access to these opportunities more widely will benefit greater numbers of those seeking to build new lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205881/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Coombes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Music therapy offers a flexible and accessible way of supporting wellbeing and addressing traumatic experiences.Elizabeth Coombes, Senior Lecturer in Music Therapy, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2046842023-06-09T12:28:20Z2023-06-09T12:28:20ZDrawing, making music and writing poetry can support healing and bring more humanity to health care in US hospitals<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530205/original/file-20230605-15-n2u86f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C35%2C5854%2C4100&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Facing a blank page can be an exercise in courage. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/persons-head-peaceful-thoughts-in-meditation-royalty-free-illustration/1367531423">stellalevi/DigitalVision Vectors via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on the deep need that people feel for human touch and connection in hospital settings. Having relatives peering through windows at their loved ones or unable to enter hospitals altogether exacerbated the lack of human intimacy that is all too common in health care settings. </p>
<p>Opportunities for creative expression through arts in medicine programs are increasing in U.S. hospitals, and it may be because art-making offers something that medicine can’t. Evidence shows that taking part in art programs <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.156497">has many therapeutic benefits</a>, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735617739967">reducing anxiety</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160615134946.htm#">stress</a>, supporting <a href="https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.1012020">mental health</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-006-9024-3">well-being</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0246078">connecting people to one another</a>. </p>
<p>Research has also shown that these programs can bring <a href="https://doi.org/10.4037/aacnacc2020619">relief from the stresses and burnout</a> that health care workers regularly experience. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.kpwashingtonresearch.org/our-research/our-scientists/gray-marlaine">As a medical anthropologist</a> studying how to support people who are facing serious illness, as well as those who care for them, one of my research interests is the intersection of arts and medicine. </p>
<p>Participating in creative activities helps with expressing emotions. This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610362061">can improve optimism</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/01.psy.0000116782.49850.d3">boost the body’s immune</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.582083">response</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1348/135910707X251207">improve healing times</a>. </p>
<p>Arts in medicine programs are also correlated with improved <a href="https://doi.org/10.1053/j.ajkd.2005.11.030">blood pressure and less pain and depression</a> for some patients. Some music activities can help stroke victims <a href="https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/9386095">recover balance and rhythm</a>. </p>
<p>These types of clinical benefits are certainly valued. But what people I spoke with shared that was the most transformative for them were the ways art-making allowed them to feel more fully human.</p>
<h2>Art therapy reduces the sense of isolation</h2>
<p>One example is at the MD Anderson Cancer Centers in Houston. Ian Cion founded the hospital’s <a href="https://www.spaceforartfoundation.org/ian-cion">arts in medicine program</a> in 2010. In 2014, he worked closely with more than 1,300 MD Anderson patients, their family members and staff to <a href="https://www.mdanderson.org/cancerwise/how-an-art-project-gave-our-patients-hope-and-community.h00-158911701.html">create a life-size paper dragon sculpture</a> – one scale at a time.</p>
<p>Cion built the dragon’s frame in his home out of popsicle sticks, wire and cardboard and then placed the 9-foot frame inside a high-traffic area in the hospital. Young cancer patients, their families and the entire hospital community were invited to create scales, which they filled with their hopes, prayers and favorite images. A row of scales could be finished and placed on the dragon in 45 minutes or less, but it still took months for the project to be completed. </p>
<p>Cion’s goal with <a href="https://www.yaktrinews.com/news/national-news/hope-courage-and-unity-the-story-behind-the-young-cancer-patients-who-painted-space-suits/article_d8c42406-c794-59f2-a335-51be1c461016.html">such collaborative projects</a> was to pull people out of the isolation of illness and into community, and to celebrate and embrace the unknown.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Front view of Okoa the Dragon" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530206/original/file-20230605-27-4j0uwh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Cancer patients, their loved ones and hospital personnel contributed to the creation of the paper dragon at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marlaine Figueroa Gray</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Detachment and routine are rife in hospital settings</h2>
<p>For my 2022 book, “<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793648617/Creating-Care-Art-and-Medicine-in-US-Hospitals">Creating Care</a>,” I conducted a multi-site ethnographic study of creative expressive activities in U.S. hospitals. I interviewed more than 70 people, including those who facilitate, participate in and support art-making in hospitals. Some were licensed mental health professionals who were professionally prepared for such work, such as <a href="https://arttherapy.org/about-art-therapy/">art therapists</a>, <a href="https://www.musictherapy.org/">music therapists</a> and <a href="https://poetrytherapy.org/">poetry therapists</a>. Others were artists who simply chose to work in hospitals.</p>
<p>I wanted to understand why art-making is happening more frequently in hospitals, what benefits it provides and how these programs function alongside traditional medical care.</p>
<p>Medical care in the U.S. can be dehumanizing for both the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/nib.2019.0056">people giving</a> and receiving care. Medical students have historically been trained to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.05.027">practice detached concern</a> and to prioritize efficiency and quantity of care. </p>
<p>Studies show that this has harmful effects for providers. It affects both how they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.05.027">cope with their own emotions</a> and how they practice medicine. As a result, some health care providers believe that the current medical standard does not result <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp0807461">in the best care for patients</a>. </p>
<p>People experiencing hospitalization have shared with me that they often don’t feel seen for who they are when they enter the hospital setting. One gentleman stated that he felt literally stripped of his social identity when he was asked to don the anonymous hospital gown.</p>
<p>But when artists enter the hospital room, they recognize patients as whole people, apart from their diagnosis. Artists and therapists who facilitate creative expressive activities in hospitals have shared with me that one of their major goals is to acknowledge people’s humanity and agency. </p>
<p>For example, when they approach a patient’s room, they ask permission before coming in – and they are often the only person in a hospital that patients can say no to. They structure arts activities to provide multiple opportunities for practical and creative choices – such as when to start, what colors or materials to use and how to hold the tools. </p>
<h2>Embracing uncertainty</h2>
<p>Art-making activities in hospitals <a href="https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.1012020">have many documented functions</a> including supporting biomedical care, reaching specific clinical goals and helping patients pass the time. But my research shows that art-making also provides an important opportunity to engage with the unknown. </p>
<p>In medicine, the focus is typically on imaging and other testing to reach a diagnosis and a course of treatment. But many patients find themselves somewhere in between – awaiting a hoped-for outcome or grappling with how long they might be in the hospital or living with their illness.</p>
<p>It takes courage to complete cancer treatment as well as to confront the ultimate unknown – death and what comes after. As Cion shared with me when I interviewed him in 2015, he thinks about the fact that confronting a blank page is also an exercise in building courage.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zBPImYrrGi8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Art, music and poetry therapy can provide patients with a sense of normalcy and reduce symptoms of depression.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Building trust through poetry</h2>
<p>Many of the providers I spoke with are engaged in the creative arts themselves. Some, like physician-poet <a href="https://poets.org/poet/rafael-campo">Rafael Campo</a>, share their creativity in meetings with patients. Campo is an internal medicine specialist who sees patients with complex chronic conditions. </p>
<p>I, like some of Campo’s colleagues, wondered how there was room for poetry in the very short time doctors get to spend with their patients. Campo explained to me that he uses poems to build trust with patients, to express empathy and to enter into a narrative contract that assures patients he is interested in the story of who they are. </p>
<p>He shared that many doctors are wary of what is known in health care as the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2017.08.004">doorknob phenomenon</a>” – when patients who are leaving the room at the end of a doctor’s visit put their hand on the door, and then turn and ask the question they are really worried about. Rather than taking up time, the use of poetry builds trust so that patients share their deepest worries more quickly, he noted, giving him more time to meaningfully address them.</p>
<h2>The need for a new language around loss and death</h2>
<p>Nearly everyone will face a point in their lives where medicine cannot provide a solution or sustain life. Our cultural and medical narratives of illness often do not have adequate language for these moments. When therapies don’t work, people are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1634/theoncologist.9-6-719">described as “failing</a>” their treatment. And facing one’s imminent death is often characterized as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1200/OP.22.00348">giving up the fight</a>.” </p>
<p>But artists who work with people at the end of life offer meaningful ways for patients to prepare for these stages and for the impact their death will have on others. </p>
<p>One art therapist who worked in a large cancer hospital shared with me stories of patients who were parents of young children who used their art therapy sessions as opportunities to process their own feelings about their mortality. She told me about a mother who created collages of her very worst fears as well as what brought her hope and strength. She also crafted “legacy art” in the form of letters that would support her son after her death, to be opened at certain future milestones like a first kiss or high school graduation. </p>
<p>Some of the most powerful examples I saw of how art can transform one’s sense of humanity came in these moments – when art-making provided ways to not just document one’s social relationship during life, but to continue it after death.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204684/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marlaine Figueroa Gray receives funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). </span></em></p>Art, music and poetry therapy can help patients feel more optimistic and less isolated as well as to embrace the uncertainty that comes with illness.Marlaine Figueroa Gray, Assistant Investigator at Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1905562023-03-23T13:17:06Z2023-03-23T13:17:06ZHow an African church choir made a difference to care home life in Greater Manchester<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516111/original/file-20230317-386-4ty01r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/carer-leading-group-seniors-fitness-class-1178472205">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Care homes are rarely a source of good news. The system is <a href="https://theconversation.com/merely-tinkering-expert-analysis-of-the-uk-governments-new-plan-to-reform-social-care-in-england-172085">underfunded</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-care-home-staff-in-the-uk-are-at-breaking-point-185234">understaffed</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/social-care-reform-why-boris-johnsons-plan-wont-fix-the-crisis-expert-view-167472">overextended</a>, and homes are routinely found to be inadequate. Of the 2,934 homes the Care Quality Commission <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/2023-01-24/almost-half-of-all-care-homes-inspected-in-england-found-to-be-failing">inspected</a> in the year to December 2022, 1,224 were deemed inadequate or requiring improvement. </p>
<p>Low expectations and negative stereotypes, particularly in the media, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890406513000091">exacerbate the problem</a>. But when positive relationships are placed at the centre of adult social care, care homes have the potential to be joyful, lively places. </p>
<p>Our research has looked at what happens when care homes facilitate community connections between their older residents and refugees. We have found that <a href="https://journals.healio.com/doi/abs/10.3928/00989134-20220808-04">singing</a>, in particular, is a good tool for breaking down social barriers, reducing isolation and improving wellbeing. <a href="https://theconversation.com/choir-singing-improves-health-happiness-and-is-the-perfect-icebreaker-47619">Group singing</a> can benefit everyone.</p>
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<h2>How singing improves wellbeing</h2>
<p>From 2016 to 2019, we worked with four care homes in Bolton, Greater Manchester, and a local choir which visited the homes once a month. The residents were older adults, predominantly white British. Some had diagnoses of dementia or mental health problems.</p>
<p>The choir was comprised of six to ten young people and adults from the Ephrata Church Community, a local black African church. They brought keyboards and guitars and set up shop in communal areas. The residents were free to come and go as they pleased.</p>
<p>The choir leader would introduce the songs and distribute lyrics, encouraging both residents and staff to join in. Afterwards they were asked about their experience of the session and whether they had any song requests for subsequent visits.</p>
<p>From the start, residents found the experience to be beneficial. One explained how little there was, usually, for them to do in the care home: “The staff are in rush, and we can’t have a proper conversation.” Research has long shown that this is <a href="https://sigmapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jnu.12488">not uncommon</a>. </p>
<p>Joining in the singing project, by contrast, as one member of staff put it, “greatly improved [the residents’] moods and got them up dancing”. Another said how much it “brightens up the lives of people waiting for treatment”. </p>
<p>They especially like the fact that the choristers also learned a thing or two from Googling song requests they weren’t familiar with. One resident said that the song What a Friend We Have in Jesus is their “best song, the song they will sing during my funeral”.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people in smart clothes stand outside a building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516360/original/file-20230320-24-rdzouh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516360/original/file-20230320-24-rdzouh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516360/original/file-20230320-24-rdzouh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516360/original/file-20230320-24-rdzouh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516360/original/file-20230320-24-rdzouh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516360/original/file-20230320-24-rdzouh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516360/original/file-20230320-24-rdzouh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ephrata choir at one of the study care homes.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kayonda Ngamaba</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>How singing fosters connectedness</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.britishacademyofsoundtherapy.com/singing-for-health/">Singing has been shown</a> to boost confidence, broaden communication skills and foster connections with others. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-for-a-nursing-home-place-for-your-parent-with-dementia-heres-what-to-consider-63121">physiological benefits</a> it brings are clear too: as a workout, it can strengthen the immune system, improve posture and aid sleep. It is also a natural <a href="https://theconversation.com/reducing-depression-in-nursing-homes-requires-more-than-just-antidepressants-38970">antidepressant</a>, lowering <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13591053211012778">stress levels</a> and improving mental alertness. </p>
<p>Research shows that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03057356211042668">group singing</a>, specifically, increases levels of oxytocin, which fosters a greater sense of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306453013002369">connectedness</a> and contentment. </p>
<p>Context, however, mediates the impact of oxytocin. Hence, before the singing, each chorister introduced themselves, the school they go to (for children), the work they do, their hobbies and preferred food. This started a conversation with the residents, about having gone to the same school or liking the same food. </p>
<p>Group bonding can happen <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090513815001051">quickly across large groups</a> when people have a shared motivation or focus; when their activities are aligned in what psychologists call behavioural synchronicity; and when they experience a collective sense of achievement. Rather than inviting residents to watch a performance, the fact that these sessions involved the choristers using songs chosen by the residents and actively encouraging them to clap and sing along encouraged connection. </p>
<p>The benefits of a greater sense of connection are clear. Loneliness is an enduring problem for older adults, especially in care homes. Despite living in shared accommodation, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/49/5/748/5827763?">over 60%</a> of older adults in care homes are moderately or severely lonely. Some studies show <a href="https://www.magonlinelibrary.com/doi/abs/10.12968/ijtr.2006.13.8.370">only 10% of care home residents’ time</a> involves social interaction. </p>
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</figure>
<p>On a societal level, fostering connections can contribute to reducing social stigma, prejudice and isolation – issues faced by older adults and refugees alike. Spending time together (what psychologists term <a href="https://guilfordjournals.com/doi/abs/10.1521/soco.2008.26.3.259">the “mere exposure effect”</a>) can be enough to generate familiarity. </p>
<p>In addition, introductions at the start of singing emphasised the idea that <a href="https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/spc3.12000">everyone is unique</a> – it reduced the perceived homogeneity of “older people” or “refugees”. Research suggests that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956797613481607">environmental cues</a> of social connectedness (sharing an activity, say, like singing together) also reduce bias. On a more basic level, the signing group challenges stereotypes of refugees <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42889189">as hostile and taking resources</a>, to being ordinary and active members of their communities who make a positive contribution.</p>
<p>Further, better relationships between caregivers and care home residents <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1471301209350285">can reduce staff burnout</a> because they make the work more meaningful and rewarding. It acts as a buffer against stress, and some of the <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-18711-001">more difficult aspects</a> of caregiving, such as working with aggression in people with dementia. This is known as “enrichment”, where caregiving <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36687423/">gives meaning and pleasure</a> to both parties, by giving something back to a previous generation, enjoying each other’s company, or learning something new.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of people stand in a hall holding up pieces of paper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516364/original/file-20230320-16-ilkzbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/516364/original/file-20230320-16-ilkzbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516364/original/file-20230320-16-ilkzbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516364/original/file-20230320-16-ilkzbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516364/original/file-20230320-16-ilkzbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516364/original/file-20230320-16-ilkzbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/516364/original/file-20230320-16-ilkzbz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=523&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ephrata choir volunteers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kayonda Ngamaba</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Social care experts speak about <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JOSM-11-2019-0346/full/html">“older-adult-centred care”</a> wherein people are as autonomous as possible. This involves treating them with dignity, providing personalised support for their unique needs, and creating a social environment in which people feel meaningfully included. </p>
<p>Our research suggests there is an important fifth component – reciprocity – which is all about finding ways for older people <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/14717794200600015/full/html">to actively contribute</a> to wider community life. When, conversely, they receive care passively, it can create <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30514117/">an objectified, distanced relationship</a> that reduces the sense of reward for everyone involved.</p>
<p>Our group singing project delivered on all fronts. Participants were treated with respect and involved in decision making. They forged connections with the choristers and each other, shared personal experiences and knowledge. </p>
<p>Greater community cohesion was achieved too, with connections forged between two groups so often isolated. As one younger member of the African choir said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I really enjoy singing today, it helps me to be connected.</p>
</blockquote><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kayonda Hubert Ngamaba is volunteer at Ephrata Church Community.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cheyann Heap does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Singing, as a communal exercise, can break down social barriers, reduce isolation and improve wellbeing.Kayonda Hubert Ngamaba, Research Fellow, Social Policy and Social Work Department, University of YorkCheyann Heap, Research Associate, Community-Enhanced Social Prescribing, University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1630552022-01-10T18:04:44Z2022-01-10T18:04:44ZWhat’s your school closures playlist? Why music should be part of parents’ pandemic survival strategy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439944/original/file-20220110-19-ozqvia.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=281%2C442%2C5724%2C2997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Disappointment, anger, sadness or passion can all be poured into a song. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 175px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/what-s-your-school-closures-playlist-why-music-should-be-part-of-parents--pandemic-survival-strategy" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>With pandemic <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-ontario-jan-3-2022-ford-public-health-measures-1.6302531">school closures</a> in place in Ontario, <a href="https://montreal.citynews.ca/2022/01/05/quebec-schools-reopen-jan-17/">Québec</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/covid-19-update-january-5-2022-1.6304526">Nova Scotia</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-covid-pandemic-briefing-january-4-1.6303542">and Prince Edward Island</a> until Jan. 17, and other provinces <a href="https://vancouversun.com/news/covid-19-b-c-schools-brace-for-possible-closures-as-550000-students-head-back-to-class">on watch</a>, music could be important for <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/family/article/music-might-decrease-kids-stress-coronavirus">maintaining the well-being of children and families</a>. </p>
<p>Many are concerned about the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-school-closures-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-are-having-a-detrimental/">effects of closures</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v91i4.10870">on student</a> and family well-being. While scientists and government officials are busy <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/12/02/biden-strategies-omicron-delta/">developing strategies to defeat the Omicron variant</a>, young children — whom UNICEF has cautioned could be a “<a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-calls-averting-lost-generation-covid-19-threatens-cause-irreversible-harm">lost generation</a>” — yet again find themselves asked to attend a virtual classroom from inside their homes. </p>
<p>Early <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-spotlights-equity-and-access-issues-with-childrens-right-to-play-137187">childhood researchers</a>, children’s rights advocates, <a href="https://cps.ca/uploads/advocacy/Remote_learning_in_ON.pdf">health experts and</a> parents continue to point out that the psychological well-being of children seems to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-provinces-must-respect-childrens-rights-to-education-whether-or-not-schools-reopen-in-september-142802">getting lost</a> in policy-making and public debate. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/child-and-youth-mental-health-problems-have-doubled-during-covid-19-162750">Child and youth mental health problems have doubled during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Listening to music at home or participating in musical activities might be an important way for parents and children to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.15346">reduce stress, find ways to regulate their emotions</a> and experience joy together.</p>
<h2>Music and self-regulation</h2>
<p>How can participation in musical activities be therapeutic? Experts argue that music is at the very centre of what <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01680">it means to be human</a>. Stephen Malloch and Colwyn Trevarthen, who have respectively researched psychology, movement and music, and child psychology, argue music comes from how human bodies, from birth, explore their environment using habitual patterns of action — a kind of “communicative musicality.”</p>
<p>On a physiological level, the connections between different brain areas are still developing in young children, yet these areas all become involved simultaneously when a child is performing a musical activity. This means that music might help <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/42923786">sustain and regulate emotional well-being</a> by engaging all these brain areas, and thus help to make sense of otherwise incomprehensible situations. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RapkewnhCm8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Good Morning America’ segment featuring a child who sings about hating COVID-19.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Express yourself</h2>
<p>Even though we don’t know now the extent to which children globally have been affected by isolation during the pandemic, many undoubtedly are processing <a href="https://theconversation.com/childrens-grief-in-coronavirus-quarantine-may-look-like-anger-heres-how-parents-can-respond-135348">stress and grief</a> from missing daily routines.</p>
<p>Music allows children to safely express emotions that might otherwise manifest in
<a href="https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/tra0000387">persistent nightmares</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2647427/">violence</a> or trauma which may be correlated with mental health challenges, <a href="https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/amp0000181">PTSD</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10566-018-9479-5">substance abuse later in life</a>. Psychiatrists note that an important part of recovery from trauma is <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/judith-lewis-herman/trauma-and-recovery/9780465098736/">being able to articulate one’s feelings</a>. </p>
<p>Given the opportunity to express themselves musically with instruments or simply in choosing songs, children may find venues to express emotions that are common responses to traumatic experiences, such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199734603.001.0001">disappointment, anger, passion and sadness</a>. These can all be poured <a href="https://youtu.be/RapkewnhCm8">into a song</a> that has no need for linear narrative. </p>
<p>Instead, music can simultaneously be a compassionate witness and a medium capable of encapsulating and expressing what a child might experience while missing friends and routines. Adults can listen to how children may hum a <a href="https://youtu.be/sBzLt9_G9Dc">favourite song</a> or <a href="https://youtu.be/ak-Jm_DczXg">make up a new tune</a> to give their feelings a voice.</p>
<p>Singing about <a href="https://youtu.be/1rERunT1uWw">pandemic and enforced safety measures</a> might help children make sense of a scary situation. Psychologists suggest that sharing songs and singing games together <a href="https://youtu.be/vYmSAMcwXA8">as a family</a> can <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19517947/">strengthen relationship between children and their parents</a> and ultimately bring a smile whether through simple <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-52106893">fun or looking to music to put our current situation in a larger context</a> across generations. Listening to relaxing music can also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0243125">promote mental wellness</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vYmSAMcwXA8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Totally Fixed Where We Are,’ based on ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart,’ adapted by the Marsh Family, February 2021.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Younger children</h2>
<p>During lockdown, interaction with peers is constrained for most children, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2020.05.016">even more so for younger ones</a> who don’t have access to social media and cannot reap <a href="https://doi.org/10.23750/abm.v91i4.10870">the psychological benefits of digitally mediated communication with their friends</a>. </p>
<p>Some research suggests that some caregivers have been turning to music while being isolated in COVID-19 shutdowns. For example, a study of caregivers of children aged between three and six years old in Brazil found that about <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.633499">60 per cent of caregivers were listening to music to relax or feel excited</a> during social distancing. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/parenting-in-a-pandemic-how-to-develop-stronger-family-relationships-during-covid-19-149699">Parenting in a pandemic: How to develop stronger family relationships during COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But if this does not happen, how can caregivers benefit from music or facilitate children’s engagement with music? They could start by simply sharing their favourite playlists with children or <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637569">choosing music they think could support a positive mood</a>. They can strategically help evoke <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0098">positive emotions</a> that may help families keep an optimistic outlook through our pandemic winter.</p>
<p>There is a great variety of ways in which both parents and children can engage with recorded music: <a href="https://youtu.be/h_9TYs1GZqs">dancing or tapping</a>, singing along, making up another melodic line or even creating a <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-parody-songs-are-the-spoonful-of-sugar-we-need-right-now-135763">funny parody</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A child's fingers are seen on a keyboard." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439940/original/file-20220110-13-9am0dh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/439940/original/file-20220110-13-9am0dh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439940/original/file-20220110-13-9am0dh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439940/original/file-20220110-13-9am0dh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439940/original/file-20220110-13-9am0dh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439940/original/file-20220110-13-9am0dh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/439940/original/file-20220110-13-9am0dh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Participating in virtual music groups can be one way of maintaining a connection to communities.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Ron Lach)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Importance of connections</h2>
<p>Finally, to restore the lost sense of belonging and community connection, which is <a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/judith-lewis-herman/trauma-and-recovery/9780465098736">crucial to maintaining psychological health</a>, parents can encourage children’s participation in virtual music groups. </p>
<p>This type of collective music-making has been found <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.703892">to promote self-expression, help manage emotions and bring a comforting sense of belonging</a>. For children who have memories of attending school and activities before the pandemic, it can also help remind them of who they were before the pandemic. </p>
<p>Music can help children adapt to difficult situations by binding families together.</p>
<p>Most importantly, music can help <a href="https://theconversation.com/music-helps-us-remember-who-we-are-and-how-we-belong-during-difficult-and-traumatic-times-136324">revive the belief</a> that everything will eventually be well, despite this seemingly never-ending series of lockdowns <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/19/opinion/covid-dementia.html">that many of us feel are damaging the spirits</a> of adults and children alike.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163055/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ala Krivov does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Family music sharing is a way to safely express emotions during school closures, for both children and parents.Ala Krivov, PhD Student, Musicology, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216552019-11-22T13:14:50Z2019-11-22T13:14:50ZAnxiety: a playlist to calm the mind from a music therapist<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/301986/original/file-20191115-66953-1fkitk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-headphones-relaxing-home-late-704548654?src=25ac2ba5-f735-451f-bf87-20c2096cebf6-1-6">Shutterstock/Stokkete</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It may seem like we are living in an age of anxiety, where feeling worried, upset and stressed has become the norm. But we should remember that anxiety is a <a href="https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/about-anxiety/#.Xc6FEi10fq1">natural human response</a> to situations. </p>
<p>It comes when we are not sure what is going to happen, or when we feel under threat. And even mild anxiety can have a negative effect on our ability to lead a productive life. It can interfere with being able to enjoy the simple things in life. </p>
<p>When we experience anxiety, our heart and breathing rates increase and many other systems in our bodies <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety/effects-on-body#1">experience overload</a>. Anxiety affects our general physical health as well as our emotions. </p>
<p>In my work as a music therapist, I’ve noticed the impact music can have on anxiety. For example, in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIdtMOd8k8A">guided imagery sessions</a>, the therapist uses specially selected music and the client is invited to describe what they are feeling and what images the music conjures up. It’s amazing what insights can be gained from simply allowing yourself time to listen and talk about what you see in your mind’s eye. </p>
<p>These may be as simple as becoming more aware of how music can affect emotions, or be used to explore past experiences or future dilemmas. It can also be used to find a place of comfort and a secure base where <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jmt/article-abstract/36/1/39/914646?redirectedFrom=fulltext">physical and emotional balance</a> can be found. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/relaxing-song-best-weightless-marconi-union-youtube-surgery-anxiety-a9011971.html">recent experiment</a> explored whether certain kinds of music can reduce anxiety during a complex task and concluded that some music is better at doing this than others. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/surprising-ways-to-beat-anxiety-and-become-mentally-strong-according-to-science-77978">Surprising ways to beat anxiety and become mentally strong – according to science</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Also, <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jmt/article-abstract/48/3/264/1002764?redirectedFrom=PDF">a study</a> based on measuring physiological and emotional responses suggests there are certain qualities in music that are better at helping people relax.</p>
<p>The speed of the music should be relatively slow, the melody should be simple, and the beat and harmony should not hold too many surprises. Other factors, such as the complexity of the music and – surprisingly – familiarity with the piece, were not so important. </p>
<p>In fact, knowing a piece too well was found in some cases to be counterproductive. The genres most likely to support relaxation are classical, soft pop and certain types of world music. These are found to largely contain the musical elements necessary to help a person relax.</p>
<h2>Press play</h2>
<p>With these musical elements in mind, here are eight suggested pieces of music that meet these criteria:</p>
<p><strong>1</strong> <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/ambient-1-music-for-airports-184712/">Ambient 1: Music For Airports</a> by Brian Eno. This soundscape provides a wash of musical effects that echo the rhythm of our physiological functions, leaving space for us to attune to the slow tempo of the music. The album is described in <a href="https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/brian-eno/ambient-1-music-for-airports">one review</a> as “the kind of music one might hear in heaven”.</p>
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<p><strong>2</strong> Pieds-en-L'Air, from <a href="https://arielmusic.co.uk/product/capriol-suite/">Capriol Suite</a>, by Peter Warlock, a composer and former music critic. Known for his unconventional lifestyle, he died in 1930, aged 36. His musical legacy includes this soft and slow classical piece with a melody reminiscent of songs we may have heard as children.</p>
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<p><strong>3</strong> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/56FjSa3QWnDE6CxjFTp9rH">Om Namah Shivaya</a> by Deva Premal. The vocals of Premal and supporting music made by her partner Mital hark back to evocative chants from times past. The slow pace and almost hypnotic music combined with her clear vocals feel very supportive.</p>
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<p><strong>4</strong> <a href="https://www.smoothradio.com/features/adele-someone-like-you-lyrics-meaning-facts/">Someone Like You</a> by Adele. While this hugely successful song explores the issue of loss, the slow tempo and cool accompaniment is found by many to offer a sense of calm and reflection. It has <a href="https://slate.com/culture/2012/02/someone-like-you-makes-us-cry-scientists-explain-why.html">been claimed</a> that the piece’s emotional strength is due to small, unexpected changes in the melody or “ornamental notes”, which create a melancholic tension. </p>
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<p><strong>5</strong> <a href="https://www.classicfm.com/composers/einaudi/music/i-giorni/">I Giorni</a>, by Ludovico Einaudi, an Italian pianist and composer who has written numerous film soundtracks. This piano piece, with its repetitive motifs and steady tempo, evokes a dreamlike state with moments of light and brightness.</p>
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<p><strong>6</strong> <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/in-paradisum-9780193418042?cc=gb&lang=en&">In Paradisum</a>, by Gabriel Fauré, a French composer who gained great popularity in his lifetime, but suffered from deafness in his later years. In this piece, from his Requiem, the choir and organ accompaniment provide a feeling of serenity.</p>
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</figure>
<p><strong>7</strong> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Stopover+at+Djibouti&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8">Stopover at Djibouti</a> by Anouar Ibrahem, a Tunisian oud player and composer. He is widely acclaimed as an innovator in his field, fusing Arab classical music, folk music and jazz. This world jazz piece has hypnotic motifs that can seem almost meditative.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/c2S8LpvZrnQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p><strong>8</strong> <a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&ei=hq7OXekQpYbV8A_vxaUw&q=stefan+nilsson+composer+wilmas+tema&oq=stefan+nilsson+composer+wilm&gs_l=psy-ab.3.0.33i22i29i30.2182.3289..4456...0.0..0.99.402.5......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i22i30.I3sNgC11uJY">Wilma’s Theme</a> by Stefan Nilsson, a Swedish composer and pianist who is well known in is home country. This piece, which seems somehow familiar, has a simple melody and harmonies that provide a safe landing place.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ytBW9x6Zvcc?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>This list offers some suggestions of music that could be used to help people relax. A favourite of mine, which I haven’t included, is the slow movement from JS Bach’s Double Violin Concerto. It never fails to give me a sense of feeling safe and grounded, something that can be so important when we may be feeling anxious. </p>
<p>It should be said, though, that many <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0218017">studies</a> emphasise the importance of finding your own selection of music that works for you. Whatever your musical taste is, you have the edge on any prescribed playlist in finding what is best for you.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121655/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Coombes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Soothing tunes for anxious times.Elizabeth Coombes, Senior Lecturer in Music Therapy, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1220142019-10-27T12:05:24Z2019-10-27T12:05:24ZHigh-tech concert hall measures brain waves and heart rates during performances<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296100/original/file-20191008-128677-aly4ww.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3834%2C4476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">McMaster University's LIVELab is a concert hall where researchers study how sound is produced and experienced, leading to therapeutic applications of music.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">LIVELab</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>All evidence indicates that music plays a significant role in every human society, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0089">both past and present</a>. When we gather to celebrate, rejoice or mourn, music moves us in powerful ways. Caregivers around the world sing to infants to soothe, play with, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13580">and teach them</a>. And yet we are just starting to uncover the profound impact music has on our brain, our emotions and our health. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/groovy-findings-researching-how-and-why-music-moves-you-112959">Groovy findings: Researching how and why music moves you</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Laurel Trainor is the director of the <a href="https://mimm.mcmaster.ca/">McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind</a> and plays principle flute in the Burlington Symphony Orchestra. Her research examines how music is processed in the brain, how musicians co-ordinate non-verbally and the role music plays in early development from multiple perspectives including perceptual, cognitive, social and emotional development. </p>
<p>Dan Bosnyak’s research studies neural plasticity in the human auditory system, in particular the neural correlates of tinnitus and peripheral hearing loss.</p>
<h2>Concert laboratory</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://livelab.mcmaster.ca/">Large Interactive Virtual Environment Laboratory (LIVELab)</a> at McMaster University is a research concert hall. It functions as both a high-tech laboratory and theatre, opening up tremendous opportunities for research and investigation.</p>
<p>As the only facility of its kind in the world, the LIVELab is a 106-seat concert hall equipped with dozens of microphones, speakers and sensors to measure brain responses, physiological responses such as heart rate, breathing rates, perspiration and movements in multiple musicians and audience members at the same time. </p>
<p>Engineers, psychologists and clinician-researchers from many disciplines work alongside musicians, media artists and industry to study performance, perception, neural processing and human interaction.</p>
<p>In the LIVELab, acoustics are digitally controlled so the experience can change instantly from extremely silent with almost no reverberation to a noisy restaurant to a subway platform or to the acoustics of Carnegie Hall.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OdCCX59Do80?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The LIVELab is a research concert hall where researchers can study what is involved in playing and experiencing music.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Studying musical experiences</h2>
<p>At the LIVELab, researchers work on studies looking at how we make music together, how musicians co-ordinate their movements and synchronize their brains in order to perform and why people enjoy attending live performances when they could have better sound fidelity at home. By better understanding what is happening in the brain during music listening and playing, we can explore wider health benefits.</p>
<p>Real-time physiological data such as heart rate can be synchronized with data from other systems such as motion capture, and monitored and recorded from both performers and audience members. The result is that the reams of data that can now be collected in a few hours in the LIVELab used to take weeks or months to collect in a traditional lab. And having measurements of multiple people simultaneously is pushing forward our understanding of real-time human interactions.</p>
<p>Consider the implications of how music might help people with <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/srep42005">Parkinson’s disease</a> to walk more smoothly or children with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364661310002354?via%3Dihub">dyslexia</a> to read better. </p>
<h2>Behind the music</h2>
<p>In order to examine how musicians communicate non-verbally, researchers at the LIVELab measured the body sway of each musician in a string quartet as they played together. Body sway is not necessary to play the instrument, but it reflects thought processes involved in planning what the musician is going to play next. </p>
<p>In order for musicians to stay together and create a cohesive performance, they need to predict what each other will do next in terms of their micro-timing, phrasing, dynamics and articulation. If they wait to hear what the other musicians do, it will be too late. </p>
<p>In our recent paper, published in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617657114"><em>Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences</em></a>, we used mathematical models to show that we could predict the body sway of one musician from how another musician had just moved, indicating that body sway reflects communication between the musicians. In addition, musicians assigned to be leaders during particular pieces influenced followers more than vice versa. </p>
<p>Another study shows that <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02682">people experience live performance differently than pre-recorded performances</a>, moving more frequently and synchronously during live music. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/293067/original/file-20190918-187945-1ezdtz6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Capturing the motions of a string quartet performance.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Laurel Trainor</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In another paper, published in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-36358-4"><em>Scientific Reports</em></a>, we examined how musicians intuitively co-ordinate with one another during a performance to achieve a common emotional expression. Each performer of a piano trio was fitted with motion capture markers to track their movements while they played happy or sad musical excerpts, once with musical expression and once without. </p>
<p>We found that musicians predicted each other’s movements across both happy and sad excerpts to a greater degree when they played expressively, compared to when they played with no emotion. Importantly, across the pieces, the greater the amount of communication among members of the trio, the higher were ratings by other musicians of the quality of the performance. </p>
<p>This technique for measuring communication between musicians has much wider implications. It could be applied to other situations, such as communication between non-verbal elderly patients with dementia or between autistic children and their caregivers. We can even predict, from body sway communication between people engaged in speed dating, who will match and want to see each other again.</p>
<h2>Addressing hearing loss</h2>
<p>Another important area of ongoing research is the effectiveness of hearing aids. By the age of 60, <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/414406">nearly 49 per cent of people will suffer from some hearing loss</a>. People who wear hearing aids are often frustrated when listening to music because the hearing aids distort the sound and cannot deal with the dynamic range of the music. </p>
<p>The LIVELab is working with the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra to solve this problem. During a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=406448253307826">recent concert</a>, researchers evaluated new ways of delivering sound directly to participants’ hearing aids to enhance sounds.</p>
<p>Researchers hope new technologies can not only increase live musical enjoyment but alleviate the social isolation caused by hearing loss.</p>
<p>Imagine the possibilities for understanding music and sound: How it might help to improve cognitive decline, manage social performance anxiety, help children with developmental disorders, aid in treatment of depression or keep the mind focused. Every time we conceive and design a study, we think of new possibilities.</p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122014/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laurel Trainor receives funding from NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan J. Bosnyak works for McMaster University as the Technical Director of the LIVELab. </span></em></p>McMaster University’s LIVELab is a concert hall where researchers study how sound is produced and experienced, leading to therapeutic applications of music.Laurel Trainor, Professor, McMaster UniversityDan J. Bosnyak, Research Scientist, Technical Director, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1252222019-10-16T19:05:53Z2019-10-16T19:05:53ZCurious Kids: is it OK to listen to music while studying?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296813/original/file-20191014-135505-1yio01t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3994%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does music usually put you in a better mood? That might help you try a little bit harder and stick with challenging tasks.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>I am in year 11 and I like to listen to music when I am studying, but my dad says that my brain is spending only half of its time studying and the other half is distracted by listening. He says it is better to leave my phone out of my room and concentrate on studying rather than listening to music. Is it OK to listen to songs when I am studying? – Robert, Year 11 student.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/curious-kids-36782"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/291898/original/file-20190911-190031-enlxbk.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=90&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p>
<p>It’s a good question! In a nutshell, music puts us in a better mood, which makes us better at studying – but it also distracts us, which makes us worse at studying. </p>
<p>So if you want to study effectively with music, you want to reduce how distracting music can be, and increase the level to which the music keeps you in a good mood.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-adults-think-video-games-are-bad-76699">Curious Kids: Why do adults think video games are bad?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Music can put us in a better mood</h2>
<p>You may have heard of the Mozart effect – the idea that listening to Mozart makes you “smarter”. This is based on <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1038/365611a0.pdf">research</a> that found listening to complex classical music like Mozart improved test scores, which the researcher argued was based on the music’s ability to stimulate parts of our minds that play a role in mathematical ability. </p>
<p>However, further research conclusively debunked the Mozart effect theory: it wasn’t really anything to do with maths, it was really just that music puts us in a better mood. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1360.013">Research</a> conducted in the 1990s found a “Blur Effect” – where kids who listened to the BritPop band Blur seemed to do better on tests. In fact, researchers found that the Blur effect was bigger than the Mozart effect, simply because kids enjoyed pop music like Blur more than classical music. </p>
<p>Being in a better mood likely means that we try that little bit harder and are willing to stick with challenging tasks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296814/original/file-20191014-135509-xpdud2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">When you study, you’re using your ‘working memory’ – that means you are holding and manipulating several bits of information in your head at once.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shuttrstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Music can distract us</h2>
<p>On the other hand, music can be a distraction – under certain circumstances. </p>
<p>When you study, you’re using your “working memory” – that means you are holding and manipulating several bits of information in your head at once.</p>
<p>The research is fairly clear that when there’s music in the background, and especially music with vocals, our working memory <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14640748908402355">gets worse</a>. </p>
<p>Likely as a result, reading comprehension decreases when people listen to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.2994">music with lyrics</a>. Music also appears to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735607076444">more distracting for people who are introverts</a> than for people who are extroverts, perhaps because introverts are more easily overstimulated.</p>
<p>Some clever <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0305735611400173">work</a> by an Australia-based researcher called Bill Thompson and his colleagues aimed to figure out the relative effect of these two competing factors - mood and distraction. </p>
<p>They had participants do a fairly demanding comprehension task, and listen to classical music that was either slow or fast, and which was either soft or loud. </p>
<p>They found the only time there was any real decrease in performance was when people were listening to music that was both fast and loud (that is, at about the speed of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfWlot6h_JM">Shake It Off</a> by Taylor Swift, at about the volume of a vacuum cleaner).</p>
<p>But while that caused a decrease in performance, it wasn’t actually <em>that</em> big a decrease. And other <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01902">similar research</a> also failed to find large differences.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/296816/original/file-20191014-135529-1oicid3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One study found a decrease in comprehension performance when people listened to music that was both fast and loud. But it wasn’t that big a decrease.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>So… can I listen to music while studying or not?</h2>
<p>To sum up: research suggest it’s probably fine to listen to music while you’re studying - with some caveats.</p>
<p>It’s better if:</p>
<ul>
<li>it puts you in a good mood</li>
<li>it’s not too fast or too loud</li>
<li>it’s less wordy (and hip-hop, where the words are rapped rather than sung, is likely to be even more distracting)</li>
<li>you’re not too introverted. </li>
</ul>
<p>Happy listening and good luck in your exams!</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-old-people-hate-new-music-123834">Why do old people hate new music?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Have you got a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to curiouskids@theconversation.edu.au</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Byron does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research suggest it’s probably fine to listen to music while you’re studying - with some caveats.Timothy Byron, Lecturer in Psychology, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216542019-10-03T10:22:00Z2019-10-03T10:22:00ZHow music therapy can help anxious children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295211/original/file-20191002-49346-r9ta5s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tuning in.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-smiling-child-enjoys-listens-music-1344479351?src=oV3oG49qq35yv5J_HdtLNg-1-98">Shutterstock/MIA Studio</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2017/2017">According to the NHS</a>, as many as one in eight children aged five to 19 faces a mental health challenge. And a significant number of these cases are related to some form of anxiety. </p>
<p>Of course, a degree of anxiety or worry may be a normal state of affairs for young people – particularly when moving schools, or around exam time. But for some, anxiety can affect <a href="https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/get-help/anxiety-information/young-people-and-anxiety/">every aspect of their daily lives</a>. </p>
<p>One effective method of providing support for this anxiety is music therapy, where music becomes the main tool the therapist uses to connect and work with the patient. This kind of therapy <a href="https://www.bamt.org">has been shown</a> to be effective when treating children and young people living with anxiety based disorders. </p>
<p>After all, lots of young people love listening to music, and the music choices they make can be closely tied to their sense of self and identity. During times of stress and worry, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229471062_The_role_of_music_in_adolescents'_mood_regulation">research</a> indicates that young people have an innate sense of the kinds of music they need to listen to. </p>
<p>It is also a particularly adaptable form of therapy. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019745561300186X?via%3Dihub">Research suggests</a> that young people’s “passionate commitment” to songs and genres of music can shift depending on the situation. </p>
<p>A track like Taylor Swift’s Dancing with Our Hands Tied, for example, could be first heard as a love song, then as a break-up song, and then again as a song of triumph and survival. This demonstrates a complex and adaptable set of emotional interactions with music, and shows how it can offer support in ever changing situations.</p>
<h2>Making it up</h2>
<p>In a music therapy session, the therapist might use a variety of accessible instruments, such as drums, small percussion instruments and keyboards, as well as apps to put together beats and loops, to make music with the child. Songwriting is also a good option, perhaps taking an existing song and changing the lyrics to fit the current situation, or composing an original song. </p>
<p>When I worked in the NHS at a facility for young people with psychological difficulties, I found a combination of structured musical activities and improvisation useful – especially with those who experienced anxiety due to the unpredictability of social situations. </p>
<p>Using improvisation in a safe setting helped with the idea of making things up as you go along, and feeling more comfortable with this as a concept. To all intents and purposes, that is essentially what many social situations require. </p>
<p>There are other proven benefits, too. A clinical trial called <a href="https://pure.qub.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/music-in-mind-a-randomized-controlled-trial-of-music-therapy-for-young-people-with-behavioural-and-emotional-problems-study-protocol(0bcf64a8-ba4e-45a8-ad22-edc03903e6d3).html">Music in Mind</a> based in Northern Ireland used music therapy to individually treat children and young people with behavioural problems and mental health needs. It found improvements in communication, self esteem and social functioning. </p>
<p>Other studies have seen positive results in the <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jmt/article-abstract/49/4/395/942989">combined use</a> of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and music therapy.</p>
<p>As well as its supportive value, music therapy can help young people develop their skills of emotional regulation – the mechanism which allows us to function in our daily lives, managing difficult situations by adjusting our emotional responses to events and feelings. </p>
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<p><a href="https://www.oxfordclinicalpsych.com/view/10.1093/med:psych/9780198765844.001.0001/med-9780198765844">Developing emotional regulation</a> skills is key to reducing the risks of psychological challenges later on, and can begin in early childhood with interactive musical play. </p>
<p>Here, the music therapist and child play games in which both take turns to be in charge of the music. Having the chance to signal “stop” and “go”, as well as choosing whether the music will be loud or soft gives the child a chance to see how it feels be in charge. </p>
<h2>A positive note</h2>
<p>They are also able to explore how the differences in music make them feel.
An American <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00572/full?utm_source=Email_to_authors_&utm_medium=Email&utm_content=T1_11.5e1_author&utm_campaign=Email_publication&field=&journalName=Frontiers_in_Human_Neuroscience&id=146406">study</a> using this method showed a considerable improvement in emotional regulation scores, suggesting that using music in playful activities can have very positive effects on young children.</p>
<p>It is clear, then, that there is potential for a spectrum of practice in the use of music to support children and young people who live with anxiety disorders. </p>
<p>Listening to preferred music and using that experience to explore feelings and moderate anxiety is at one end of the spectrum. The early use of music in pre-school and school settings can also help develop ER, building resilience in children to adverse life events. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/music-therapy-improves-the-health-of-premature-babies-and-boosts-parental-bonding-118281">Music therapy improves the health of premature babies and boosts parental bonding</a>
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</em>
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<p>If disorders develop, music can be used as a tool to explore emotions and work towards understanding, with music therapy being offered as a treatment to those who need more focused clinical support. </p>
<p>So perhaps we all need to be thinking about the use of music in managing anxiety in our children and young people. There is a wealth of evidence emerging as to its effectiveness – which we can all tune in to.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Coombes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Music for pleasure, self-expression and emotional regulation.Elizabeth Coombes, Senior Lecturer in Music Therapy, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1182812019-06-17T11:12:32Z2019-06-17T11:12:32ZMusic therapy improves the health of premature babies and boosts parental bonding<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/279158/original/file-20190612-32347-g3c8w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bonding in a busy hopsital can be tough for new parents and premature babies.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-mother-holding-her-premature-newborn-713505415?src=IgZCSlxkZXw5FsDNR">Brocreative/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Singing and playing music to your baby or young child may seem to be a no-brainer. We all have strong associations with nursery rhymes or childhood ditties sung to us by our parents and grandparents. We associate these with feelings of comfort and security, and it seems like the most natural thing in the world that we would sing to our own children as we cuddle and soothe them, or put them to bed.</p>
<p>Imagine, though, that your baby was born earlier than anticipated, and had to spend time in a neonatal unit in a hospital. Perhaps your baby also has serious medical issues and needs to be constantly monitored, being linked up to a frightening array of medical equipment. Hospital staff are constantly moving around the wards checking everything is OK, and there are alarms on ventilators going off, the hiss of oxygen and all sorts of electric lights flashing and beeping. It can’t be easy to bond with a baby when they are being kept in an incubator and need special medical treatment.</p>
<p>Although hospital staff are trained to support families in these situations, it’s often a very traumatic time for parents. Research into parental experiences in neonatal units shows that feelings of anxiety, guilt and even depression are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6293875/">all common features</a> for many mums and dads. This can prevent or disrupt the natural bonding process that is so important to the healthy development of the baby, and the happiness of the family unit too.</p>
<p><a href="https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/2315/2070">Recent research</a> has shown, however, that <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-music-therapy-20154">music therapy</a> can offer a way for parents to connect with and develop their relationship with their premature baby while they are in hospital. This consists of a music therapist playing a guitar or other instruments, and singing with parents to their baby on the ward. Using melodies and lullabies that the parents choose – including favourite songs, gentle sounds and simple rhythmic structures – the baby can be soothed while parents hold, rock and, if they wish to, sing or hum to their baby.</p>
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<p>Music therapy does more than just improve bonding. A <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/131/5/902">large study</a> undertaken in 2013 in the US demonstrated other positive effects for babies who receive music therapy in neonatal units. The study showed improved oxygen saturation, better heartbeat regulation, longer periods of sleep, increased weight gain, and, perhaps most importantly, reduced time spent in hospital. These results <a href="https://www.bamt.org/DB/past-journals/vol-31-no-1-2017.html">have been replicated</a> in other studies too. </p>
<h2>Soothing tones</h2>
<p>So why is music therapy such a powerful tool for premature babies? Hearing develops from the age of 24 weeks, meaning that babies are accustomed to hearing their mother’s voice, and that of other family members while still inside the womb. They respond more readily to these voices than those of unknown adults, although even then they show a <a href="https://nypost.com/2016/10/23/how-babies-know-their-mothers-voice-even-in-the-womb/">preference for live voices</a></p>
<p>In addition, researchers think that every baby is born hardwired, as it were, with what has been termed “<a href="http://www.soundconnectionsmt.com/docs/Communicative_Musicality_1999-2000.pdf">communicative musicality</a>”. Put simply, babies respond positively to, and have an appreciation of, simple musical structures, melodies and simple vocal sounds. We are all familiar with “baby talk” – the way we instinctively alter the tone of our voices when we talk to babies and young children. This is very calming and soothing for both baby and parent. It not only helps bonding, but lays down the foundations for later cognitive development such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-baby-talk-is-good-for-your-baby-59515">speech and motor skills</a>. </p>
<p>At present music therapy practice is commonly used in neonatal units across the world, including in Australia, the US, Scandinavia, Columbia, and Europe too. UK provision, however, is limited to just a few sites. But, my own preliminary research has found that more and more UK parents are keen to use these techniques, often commenting that “it will give me something to do with my baby”, and “it’s something normal and natural that I can do during this very unnatural beginning to our life together”. </p>
<p>I’ve also found that nurses are also supportive of music therapy. They believe helping parents to explore music with their babies will empower parents and give them the confidence they need to provide the extra attention premature babies require, such as special feeding techniques and potentially administering medication. Consultants are also aware that at the moment, psychological support for parents in neonatal facilities is limited. They believe that the introduction of music therapy will have an important impact on the quality of parental experiences in hospital and the health of the baby.</p>
<p>I am currently part of a team developing a pilot study in South Wales which will offer parents the chance to explore singing to their premature babies. It is hoped that this will be the beginning of an exciting new provision of psychological and medical support for parents and babies in neonatal units in Wales and beyond, but also help ensure these little ones have the best start at life possible.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/118281/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Coombes receives funding from The Music Therapy Charity to support a music therapy study in a Local Neonatal Unit in south Wales.</span></em></p>Soothing babies with song is a natural instinct for some parents, and research has shown just how powerful it can be for premature babies.Elizabeth Coombes, Senior Lecturer in Music Therapy, University of South WalesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1146232019-05-09T05:18:41Z2019-05-09T05:18:41ZCreative arts therapies can help people with dementia socialise and express their grief<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/273422/original/file-20190509-183096-no037k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Visually expressing painful memories and feelings can help let things go. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-striped-red-white-shirt-working-431933083">Belushi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People with dementia can flourish and show creativity in ways they, their caregivers and loved ones never thought possible. Under the guidance of a <a href="http://www.anzacata.org">trained therapist</a>, creative arts therapies use painting, drama, dance and music to help improve quality of life for people with dementia. </p>
<p>Around 50 million people worldwide <a href="http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/dementia">have dementia</a> and it’s on the rise. The condition affects the brain and can result in memory loss and inability to carry out everyday activities, recognise faces or remember words. </p>
<p>Every person with dementia has a different experience of the disease and their own life stories. This is where creative arts therapies come in.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-people-with-dementia-dont-all-behave-the-same-100960">Why people with dementia don't all behave the same</a>
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</em>
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<h2>What are creative arts therapies?</h2>
<p>Each arts therapy has its own way of engaging the imagination:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>art therapy brings imagery and self-awareness to people, some of whom don’t think they can make art. Participants work with paints and clay, and have the opportunity to extend their world with colour</p></li>
<li><p>drama therapy uses performance, role play and improvisation to recreate memories, encourage problem-solving, and reawaken social skills</p></li>
<li><p>dance-movement therapy engages rhythm and body gesture, helping integrate the mind and spirit, and enabling non-verbal communication</p></li>
<li><p>music therapy can help ground anxious participants, and allow tolerance for tension and the expression of joy and sadness. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What can these therapies do?</h2>
<p>Coming together to play music or sing increases social interaction and communication, and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/25/scienceandnature-music">reduces the risk of social withdrawal</a>. It can also help <a href="https://search.proquest.com/docview/1947163793?pq-origsite=primo">reduce depression</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">Music brings people together.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/happy-elderly-woman-pianist-playing-piano-530844373?src=0eZ6UfqEAZ1mJ7wAi5-OWg-1-77">Thanrada Sirirattrakul/Shtterstock</a></span>
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<p>Drama therapy can <a href="https://anzacata.org/resources/Files/11_ANZJAT/ANZJAT-2018/16.ANZJAT-2018-JJ-a.pdf">improve quality of life</a> for people with dementia by awakening memories and helping patients “work through” troubling issues from their past. It helped one study participant, for example, let go of an obsessional memory of being emotionally abused by a teacher at the age of nine, even a year after the drama therapy ended. </p>
<p>Drama therapy can also <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02630672.2011.558355">help</a> people with dementia to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02630672.2011.558355">cope with</a> grief, loss, and cognitive and physical decline.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/looking-for-a-nursing-home-place-for-your-parent-with-dementia-heres-what-to-consider-63121">Looking for a nursing home place for your parent with dementia? Here's what to consider</a>
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<p>In terms of visual arts, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0533316406071447">research shows</a> participation in art therapy results in significant improvements in mood and cognition, which last long after the sessions have finished. </p>
<p>One such <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/topics/life/culture/article/2016/10/07/cultural-healing-indigenous-art-therapy">program in Western Australia</a> encourages Indigenous Noongar elders to make dolls, sharing birthing stories from a time when birthing happened on reserves, in missions, or under the stars because mothers <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/JlIndigP/2012/8.pdf">were not allowed to give birth in hospital</a> in their part of the country. </p>
<p>Finally, dance-movement therapy <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10465-016-9221-5">stimulates many of the senses</a> and exercises both the body and mind. An important role of these therapies is to help older people reflect on the final stages of life, and express their grief about losing friends and loved ones.</p>
<h2>An alternative to medical intervention</h2>
<p>Hearings in the <a href="https://agedcare.royalcommission.gov.au/">aged care royal commission</a> have begun to focus on how to improve the quality of life for older people with dementia and reducing the overuse of drug interventions. This <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/medicine/cdpc/news-events-participation/deprescribing-review.php">is possible</a> – and creative arts therapies can play an important role.</p>
<p>We still need further research with greater numbers of participants to continue to rigorously evaluate creative arts therapies. But so far, we know these therapies are a safe and holistic way to deliver a level of creativity and calm to people with dementia in aged care.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/finding-momentary-pleasure-how-viewing-art-can-help-people-with-dementia-65211">Finding momentary pleasure: how viewing art can help people with dementia</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanna Jaaniste does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Creative arts therapies allow people with dementia to express joy and sadness through painting, dance, music and drama.Joanna Jaaniste, Career Development Fellow, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/816792017-08-24T04:06:31Z2017-08-24T04:06:31ZSinging death: why music and grief go hand in hand<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/181324/original/file-20170808-20141-18odexz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In Western society, endless reiteration of grief in speech is not generally acceptable. Songs can allow this to happen.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the aftermath of the June terrorist attack in Manchester, an unusual thing happened. Mancunians gathered in St Ann’s Square ended a minute’s silence to honour the dead with a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/watch-manchester-crowd-sing-oasis-song-for-bombing-victims-w484215">spontaneous rendition</a> of Don’t Look Back in Anger by the homegrown rock band Oasis. When grief renders words inadequate, music can give a voice to overwhelming visceral emotion.</p>
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<p>Music has long been associated with emotional expression of one sort or another: joy, sadness, celebration and ritual. But <a href="http://www.historyofemotions.org.au/research/research-projects/singing-death-reflections-on-music-and-mortality/">in grief is found music’s most searing voice</a>. In particular, the inescapable grief of bereavement and human mortality seems to require musical accompaniment. Sometimes the music surrounding death tells us as much about the mourners and as it does about the dead. </p>
<h2>Public death, public grief</h2>
<p>Bernie Taupin and Elton John’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veWHazTuyME">Goodbye England’s Rose</a>, written for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, touched a public overcome with loss. The song re-used the tune of an earlier hit for the duo, the Marilyn Monroe torch song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoOhnrjdYOc">Candle in the Wind</a>. The words “you whispered to those in pain / Now you belong to heaven / And the stars spell out your name” reminded the audience of Diana’s charitable works while hinting at the double-edged sword of celebrity. Those outside Westminster Abbey cried openly during the performance. Elton John has never performed the song again.</p>
<p>But it’s not just celebrities who inspire musical tributes. When an explosion at Westray coal mine in Nova Scotia (Canada) claimed 26 lives in 1992, personal grief was compounded by the suddenness and magnitude of the tragedy and the social and financial impact on families and the community. In the aftermath, local musicians have produced as many as 50 tribute songs, such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2_A_e7aBTE">Westray Trilogy</a> by Ghostrider and The Allied Horns.</p>
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<p>In Western society at least, endless reiteration of grief in speech is not generally acceptable. Songs of this kind allow this to happen. There is no embargo on singing or playing them repeatedly. We may also cry when the song is sung; an emotional response is acceptable in response to an obvious, external trigger.</p>
<p>Terrorist intent adds further complications to the reception of disaster and the music associated with it. After 9/11, Samuel Barber’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBK30bJagEA">Adagio for Strings Opus 11</a> became the most widely-performed musical work for public mourning in the Western art music repertoire. For many, it was <a href="http://www.wqxr.org/story/93875-barbers-adagio-saddest-piece-ever/">also the saddest</a>. </p>
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<p>The reception to the Adagio was lukewarm when it was first performed in 1938. The music has gained power through the circumstances of its performance after September 11. The Adagio shows how music can exert its power, through its capacity to become emotionally linked in memory to particular people and events, sometimes altering our perception of them, sometimes being altered itself in the process.</p>
<p>In religions such as traditional Christianity and Islam where the dead have (hopefully) a suitable home to go to, part of the mourners’ task is to see them safely off in song.</p>
<p>For some mourners, however, the dead have no place to go and return to haunt the living. Something remains unsettled. It may be related to the manner of death or to a sense that the rituals of mourning have not been properly conducted.</p>
<p>The horror of death sometimes becomes also a horror of the dead or undead — those caught between life and death. An endless stream of movies, TV series and novels about the returning dead - as ghosts, vampires, demons or zombies - bears witness to the prevalence of that fantasy. </p>
<p>In horror movies, prerecorded music is used to announce the presence of the undead or demonic and the impending doom to follow. Previously innocuous songs gather a momentum of fear from their repetition in this new context, for instance <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOB4VdlkzO4">the song Rocky Mountain High,</a> sung by John Denver in the movie Final Destination (2000), signals each appearance of a demonic figure. Context can shape our reaction to a piece of music.</p>
<h2>Metaphorical death</h2>
<p>Death in song is sometimes approached indirectly. In Irish traditional music, some laments figuratively evoke death or a space between life and death without naming it.</p>
<p>One famous Donegal lament, An Mhaighdean Mhara, describes how a mermaid comes to land and sheds her cloak, in order to transform into human shape. A fisherman steals and hides the cloak and the mermaid is then enthralled to him. He marries her and they have a family. The mermaid later finds her cloak and promptly disappears. However, as the undead are caught between life and death, she is caught between this and the Otherworld, longing to rejoin her own people yet reluctant to leave her children. Here too, one senses, perhaps, the pain of mourning and the reluctance of the living to let go of their dead.</p>
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<p>The troubadours and trouvères of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries often spoke of love as a kind of death, painful and dismembering but delightful. The lovers celebrated in this music present themselves as utterly passive, slaves to love and “a cruel Lady”. Death here seems to stand in for an indescribable and deeply ambiguous condition. Their suffering is mortal but they would not wish it any other way. Gace Brule, a 12th-century trouvère wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Great love cannot grieve me<br>
since the more it kills me the more I like it<br>
and I would rather die and love<br>
than to forget you for even a day<br></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In these and countless other compositions in a range of genres, death and music go hand in hand. Sometimes music sings the dead to rest, offering comfort for grief-stricken individuals and communities; sometimes it confronts us with the anguish of mortality and loss. Sometimes it reflects something of the painful, complex and laborious task of mourning - at the end of which, the dead be may be finally laid to rest.</p>
<p><em>Singing Death (Routledge), edited by Helen Dell and Helen Hickey,
will be launched on Friday August 25 at the Arts Hall, Old Arts Building Level 1, University of Melbourne,
at 4.30pm.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81679/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Dell receives funding from The ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotion but not for this project. She is a member of the Greens party. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Helen Maree Hickey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From spontaneous mass singing after a terror attack to Irish laments, music reflects the painful, complex and laborious task of mourning.Helen Maree Hickey, Researcher in the Australian Research Council for the History of Emotions, The University of MelbourneHelen Dell, Research fellow, medieval song and poetry, medievalism, nostalgia, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/815562017-07-27T04:32:42Z2017-07-27T04:32:42ZThe healing power of hip hop<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179797/original/file-20170726-14517-sc2a8r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">J Cole at Etihad Stadium in 2014. Cole (aka 'Therapist') runs non-profit organisation Dreamville Foundation, and houses single mothers rent-free in his childhood home</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo supplied by Michelle Grace Hunder</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last year, New York’s then police commissioner Willam Bratton was quick to blame rap music and the culture around it for a fatal backstage shooting at a concert by <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/05/ti-concert-shooting-irving-plaza">the rapper T.I</a>. Ignoring wider issues of gun control, Bratton pointed at “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/bill-bratton-nypd-thugs-rap/484562/">the crazy world of the so-called rap artists”</a> that “basically celebrates the violence”.</p>
<p>Hip Hop culture and rap (a method of vocal delivery popularised through hip hop music) have for more than four decades been bundled with a range of negative connotations, leading many like Bratton to equate them only with profanity, misogyny, violence and crime. Prosecutors in the US have labelled <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/27/arts/music/using-rap-lyrics-as-damning-evidence-stirs-legal-debate.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0">rap lyrics a criminal threat</a>,
and <a href="http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/792/the-influence-of-rap-and-hip-hop-music-an-analysis-on-audience-perceptions-of-misogynistic-lyrics">numerous studies</a> have been undertaken on the harmful influence of hip hop on kids. </p>
<p>There’s no denying that the lyrical content of hip hop is confronting, and in many instances, it includes the glorification of violence, substance use, and gender discrimination. But while many people struggle to look past the profanity, materialism, and high-risk messages often celebrated within mainstream rap music, hip hop culture at its core, is built on values of social justice, peace, respect, self-worth, community, and having fun. And because of these values, it’s increasingly being used as a therapeutic tool when working with young people.</p>
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<p>School counsellors, psychologists, and social workers have helped to normalise the option of integrating hip hop within mental health strategies. Indeed it has become central to the work of one group of psychiatrists at Cambridge University, who under the banner of “<a href="http://www.hiphoppsych.co.uk">hip hop pysch</a>”, use it as a tool in promoting mental health. Some have even called rap “<a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TyKpAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=its+bigger+than+hip+hop+a+feminist+approach&ots=5Lzq0xWO8f&sig=OWgeMVEytz6N_G9xA_rIPcMnFtA#v=onepage&q=perfect&f=false">the perfect form for music therapy</a>.” </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">A presentation from ‘hip hop psych’ on a Tupac song.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Born in New York City, hip hop culture is now a worldwide phenomenon. You’d be hard-pressed to find any country that doesn’t have some kind of hip hop scene. This new reality is driven by two factors. One is the commercialisation of the culture as a commodity, which has made it one of the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=89840&page=1">most influential industries in the world</a> with its own <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/05/03/the-forbes-five-hip-hops-wealthiest-artists-2016/#658fc23f477f">Forbes rich list</a>.</p>
<p>The other is that hip hop remains accessible and grassroots. At its simplest, you can make a beat with your mouth – <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/tom_thum_the_orchestra_in_my_mouth?language=en">beatboxing</a> – or on a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKNimnhhlyI">school desk</a>, and create or recite lyrics about anything without singing. The proliferation of cost-friendly, music-creating software and hardware puts more involved participation in reach, and allows flexibility in creativity and even pathways to entrepreneurship.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The beatboxer Tom Thum demonstrates his prowess.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Marginalised communities the world over <a href="https://janetthomas.wordpress.com/2011/12/05/global-rap-gives-a-voice-to-marginalised-communities-in-the-new-century/">resonate with the ethos of resisting exclusion or discrimination</a> and fighting for equity and justice. Others just love the beats and lyrical flow. Beyond beats and rhymes, there’s also something for everyone: B-Girls and B-Boys dance, DJ’s scratch and mix, and graffiti artists draw and write. Combined with emceeing, or rapping, these are the <a href="http://www.thetika.com/an-introduction-to-hip-hop-by-krs-one/">four basic elements of hip hop</a>, with the fifth being Knowledge of Self: the drive for self-awarness and social-consciousness.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179794/original/file-20170726-10339-7nykru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Participants in the RMIT Link Bust A Groove Dance Competition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo supplied by Michelle Grace Hunder</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This accessibility and inclusivity makes hip hop such an effective therapeutic tool for working with young people. It’s a style most feel comfortable with and it provides a way to build rapport between client and therapist. The lyrical content is a vehicle for building self reflection, learning, and growth. Whether analysing existing songs, or creating new content, the vast array of themes found in hip-hop songs enable therapists to access topics that may otherwise be hard to talk about.</p>
<p>The repetitive, predictable nature of hip hop beats is also said to provide a <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=TyKpAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=rap+beats+as+supportive+trauma&ots=5LzrYq2Tda&sig=lvqn6VmxFRTkPqjMZKEsfCKaijc#v=snippet&q=steady&f=false">sense of safety</a>, particularly during song writing, and lyrical and musical improvisation. <a href="https://soundcloud.com/collectivemusictherapy/cmt-podcast-ep8">Therapists suggest</a> this provides a sense of dependability for those with little regularity or safety in their everyday lives; something supported by research linking <a href="https://search.proquest.com/openview/80de455b3cebf22b20ba64ac399eb65f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y">music engagement and self-regulation</a>.</p>
<p>In his US-based research, Dr Travis has shown that, despite negative associations, many who listen to hip hop find it a strong source of both <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10911359.2014.974433">self and community empowerment</a>. More specifically, the benefits to <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Power-Intersections-Ethnicity-Culture/dp/1440831300">individual mental health, in areas of coping, emotions, identity and personal growth, can help promote resilience in communities</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179798/original/file-20170726-30134-1eb4oy8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Mantra is a Melbourne-based hip hop artist who works extensively in schools and the community to empower youth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo supplied by Michelle Grace Hunder</span></span>
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<p>In Australian school settings, Dr Crooke has found hip hop to be a positive way for students of diverse backgrounds to <a href="https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/58214">engage with their wider community</a>, <a href="http://www.ijea.org/v18n3/v18n3.pdf">learning tasks, and schools more generally</a>. In a recent (yet to be published) study, he also explored the benefits of a short-term intensive <a href="http://www.soundofthefuture.org/">hip hop and beat making program</a> for young people labelled oppositional, seriously disengaged or at-risk of exclusion.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/179796/original/file-20170726-14517-jw6s4x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Participants in the RMIT Link Bust A Groove Dance Competition.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo supplied by Michelle Grace Hunder</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Results showed students were not only highly engaged in learning through the program, but exhibited positive self-expression, built significant rapport with facilitators, and strengthened social connection amongst each other.</p>
<h2>Expressing yourself</h2>
<p>Hip hop emerged as a reaction to the gang culture and violence of the South Bronx in the 1970s, and daily experiences of poverty, racism, exclusion, crime, violence, and neglect. It necessarily embodies and values resilience, understanding, community and social justice. </p>
<p>Yet, the hip hop project is not yet free from these difficult circumstances. Many communities around the world still battle the effects of discrimination, segregation, and injustice. Hip hop is often a potent voice to these lived experiences. One of its original, primary strengths was that it allowed young, creative Black and Latino youth to create art that reflected the reality of their lives, of the neighbourhoods around them, and of the wider social circumstances in which they found themselves. In the words of US artists N.W.A. they were making the most out their basic human right to “Express Yourself.”</p>
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<p>We may be several decades on, but there are plenty of young people that still need to do the same.</p>
<p>Hip hop is neither a panacea nor a cure all. It is not perfect, but its promise is undeniable. It is a culture with complicated social and historical roots. And it should not be appropriated without acknowledging, respecting and addressing these, because it is precisely these origins that make is so important. Its complicated history enables us to critically reflect on our society, and forces us to face issues of race, privilege, class, and cultural appropriation.</p>
<p>Given the urgency of our need for equity, justice, tolerance and critical civic engagement in today’s society, we need to challenge our preconceptions about hip hop culture. It is perhaps one of the most important and generous movements in our world today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/81556/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hip hop often gets a bad rap but for therapists and teachers it can be a transformative tool.Alexander Crooke, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Music Therapy, The University of MelbourneRaphael Travis Jr., Associate Professor of Social Work, Texas State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/596692016-07-13T01:08:27Z2016-07-13T01:08:27ZUnderstanding the NDIS: how does the scheme view music therapy?<p><em>On July 1 2016, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) moved from a trial phase to a full national roll-out. This is the last article in our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-the-ndis">Understanding the NDIS</a> series where we explore how the scheme works, why Australia needs it, and the issues to be addressed before eligible Australians, such as Indigenous people with disability, can receive the benefits they are entitled to.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>It is challenging to work out how the new <a href="https://theconversation.com/understanding-the-ndis-how-does-the-scheme-work-and-am-i-eligible-for-funding-58726">National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)</a> works. As an an <a href="http://www.austmta.org.au/content/what-music-therapy">allied health professional</a> who is also the <a href="http://mcm.bespoke.unimelb.edu.au/study/degrees/master-of-music-therapy/overview">Head of Music Therapy</a>, I attempt to anticipate and influence policy changes, conduct research that challenges and tests new directions and teach how music therapy practice needs to evolve in response. </p>
<p>Music therapy is different from music entertainment. It is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-music-therapy-20154">research-based practice</a> and profession where music is used to actively support people to improve their health and overall well-being. Music therapists are musicians trained at university to understand how music can affect behaviours and how people feel and think.</p>
<p>Theoretically, music therapy is a support funded under the NDIS, that includes funding for “therapeutic supports including behaviour support”. A spokesman from the National Disability Insurance Agency – the organisation implementing and overseeing the scheme – told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Under the scheme, music therapy must be delivered in a program designed by a qualified music therapist and delivered by a music therapist or therapy assistant with experience in music therapy. If it is delivered by a therapy assistant, the program must be monitored by a music therapist. Like any therapeutic intervention, a music therapy program is regarded as a capacity building support with goals and measurable outcomes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But it is still unclear how music therapy will be funded under the NDIS. While the spokesman said funding for music therapy would be assessed on a case-by-case basis, <a href="http://www.austmta.org.au/brochure/ndis-white-paper">anecdotal reports</a> suggest assessment for funding varies greatly between regions, rather than individual cases.</p>
<h2>The value of the arts</h2>
<p>The NDIS was established to reflect a <a href="http://www.pwd.org.au/student-section/the-social-model-of-disability.html">social model of disability</a> which means it recognises people with disabilities are part of our community and supports the social changes necessary to accommodate their needs. It’s an <a href="http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml">internationally accepted model</a> that emphasises inclusion, equity and autonomy. </p>
<p>Music therapy provides accessible opportunities for participation in the arts and is also an allied health profession, along with 17 others represented by the national <a href="http://www.ahpa.com.au/">Allied Health Professions Association</a>.</p>
<p>We conducted research with disability service providers such as <a href="http://www.scopevic.org.au/news-event/calling-writers-artists/">Scope</a>, which have arts programs that aim at both community inclusion and the provision of traditional allied health services in their centres. We found participants enthusiastic about accessing music programs tailored to their needs and keen to be involved in new opportunities provided by qualified music therapists.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ndis.gov.au/participants/planning-process">NDIS planners</a> are the gatekeepers of the new funding process, assessing plans submitted by families. So the key question becomes: what understanding do planners have of the value of arts participation in the scheme? </p>
<p>According to our <a href="http://www.austmta.org.au/brochure/ndis-white-paper">most recent research project</a> this is variable. Service users in the New South Wales region, where a pilot has been rolling since 2015, say some requests for music therapy services have been rejected. In some instances, families have been advised to just seek services from speech pathologists who are musical, and told that music therapy just sounds like instrumental lessons. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124428/original/image-20160530-859-2m8g8a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=536&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A newborn baby in a Slovakian hospital listens to music. The hospital uses music as therapy for babies separated from their mothers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Petr Josek Snr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Further anecdotal evidence suggests those unhappy with the progress of their plans are unable to change them directly, but instead have been advised to formally request a review, which can take months. Although the NDIS is still being trialled and piloted, anecdotal reports from NSW are that participants will only have limited access to funded arts participation under the scheme. </p>
<p>This hasn’t been the case everywhere. In the Barwon region of Victoria for instance, music therapists have been funded to deliver therapeutic programs; as well as being asked to oversee programs run by non-qualified, community music colleagues to ensure relevant issues are taken into account. </p>
<p>This inconsistency between trial sites has made it difficult to efficiently develop the kinds of programs that will best support participants of the scheme. And the overlap of medical and social models of therapy has compounded that confusion. </p>
<h2>A social model of therapy</h2>
<p>We developed <a href="http://www.salvationarmy.org.au/Global/News%20and%20Media/Reports/2008/7-who-says-i-cant-sing.pdf">a practical model of music participation back in 2008</a> that is similar to the one of therapists and assistants highlighted by the NDIS. But this assumed people’s right to access ongoing and regular participation in music programs.</p>
<p>The NDIS is currently exploring allied health provision through a medical lens with an emphasis on words such as “treatment” and suggestions of short-term “interventions”. These words imply an <a href="https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/787/664">individualised, expert focus</a> where the trained professional holds the skills to fix a client’s pathology.</p>
<p>In a social model, <a href="https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/786/657">disability is seen as part of human diversity</a> and therapy aims to change structures and promote empowerment. A program designed with these values is therefore very different from one aligned with the medical model. </p>
<p>The underlying, social philosophy of the NDIS demands a new kind of service provision. Indeed, the change to the scheme has been driven by members of the disability sector who are sick of being pathologised. In anticipation of the new scheme, community music therapy scholars have been establishing a research basis for understanding music <a href="https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/784/655">as a social practice</a> and challenging the ways our profession has previously aligned with <a href="https://voices.no/index.php/voices/article/view/801/666">medicalisation of people with disabilities</a>.</p>
<p>Our research shows <a href="http://jid.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/05/24/1744629516650128.full.pdf?ijkey=Z94SesIeGvTwK7B&keytype=finite">a need for a shift in thinking</a> about the provision of community-based music programs before services are ready to provide what people need and deserve from a social model. This will take support and funding, and while a program designed to <a href="http://www.ndis.gov.au/sites/default/files/ILC-Policy-Framework.pdf">build community capacity</a> is due to be trialled in the Australian Capital Territory next year, its scope and methods are still unclear. </p>
<p>The money certainly isn’t going to be coming from community arts organisations, whose <a href="https://theconversation.com/carnage-in-the-arts-experts-respond-to-the-australia-council-cuts-59368">funding has been slashed</a> across the sector by the current government. </p>
<p>The NDIS has excellent intentions. Its agenda of inclusion emphasises the rights of all people to access mainstream community services. But will people be able to find what they need and deserve through the new funding scheme?</p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read other pieces in the NDIS series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/understanding-the-ndis">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina McFerran receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is a member of the Australian Music Therapy Association. </span></em></p>The NDIS has laudable aims but how much funding will be available to enable participation in arts therapy?Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Music Therapy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/577992016-06-01T05:09:04Z2016-06-01T05:09:04ZAgeing in harmony: why the third act of life should be musical<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124690/original/image-20160601-25573-yu48y8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Playing music is good for people at all stages in their lives – including the elderly.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jeremy Brooks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s never too late to pick up a musical instrument. In fact there are many reasons why it’s a great idea, particularly in old age. </p>
<p>We normally hear about reasons to increase music education for children, and for good cause. There are <a href="http://ijm.sagepub.com/content/28/3/269">many cognitive and social benefits</a> to playing an instrument that aid a child’s development. Consequently, as an older adult, there are long-term effects of having taken part in these musical activities, as it can <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21463047">limit cognitive decline</a>. </p>
<p>Even a <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/33/45/17667.full">small amount of training</a> can have long lasting effects. But this doesn’t mean that those who have never played an instrument in childhood have missed the boat. The ageing brain is <em>plastic</em>: that means it is able to learn new things all the time. So, should we consider an increase in music programs for those in the third age?</p>
<h2>Playing music as a workout for the brain</h2>
<p>Learning to play a musical instrument is an extremely complex task that involves the coordination of multiple sensory systems within the brain. Many instruments require precise coordination between the eyes, the ears and the hands in order to play a musical note. Using the resulting sound as feedback, the brain prepares for the next note and so it continues. The act of music-making is quite a brain workout. </p>
<p>The relationship between the motor and auditory parts of the brain is strengthened when physically playing music. This may explain why adults trained to <em>play</em> certain melodies have an <a href="http://www.jneurosci.org/content/28/39/9632.long">enhanced representation of music</a> in the brain compared to adults only trained to <em>listen</em> to the same melodies. </p>
<p>As playing music involves many different parts of the brain, even a short-term program for older adult musical novices can lead to generalised improvements for <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00810/full">cognitive ability</a>. </p>
<h2>Music as a workout for the fingers</h2>
<p>Learning to play an instrument such as the piano involves many complex finger sequencing and coordination tasks. As such, it can be a great test-bed for learning to move fingers independently. </p>
<p>The creativity of music and the enjoyment people take in playing is particularly important for rehabilitation, as it encourages sustained practice leading ultimately to higher benefits.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/124735/original/image-20160601-1964-11dnlm4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>It’s thanks to this that piano lessons have been used to successfully retrain hand function for <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00662/full">patients who have had a stroke</a>. The immediate auditory feedback from each finger movement is thought to help adults <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25721795">reduce errors in movement</a> and work towards moving at a more regular pace. </p>
<p>Music training is an excellent environment to train cognitive and motor abilities, both in the contexts of child development and for rehabilitation. The question for older adults is this: can learning a musical instrument not only put the brakes on cognitive and motor decline, but actually allow development of new skills? </p>
<p>Older adults can <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1995805/">improve their motor learning</a> – that is, they can improve their rate of learning new things – and the best environments for brain training are ones that are <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00183/full">novel and flexible</a>. </p>
<p>Of course many activities can be novel such as juggling or knitting, but the advantages of learning an instrument can be found in the breadth of skills required to play. At Western Sydney University, we are currently investigating how piano training can be used with healthy older adults to improve their general hand function in unrelated daily tasks.</p>
<h2>Music for health and wellbeing</h2>
<p>Often, the worry is that playing an instrument will be too difficult for older adults to manage. On the contrary, learning to play an instrument can provide a great sense of <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/41162324">achievement</a> and satisfaction. </p>
<p>Older adults relish the opportunity to <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02601370.2014.999361">learn something new</a>.
Cogntive benefits aside, music can also be a great <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02601370.2014.991951">social activity for older adults</a>, facilitating social bonding and decreasing feelings of loneliness or isolation. </p>
<p>Music programs are linked to improvements measured in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0889159113005138">markers of the body’s immune system</a> such as the presence of antibodies and vital signs (heart rate/blood pressure).</p>
<p>It’s suggested that this is a consequence of decreases in stress that can happen when taking part in musical activities. However, further research is needed to determine exactly how this relationship functions.</p>
<h2>Music for all</h2>
<p>It’s vital to understand how we can aid the current generation of older adults, in terms of both health and personal enjoyment. With the myriad benefits provided by playing a musical instrument, it would seem beneficial to have a wider variety of musical activities on offer to the older generation.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be great if the third age wasn’t viewed as a final descent from some mid-life peak, but some new act of life that opens up these opportunities? Perhaps we should give older adults the chance to develop in ways they could never have imagined before. </p>
<p>Activities such as singing in a choir, or playing the piano can provide this opportunity, as well as offering many general benefits to health and wellbeing.</p>
<p>So whether it’s in independent living, retirement or assisted care, let’s make the third act of life a musical one!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/57799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer MacRitchie is currently involved in the project Music, Mind and Dexterity at Western Sydney University. </span></em></p>Music is a universal human habit, but it’s particularly good for the elderly. From slowing cognitive decline to helping someone recover from a stroke, old age is a great time to pick up an instrument.Jennifer MacRitchie, Research Lecturer in Music Perception and Cognition, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/591542016-05-11T20:06:47Z2016-05-11T20:06:47ZSongwriting as solace: ‘I live in the same body but it can’t talk to me any more’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122076/original/image-20160511-18168-1nzv4k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Making music helps people come to terms with traumatic life changes. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matt Gibson</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Music is healing, music is medicine. In times of trouble, music is what we turn to,” said Deltra Goodrem on last week’s episode of <a href="http://www.9jumpin.com.au/show/the-voice/">The Voice</a>. Two contestants that night told how music had helped them cope with their personal struggles. A young man had lost a mother at an early age; while a woman described living with facial palsy after having surgery to remove a brain tumour.</p>
<p>The panel members also shared their own perspectives. <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1159699/Ronan-Keating-My-mums-cancer-death-drove-drink-Ive-grown-now.html">Ronan Keating</a> spoke of how music helped him after the early death of his mother. Jessie J, who had a stroke when she was 17, told how songwriting helped her through tough times.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am somebody who needed music, I needed to write [songs] to survive. I needed it to understand how I felt, it was an emotional outlet for me […] it has definitely helped me through some of the toughest moments in my life.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122073/original/image-20160511-18165-q65hhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122073/original/image-20160511-18165-q65hhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122073/original/image-20160511-18165-q65hhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122073/original/image-20160511-18165-q65hhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=901&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122073/original/image-20160511-18165-q65hhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122073/original/image-20160511-18165-q65hhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122073/original/image-20160511-18165-q65hhs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1133&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Jessie J, who suffered a stroke at 17.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Nelson/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Songwriting is a creative and worthwhile therapeutic tool, even for people who don’t call themselves musicians. I’m studying, in a three year project supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant, the effect of songwriting on people undergoing rehabilitation after acquiring a brain or spinal cord injury.</p>
<p>Many are young adults in the prime of their life. The 38 people registered in the study range from 18 to 60; most were involved in motor vehicle accidents. Others were injured by unexpected events such as strokes or brain tumours. </p>
<p>Over 12 sessions a trained music therapist guides them as they each write three songs expressing their emotions at different stages of the process. The chorus typically expresses the central feeling or issue. For example, this is a chorus written by a person who received a brain injury after a drug overdose: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Looking at myself through strangers eyes, <br>
The person looking back at me I barely recognise,<br>
A fog has descended over my mind, <br>
Personality gone words hard to find. <br></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The therapist helps everyone experiment with genres until they find the style of music that expresses their feelings and story. Some songs are sung with guitar or keyboard, while others use GarageBand software on an iPad to create a full accompaniment with drums, bass, guitar, keyboard and other instruments. Letting people have full control over the music is key to ensuring they feel full ownership of the song.</p>
<h2>Grieving for the past</h2>
<p>The first song aims to explore participants’ identities before they became injured. The therapist encourages people to explore their pre-injury story, and lyrics often include references to family: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>My family, are such a part of me. <br>
They are the meaning in my life, <br>
They give me strength to keep on going. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Creating this song is a chance to reminisce and grieve about the life that’s no longer theirs.</p>
<h2>Accepting the present</h2>
<p>After the lyrics and music for the first song are recorded, the second song is created, this time exploring the present. It is a song about who they are at this moment, as a person with an acquired disability. This is often met with a mix of emotions; people oscillate between wanting to hold on to the past identity but also recognising and grieving what is lost and acknowledging the need to move ahead with their lives. </p>
<p>Song lyrics may focus on the physical self, as in these three examples:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When I look in the mirror, it doesn’t look like me, <br>
Subtraction of my hair and addition of a chair. <br></p>
<p>I live in the same body but it can’t talk to me anymore.<br></p>
<p>Feeling pretty useless, can’t even wipe my own arse, no options for work now,<br> Things will be different from the past.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Looking forward</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/122078/original/image-20160511-18150-kn978q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">aka Tman</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>During the creation of the third song, there is a focus on looking towards the future. This is a chance to try to integrate the pre-injured identity with the post-injury self.</p>
<p>For some, the songwriting experience helps them express their painful experiences and project their emotional responses to these into the music. All genres of modern music are represented in the repertoire of songs created so far. Slow and mellow ballads communicate longing for a life lost, while the rawness of distorted guitar riffs express anger towards themselves for the poor life choices that led to their injuries.</p>
<p>The music functions to fully express pain and loss, but also to celebrate the “second chance at life” that many express in their lyrics. </p>
<p>For example, one man who had received an acquired brain injury following a motor vehicle accident sang:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This accident has brought me to my knees, <br>
Forced me to confront, my mortality, <br>
Made me question my beliefs, maybe I had it wrong, and <br>
Opened my mind to the possibilities</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We have now moved onto testing the approach in a large scale randomised control trial also funded by the Australia Research Council.</p>
<p>But our pilot study, published in <a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnhum.2015.00299/full">Frontiers in Human Neuroscience</a> found that our intervention had a strong positive impact on people’s sense of self, levels of depression and anxiety. </p>
<p>Songwriting enhanced their satisfaction with life and strengthened their sense of flourishing; and it helped people cope with painful and confronting questions about their identity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felicity Anne Baker receives funding from an Australia Research Council Discovery Grant (2015-2017).</span></em></p>Singers on The Voice last week spoke of the healing power of songwriting. And a new study has found that writing songs about their experience is helping people cope with acquired brain and spinal chord injuries.Felicity Anne Baker, Professor of Music Therapy and Associate Dean (Academic), The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/548242016-02-16T18:22:54Z2016-02-16T18:22:54ZQuestions to ask your teenager about music and mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111607/original/image-20160216-6548-s694ry.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Music affords opportunities for emotions and connection like little else. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicki Varkevisser</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are already so many important conversations to have with your teenager – how to bring up <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-may-be-awkward-but-we-need-to-talk-to-kids-about-porn-43066">the topic of pornography</a>, the kinds of behaviours that underpin <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-stop-violence-against-women-we-need-to-get-men-to-help-change-social-norms-35265">male violence against women</a>, meaningful inclusion of people <a href="https://theconversation.com/inclusive-education-means-all-children-are-included-in-every-way-not-just-in-theory-45237">who are different to them</a> … but what can a discussion of music reveal?</p>
<p>Young people’s music choices have been a topic of adult interest and concern ever since the division between adult and adolescent music was constructed in the 1950s. This distinction between youth and adult markets was <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Popular_Music.html?id=7WOBJ1DNS1MC&redir_esc=y">a strategy</a> designed by music and film magnates to help newly affluent babyboomers spend their hard-earned cash in a number of developed countries. </p>
<p>The pre-teen market emerged decades later, but teenyboppers <a href="https://www.routledge.com/products/9780415807821">have since grown</a> into the main consumers of pop music and are a priority target for the music industry. The fact that parents sometimes feel excluded from youth music is therefore utterly intentional. </p>
<p>Not only does it serve the music industry, but it also provides young people with an opportunity for individuation – a healthy psychological process of transferring loyalty from parents to peers that is developmentally <a href="http://www3.nd.edu/%7Edlapsle1/Lab/Articles%20&%20Chapters_files/Lapsley%20Stey%20Sep-Ind.pdf">timetabled for adolescence</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111609/original/image-20160216-22560-169l0sn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">fernando butcher</span></span>
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<p>Of course, healthy development is one thing, but there are times when parents worry about their child’s mental health and may perceive that their music choices are reflecting or reinforcing their unhappiness. </p>
<p>Our investigations into the ways that teenagers use music to influence their mental health <a href="http://yas.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/11/26/0044118X13501343.abstract">have shown that</a> this is complex territory that is not always well understood. </p>
<p>We have used both <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08098131.2014.908942?queryID=%24%7BresultBean.queryID%7D">surveys</a> and <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019745561300186X">in-depth interviews</a> to ask young people about their relationship with music and the results suggest that conversations on this topic require careful negotiation. </p>
<p>There are two common mistakes that caring parents often make.</p>
<p>First, there is the belief that music <em>does something</em> to young people. If music were that powerful, my career as a music therapist would be a lot more profitable; I would not hesitate to use music to bring about world peace and equity, as a start. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111615/original/image-20160216-22547-1q109z3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">David Urbanke</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Music is not a causative variable that can render predictable benefits if taken like a drug. It functions more like a condition that promotes particular potentials, but those potentials do not come in to play unless they are given permission by the young person – consciously or unconsciously. </p>
<p>In other words, we can use music to calm ourselves down, but we have to <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-child-as-musician-9780198744443?cc=au&lang=en&">choose to do so</a>.</p>
<p>Second, there is the belief that different types of music have different effects. So upbeat music with positive lyrics and a major tonality should make us happy, and slow music with sad lyrics and a minor tonality should make us depressed. </p>
<p>Again, the opposite can be true, with people’s personal associations effectively overriding any inherent direction suggested by the music. So music that makes one person happy could be utterly depressing, or irritating, for another. And so it goes. </p>
<p>But what can you do when your teenager is listening to music that triggers a sense of concern in you? </p>
<p>Well, first of all, it’s a fantastic opportunity for bonding and dialogue. While teenagers may be using music to separate from their parents, they are often pretty passionate about it, and don’t mind expressing their opinions about it under the right conditions. </p>
<p>We have developed and tested a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/camh.12109/full">13 question tool</a> to use in clinical practice, but these questions can be distilled to a smaller number for parents.</p>
<p>So, set aside your pre-assumptions and begin the conversation with:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>So, what kind of music are you listening to at the moment? </p>
</blockquote>
<p>All going well, this should lead to a good chat. But if your child is struggling with mental health problems, he or she may need help to identify some habits that are working against them.</p>
<p>If your concerns linger, try these questions that might help draw out any tendencies to be using music to ruminate or intensify negative states of being: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>1) Do you sometimes get stuck in bad memories when you listen to music?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is the classic rumination strategy, used by most of us in healthy ways to process and work through challenging situations. The “break-up song” is an excellent example. </p>
<p>But when people are struggling to break out of negative circular thinking patterns, music can be an all-too-effective way of staying stuck in repetitious thoughts.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>2) Do you ever try to use music to feel better, but end up feeling worse?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Most young people rely on music to make them feel better, and have had multiple experiences of this working. But the young people I have spoken to are less skilled at noticing when it isn’t working and will optimistically continue to use the same music that used to make them feel better, even though it has now become associated with feeling worse. </p>
<p>Raising their consciousness of this is more difficult than you might expect, and can take a number of gentle probes to see if this is occurring. </p>
<p>In our studies we had to say, “Really, you’ve NEVER felt worse after listening to music?”, and then, after a while, we would hear, “Well, there was this one time …”, which often turns into many times.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>3) Do you ever hide in music because nobody else understands and it blocks people out?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The idea of music being a “friend” is such a beautiful notion and there’s no doubt that music has helped many young people survive periods of isolation when there was no-one in their friendship group that seemed to understand them. But over-identifying with distant idols can become problematic in the context of mental health problems. </p>
<p>When young people desperately need real-time connection, it can be all too easy to hide in music – after all, songs never answer back, they are predictable, and they’ll keep telling you what you want to hear. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/111608/original/image-20160216-22573-kp9iie.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">justine-reyes</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are very few humans who are so reliable, and actually that’s a good thing since good friends provide us with more dynamic feedback that changes as our conditions change. So although music can be something of a saviour and may lead to wonderful connections with people who aren’t living in your neighbourhood, there are times when it may be reinforcing a sense of isolation that has become unhealthy.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>4) Does music ever lead you to do things you shouldn’t do?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In our experience, teenagers hate this question, and so they should. As I wrote above, music can’t lead us anywhere: we have to choose to go. But it’s been difficult to find a way of asking about those times when young people intensify an angry or aggressive mood through music listening, and this was the most acceptable question. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, young people who struggle to control negative outbursts can respond with anger to such a question. You should carefully consider whether this question is worth asking; but there is no doubt that we can use music to pump ourselves up for a big night out, or for a big game, or even to get the housework /homework done, and equally, to inspire dangerous behaviours. </p>
<p>Mostly, young people and older people alike use music in positive and sustaining ways. Music affords opportunities for emotions and connection like little else. And it’s important to remember that what might look negative can actually be a positive processing of difficult emotions. </p>
<p>But if someone you know is struggling with mental health problems that include ruminating and intensifying behaviours, it’s worth having a chat about music and making sure that it’s being used in ways that help. </p>
<p>Raising people’s awareness of how music works is often enough for them to think about what they are doing, and make changes if they decide it’s a good idea.</p>
<p><br>
<em>The Healthy-Unhealthy Uses of Music symposium will be held at the Arts Centre in Melbourne on March 4. Full details <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/healthy-unhealthy-uses-of-music-in-mental-health-care-symposium-tickets-19990347668">here</a></em>.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Katrina will be on hand for an Author Q&A between 2 and 3pm AEDT on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/54824/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina McFerran received funding from the Australian Research Council and The University of Melbourne for research projects referred to in this article. Information about this research will be presented at a forthcoming symposium referenced at the bottom of the article on the topic of Healthy-Unhealthy Uses of Music, hosted by the University of Melbourne. She is also a Board Director for Pakt4Change, a not-for-profit organisation whose aim is to engage kids, parents and communities in innovative therapeutic music opportunities that promote and foster meaningful change. </span></em></p>Most young people rely on music to make them feel better, and have had multiple experiences of this working. But if someone you know is struggling with mental health problems it’s worth having a chat.Katrina McFerran, Professor and Head of Music Therapy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/473022015-09-10T13:12:47Z2015-09-10T13:12:47ZHow music can help relieve chronic pain<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94277/original/image-20150909-18631-5cacrr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'A gran don't come for free'</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&searchterm=old%20woman%20ipod&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=286262078">Berna Namoglu</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the 17th-century English playwright William Congreve <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/143494-music-hath-charms-to-soothe-a-savage-breast-to-soften">said</a>: “Music has charms to soothe a savage breast.” It is known that listening to music can significantly enhance our health and general feelings of well-being. </p>
<p>An important and growing area of research concerns how music helps to mitigate pain and its negative effects. Music <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20403600">has been shown to reduce</a> anxiety, fear, depression, pain-related distress <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2311487">and blood pressure</a>. It has been <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16625614">found to</a> lower pain-intensity levels and reduce the opioid requirements of patients with post-operative pain. </p>
<p>Music has helped children undergoing numerous medical and dental procedures. And it has been <a href="http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199686827.do">demonstrated to</a> work in a variety of other clinical settings such as palliative care, paediatrics, surgery and anaesthesia. </p>
<p>So what makes music so effective at making us feel better? The research has often drawn on <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10491980">theories around how</a> nerve impulses in the central nervous system are affected by our thought processes and emotions. Anything that distracts us from pain may reduce the extent to which we focus on it, and music may be particularly powerful in this regard. The beauty is that once we understand how music relates to pain, we have the potential to treat ourselves. </p>
<p>Music attracts and holds our attention and is emotionally engaging, particularly if our relationship with the piece is strong. Our favourite music is likely to have stronger positive effects than tracks we don’t like or know. Researchers <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/aca/2/3/162/">have demonstrated</a> that the music we prefer has greater positive effects on pain tolerance and perception, reduces anxiety and increases feelings of control over pain. In older people with dementia, listening to preferred music <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16164531">has been</a> linked with decreasing agitated behaviour. </p>
<p>Alongside the benefits of listening to what you prefer, the nature of the music has also been shown to be important in enhancing how emotionally engaging it is for patients. Recent research has <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21895104">demonstrated this</a> in relation to dynamics, brightness, arousal levels and other acoustic attributes. Music which is bright, with low intensity and slower tempo has <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21895104">been shown to</a> have the most positive effect on the degree of pain that we experience, for example.</p>
<h2>The pain barrier</h2>
<p>On the back of all these insights, we are beginning to see music therapy for pain related to a wide variety of medical conditions. Types of therapy include playing musical instruments, singing and listening to music, though mostly in a clinical setting. Yet despite what we have learned and what we are now beginning to practice, there has been little work on <a href="http://www.policyconnect.org.uk/cppc/about-chronic-pain">chronic pain</a>. This area of <a href="http://www.policyconnect.org.uk/cppc/about-chronic-pain">growing importance</a> refers to pain either from an ongoing disease or that continues beyond the normal time that a wound usually takes to heal. This affects more than 14m people in England alone – around a quarter of the population. </p>
<p>To ease the burden on health professionals, the government <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2010-to-2015-government-policy-long-term-health-conditions">wants sufferers</a> to increasingly manage their pain themselves. Known as self-management in the jargon, this traditionally includes taking medication, stretching, relaxation exercises and so forth. Music has been <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3740599/">suggested as</a> an attractive addition to the list, given that it is inexpensive, can be tailored around the everyday activities of the individual and has few of the negative secondary effects associated with many prescription drugs. Beyond the pain itself, it also <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1632362/Music_Subjective_Wellbeing_and_Health_The_Role_of_Everyday_Emotions">has the potential</a> to help with persistent parts of the pain cycle such as stress and negative thoughts – particularly in this era of ubiquitous portable playing devices. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94278/original/image-20150909-18622-kt21rx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Doctors’ notes?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=pT2jyGt-t7_DgcBPZRPgmA&searchterm=sheet%20music&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=123313363">danielo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is also much to study, however. We may know that the music we like can help with the negative symptoms of pain, but key mechanisms are still not fully understood. If being emotionally engaged with music is key to maximising our distraction in this regard, there are myriad factors affecting our emotional relationship with music that we need to understand. </p>
<p><a href="http://pom.sagepub.com/content/40/5/539.abstract">These include</a> the personal meaning and memories that the music conjures for a particular individual, the context the listener is in and factors such as age, gender, occupation and identity. There’s also a lot we <a href="http://pom.sagepub.com/content/18/2/150.short">don’t know about</a> how people use music to regulate their emotions, such as using it to achieve a psychological high or to suppress negative feelings. Insights into these areas won’t only help in relation to chronic pain, but would certainly bring important benefits in that area. </p>
<p>Most of the research to date has been in laboratories and clinical settings – hence the reason most therapy takes place in the presence of specialists. Particularly if we are to learn how best to apply music to chronic pain, where self-management is so important, we’re going to need more research situated in everyday settings.</p>
<p>I am planning studies myself based around everyday music listening and how this can help support self-management of pain. Undoubtedly music therapy for chronic pain is an area with great potential, so there is every reason to others to press ahead too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Don Knox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We’ve learned a lot about how music can help with pain and a score of other clinical problems. But with chronic pain affecting a quarter of us, it’s an area that has received too little attention.Don Knox, Senior audio lecturer, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/459732015-08-13T07:44:22Z2015-08-13T07:44:22ZWhether Mozart or Madonna, music can help you recover from surgery<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91602/original/image-20150812-18104-15pp3kb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most people undergo a surgical procedure at some point in their lives. More than <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/inpatient-surgery.htm">51m operative procedures</a> are performed annually in the USA and <a href="http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/media/media-background-briefings-and-">4.6m hospital admissions</a> lead to surgical care in England. But the time after an operation is still a difficult one for patients and pain, discomfort, changes to regular routines and rehabilitation therapy are all common.</p>
<p>Current strategies for improving recovery tend to involve patient education and nutritional additives, which have been seen to reduce post-operative pain requirements and improve satisfaction levels. But despite a wealth of relevant studies supporting its potential in recovery, music is still not an everyday part of the post-surgical routine because information demonstrating its effectiveness has not been widely spread.</p>
<p>Using music to improve patients’ hospital experience has a long history, and its potential was recognised <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8406006.stm">by Florence Nightingale</a>. Music was first described being used to help patients during operations in a <a href="http://bit.ly/1Tt9psR">scientific paper more than 100 years ago</a>.</p>
<p>Compared to drugs, prerecorded music played through headphones, musical pillows or background sound systems can be a non-invasive, safe and inexpensive intervention that can be delivered easily in a medical setting. Music has <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/5457754_The_Anxiety-_and_Pain-Reducing_Effects_of_Music_Interventions_A_Systematic_Review">frequently been investigated</a> in the context of recovery from operative procedures and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3590687/">numerous trials</a> have demonstrated positive effects on patients’ post-operative recovery.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91496/original/image-20150811-14995-1qs0mr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/91496/original/image-20150811-14995-1qs0mr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91496/original/image-20150811-14995-1qs0mr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91496/original/image-20150811-14995-1qs0mr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91496/original/image-20150811-14995-1qs0mr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91496/original/image-20150811-14995-1qs0mr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/91496/original/image-20150811-14995-1qs0mr0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The author tests out her own theory.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Catherine Meads</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My colleagues and I wanted to assess this evidence so that we could highlight the potential for music in surgical recovery. We <a href="http://bit.ly/1L5zkVo">found and analysed</a> as many randomised trials on the use of music to improve post-operative recovery as possible, using a technique called systematic review.</p>
<p>In total, we found 73 trials involving nearly 7,000 patients and reviewed what they showed about the impact of music on common measures for post-operative care. These included pain, the need for painkillers, anxiety, patient satisfaction and length of stay. We also explored the patients’ choice of music, the timing of the intervention and whether general anaesthesia was also used.</p>
<p>Patients in the studies chose a wide variety of music styles, although they mostly all had a soothing quality. Researchers either used single types of music such as classical music, or gave patients a choice from a list of styles.</p>
<p>Delivery was often by music pillows, which broadcast sound at a volume low enough for only the people lying on them can hear, or with headphones but at a level so that patients could still communicate easily. Different trials tested music before, during or after operations or a combination, and when patients were awake or anesthetised. The duration of the music varied between a few minutes to repeated episodes over several days.</p>
<h2>Natural painkiller</h2>
<p>The evidence showed that patients were significantly less anxious and more satisfied after surgery if they had listened to music. They also needed less pain medication and reported significantly less pain compared with patients who weren’t played music. The type of music, patient choice and timing before during or after the surgery did not make much difference. And it even worked when patients were played music under general anaesthetic, although the effects were larger when patients were conscious.</p>
<p>It’s not clear how or why music has these effects but it may reduce the stress response in patients. Other possibilities are that it might work by distraction, by having something familiar and having something that is controllable by the patient.</p>
<p>We believe there is now sufficient research to demonstrate that music should be available to all patients undergoing operations. Patients should be able to choose the type of music they would like to hear. Some might prefer for religious reasons to listen to recitations or natural sounds.</p>
<p>How loud to play the music is still unclear but it shouldn’t be distracting to medical staff or other patients. Surgical teams may prefer patients to listen to their own electronic musical devices before the procedure or as soon as they arrive back onto the ward. If this can become routine practice, it could make the whole experience of an operation more enjoyable and, crucially, less painful.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/45973/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Meads does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Classical or hip-hop, music often feels like it has healing properties and now scientists have proved it.Catherine Meads, Reader in health technology assessment, Brunel University LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/373162015-03-16T09:39:20Z2015-03-16T09:39:20ZHealthy songs: the amazing power of music therapy<p>When I was a child, on most Fridays, my dad, mom, brother and I would travel to Cape Cod to visit my grandparents. For my father, this drive would come after a long day of work, during which he had already commuted from our home, an hour outside of the city, to Boston, where he worked as an accountant, and back home again. He was an intense man, and during these drives to the Cape we were often silent, on edge – unsure how to interpret his sullen and grave demeanor. </p>
<p>After we arrived, my grandmother would typically begin playing a mix of classical music, folk songs and pop songs on her spinet piano – and I would watch my dad’s face transform: his jaw would slacken, while the lines between his eyebrows softened, lifting the intensity of thought that always seemed to burden him. </p>
<p>This was my first experience of the power of music.</p>
<p>Nearly two decades later, I learned of music therapy as a profession. I was a rising junior in college and, without hesitation, I switched my major to learn how to clinically wield music’s ability to transform and heal – a power I had observed years earlier. </p>
<p>Music therapy has grown from relative obscurity to a practice that is becoming fairly mainstream, largely due to the advocacy of colleagues in the field, along with media coverage of the burgeoning profession. Jodi Picoult came to Berklee College to study music therapy to develop the main character – a music therapist – of her novel <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sing-You-Home-Jodi-Picoult/dp/1439102732">Sing You Home</a>. Meanwhile, following the gunshot injury she sustained, Representative Gabby Giffords underwent rehabilitation efforts that <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Health/w_MindBodyNews/gabby-giffords-finding-voice-music-therapy/story?id=14903987">included music-based interventions</a>. Although she initially couldn’t speak, she could sing, an ability that was used to further her speech recovery. And films about music’s capacity for healing and improving quality of life include the recent releases <a href="http://www.aliveinside.us">Alive Inside</a>, <a href="http://nickreedent.com/about/">The Lady in Apartment 6</a>, <a href="http://www.landfillharmonicmovie.com">Landfill Harmonic</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Music-Never-Stopped-J-K-Simmons/dp/B004QL7JTE">The Music Never Stopped</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">The trailer for The Lady in Apartment 6. ‘My world is music,’ said the film’s subject, 109-year-old Alice Sommer. ‘I am not interested in anything else.’</span></figcaption>
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<p>Doctor-writer Oliver Sacks’ essay collections, like <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Musicophilia-Tales-Revised-Expanded-Edition/dp/1400033535">Musicophilia</a>, introduced stories to the public that explained the ability of music to promote skill learning and/or recovery in the face of severe disability and trauma. Research in neuroscience has backed up many of Sacks’ observations. For example, people who have suffered strokes or have been diagnosed Parkinson’s disease <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1525/mp.2010.27.4.263?uid=3739696&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=21105624714671">are better able to walk while listening to rhythmic music</a>. In the case of strokes, people who can’t talk can often sing. Singing is then used to facilitate recovery of speech. This has been the case of Representative Gabby Giffords.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74681/original/image-20150312-13502-1nplyt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74681/original/image-20150312-13502-1nplyt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74681/original/image-20150312-13502-1nplyt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74681/original/image-20150312-13502-1nplyt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=779&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74681/original/image-20150312-13502-1nplyt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74681/original/image-20150312-13502-1nplyt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/74681/original/image-20150312-13502-1nplyt3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=979&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Oliver Sacks’ essays – like those in the collection Musicophilia – have helped promote the benefits of music therapy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Oliversacks.jpg">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-862998781/music-therapy-with-premature-infants-research-and">Another study showed</a> that premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit left the ICU, on average, 11 days earlier if they used a device that played lullabies triggered by their sucking. And children who have had orthopedic surgery will report lower levels of pain <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/publication/244921013_The_Effects_of_Music_Entrainment_on_Postoperative_Pain_Perception_in_Pediatric_Patients">when doctors offer post-operative music therapy</a>. </p>
<p>In my practice as a speech language pathologist and music therapist, I’m able to use music to serve a variety of patients with an array of needs. Children with autism tend to be more attentive to musical sounds than speech sounds (especially when they’re very young), so I’ll use music to foster their linguistic and cognitive development. In my work with hospice patients, I’ll use quiet music that has a lulling rhythm to help even out their ragged breathing (which is sometimes very difficult for families to watch). </p>
<p>For cancer patients, I’ll use songs of hope and resilience. And by pairing music with imagery, such as relaxing nature images, I’ve helped patients preparing for surgery achieve a state of tranquility that can decrease their need for anesthesia and pain medication. I’ve used the same protocol to decrease the use of anti-anxiety medications among hospice patients I’ve served. Ultimately, carryover is the endgame: we help patients take the tools they’ve learned in music therapy and apply them to their everyday lives.</p>
<p>As a professor of music therapy at the Berklee College of Music, I’m preparing the next generation of music therapists to work in a variety of settings: early intervention programs, public schools, hospice and palliative care, cancer clinics, nursing homes and private practice. For many students, it’s an attractive opportunity – a chance to use their artistry to make the world a better place.</p>
<p>Every week, our Berklee students Skype with a group of child soldiers in Uganda. These young adults have suffered a great deal: forced to kill as children, they often started with their own family members and neighbors. They’ve emerged from the bush traumatized and without purpose. We’re teaching them to use meditative practices in music to calm their minds and to infuse meaning into their lives. As our students share therapeutic practices with the child soldiers, they, in turn, perform and share their music and dance for our students.</p>
<p>It’s this fusion of what many consider two distinct, incompatible entities – art and science – that ultimately elevates both; and the two, as one, can more readily accomplish their shared purpose: the healing and betterment of humanity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37316/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen Howland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>From serving newborns to treating hospice patients, music can be used in medical and psychological treatment with surprising – and real – results.Kathleen Howland, Professor of Music Therapy, Berklee College of MusicLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/334102014-11-13T19:32:33Z2014-11-13T19:32:33ZNo pain, no gain? The abuse of power in Whiplash is unacceptable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64335/original/tj8vpggg-1415760258.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Miles Teller as Andrew and J.K. Simmons as Fletcher in the pursuit of peak performance, in Whiplash.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Daniel McFadden, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2582802/">Whiplash</a>, the new film written and directed by American <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3227090/">Damien Chazelle</a>, is billed as a drama about an ambitious young drummer and his terrifying teacher. The older teacher is said to “discover” the 19 year-old jazz player, and then “push him to the brink” of his ability. </p>
<p>I would paint the picture a little differently and say that Whiplash illustrates the impact of an egotistical, artistic, control freak in a position of power over an undergraduate student. </p>
<p>Whether the film-maker was glorifying or denouncing the abuse was largely unclear to me and caused me to reflect on a number of concerns that are relevant to music education in Australia, both in the tertiary sector and earlier in the lives of young musicians.</p>
<p>The fact some people in the audience seemed to find the abuse of power amusing disturbed me, and when the laughter rang out in the theatre, the therapist in me wanted to take that person aside for a quick session. It was far from funny. </p>
<p>The model of teaching being portrayed in Whiplash is sometimes considered to be acceptable in the pursuit of artistic or physical peak achievement. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Whiplash (2014) trailer.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The “no pain, no gain” mantra suggests it is necessary for students to suffer in order for them achieve their full potential, but there is no evidence to support such a stance. In fact, studies <a href="http://pom.sagepub.com/content/39/1/123.short">have shown</a> harmonious passion is a better predictor of peak performance than obsessive passion and it is self-evident that the motivations for participating in music have little to do with an expectation of abuse. </p>
<p>Harsh teacher attitudes may be part of the reason that researchers <a href="http://rsm.sagepub.com/content/32/2/101.abstract">have discovered</a> a declining interest in music studies at school level across seven countries. This is endorsed by <a href="http://visible-learning.org/2013/07/hattie-yates-visible-learning-and-the-science-of-how-we-learn/">studies</a> of students in classrooms, which show that a combination of positive teacher attitude and visible learning goals create prime conditions for learning. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64343/original/gcstnvh6-1415764297.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Miles Teller as Andrew in Whiplash.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Daniel McFadden, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics</span></span>
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<p>Teaching practice has come a long way since the dominance of behavioural approaches, which were based on the simple dictum that good behaviour should be rewarded and bad behaviour be punished.</p>
<p>As a therapist who <a href="http://www.barcelonapublishers.com/Creating-Music-Cultures-in-the-Schools-A-Perspective-from-Community-Music-Therapy">investigates</a> the contribution music can make to building flourishing school communities there are two other theoretical perspectives that are relevant for dissecting the key message of Whiplash. </p>
<p>From a <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/220862.Freedom_to_Learn">humanistic perspective</a>, musicians in schools can create conditions in which students can express themselves creatively and authentically. When music leaders create opportunities for inclusive participation, wellbeing and connectedness are promoted. </p>
<p>That is not the approach adopted in Whiplash and therefore opportunities are missed. But a more disturbing lens to adopt from a therapeutic perspective is the psychodynamic one which investigates the unconscious motivations driving behaviour that are rooted in childhood experiences.</p>
<p>From that perspective, the abuse of power in Whiplash is made possible by the intimate context of the shared music lesson. Sharing music often involves revealing one’s inner world, through a combination of authentic self-expression and emotional engagement. When this is harnessed positively, transformation <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1661175.Defining_Music_Therapy">becomes possible</a>, both in learning and in therapy. </p>
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<span class="caption">J.K. Simmons as Fletcher in Whiplash.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Daniel McFadden, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics</span></span>
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<p>But the combination of power hierarchies and intimacy can also be abused. A number of recent <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/royal-college-of-music-hit-by-more-sex-abuse-allegations-9052251.html">court cases</a> illustrating this have received attention in the UK, with abuse being reported at the elite conservatoriums such as those represented in the movie including the Royal Northern College of Music. </p>
<p>Sadly, abuse perpetrated under the guise of music lessons can also occur with younger children, as evidenced in the <a href="http://www.childabuseroyalcommission.gov.au/about-us/our-reports/interim-report-html/volume-2-chapter-5/modules/vol-2-government-school">interim report</a> of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, currently underway in Australia.</p>
<p>Whiplash can be seen to romanticise the abuse of power. This accusation was also levied at director Darren Aronofsky for his portrayal of artistic obsession in the movie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0947798/">Black Swan</a> (2010). But the gruesome dripping of blood, sweat and tears on the drum-kit of this movie does not realise the same soaring brilliance. </p>
<p>Perhaps what Whiplash does achieve is open a conversation about the limited value of old-fashioned music education in contrast to more informed approaches that are currently being promoted through research-based pedagogy at universities in Australia. </p>
<p>The public nature of the abuse in the movie should also serve as a reminder that abuse – physical or otherwise – is an offence, and that reporting it is a community-wide responsibility.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><em>Katrina McFerran and Daphne Rickson’s new book, <a href="http://www.barcelonapublishers.com/Creating-Music-Cultures-in-the-Schools-A-Perspective-from-Community-Music-Therapy">Creating Music Cultures in the Schools: A Perspective from Community Music Therapy</a> (2014), has just been released by Barcelona Publishers.</em></p>
<p><br>
<em>A previous version of this article stated that abuse had been reported at Cheltenham College. This is incorrect and the error has been amended.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33410/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina McFerran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Whiplash, the new film written and directed by American Damien Chazelle, is billed as a drama about an ambitious young drummer and his terrifying teacher. The older teacher is said to “discover” the 19…Katrina McFerran, A/Professor in Music Therapy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/229562014-02-27T03:09:56Z2014-02-27T03:09:56ZClass matters when it comes to music education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42351/original/fw734gb8-1393224115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Music is not cheesecake! It is an essential condition that is omnipresent in all human cultures.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">he boden</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><strong><em>The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Katrina McFerran discusses how access to music education can reaffirm social distinctions between the “haves” and the “have nots”.</em></strong></p>
<p>When some parents make decisions about where to send their child for an education, one of the primary issues for consideration can and should be whether or not the school has a decent music program.</p>
<p>As the 2012 <a href="http://www.appa.asn.au/gonski-report.php">Gonski report</a> famously <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-11-12/the-clever-country-can-universities-meet-the-chall/4366368">highlighted</a>, inequity is entrenched in the Australian school system. A <a href="http://www.australiacouncil.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/32228/school_music_ed_review.pdf">comparison</a> of the two sectors undertaken by the <a href="http://www.mca.org.au/">Music Council of Australia</a> showed that 88% of private schools offer a meaningful music education, while a measly 23% of government schools provide the equivalent. </p>
<p>When contemplating the private school sector, it would be reasonable to assume music programs differ by a matter of degree. Is music centralised in the school curriculum, with impressive annual performances that incorporate band, orchestra, singers and a production, or is there merely a decent music department? </p>
<p>The decision to access a public school comes with no such guarantees. The question is whether or not there is any kind of arts program, and if there is, whether music is a regular feature of it, or something that students might access for one or two terms a year, alternating with drama or fine art.</p>
<p>The implications of this kind of disparity in the provision of music education in Australian schools reach beyond arts and culture. </p>
<p>At a fundamental level, the lack of dynamic music programs means there are less opportunities for diverse student bodies to participate together in creative and meaningful activity. </p>
<p>While this might be less of a problem for those students who are able to engage in sporting activities, students who do not play footy or netball will have little chance to be involved and acknowledged. </p>
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ed Yourdon</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The core business of schools is unquestionably the acquisition of academic knowledge, but the social function of these institutions is also well understood. Schools are where our children spend the greatest proportion of their waking lives, and if music is not available, then the possibilities for transcending the presumptions that others hold about each child’s capacity is severely limited.</p>
<p>So let’s consider how this might play out in reality, with a fictional character called Jennifer. Jennifer has just moved schools following her parents’ separation and, at the age of 14, is struggling to establish an identity in her new school.</p>
<p>There are no lunch-time programs and the only opportunity to relate to her peers is in the classroom, where she feels too intimidated to speak up. The well-being department offers regular programs for the empowerment of girls, and to address grief and loss issues, but Jennifer doesn’t want to identify through her problems. She simply needs an opportunity to join in. </p>
<p>Enter an active music program. If the music teacher, or an outside facilitator, was to offer an engagement oriented music program, everything could change for Jennifer. Instead of being isolated, she could sing in the lunch time choir. Instead of being passive, she could contribute to the school production. </p>
<p>And even more signficantly, for those students who struggle with profound challenges that impact their ability to truly participate in the school culture, these opportunities can be the difference between resilience and despair.</p>
<h2>Music promotes resilience and self-belief</h2>
<p>One relevant definition of resilience is <a href="http://www.resilienceproject.org/">offered</a> by family therapist <a href="http://www.dal.ca/faculty/healthprofessions/socialwork/faculty-staff/our-faculty/michael-ungar.html">Dr Michael Ungar</a> at Dalhousie University, who describes the symbiosis between an individual’s capacity for reaching out for help, and the necessary conditions that provide opportunities for help to be available. </p>
<p>Without an alternative platform for engaging in school life, students are dependent upon either scholarly or sporting pursuits. Not all children thrive in these conditions, and music is an alterate way of triggering the release of endorphins and dopamines that provide young people with the high of positive participation. </p>
<p>It is not just social and emotional wellbeing that is impacted by this kind of active and creative participation. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/42353/original/pgr3hqbs-1393225702.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source"> woodleywonderworks</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The very same qualities that are promoted in shared music making experiences are those that are proven to promote successful learning in Professor of Education <a href="http://www.findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/display/person428067">John Hattie</a>’s synthesis of <a href="http://visible-learning.org/">research</a> relating to school achievement. </p>
<p>Inspiring relationships between teachers and students, and students and their peers, are critical to learning. What music can promote is opportunities for students to develop an identity as learners and leaders, even if that is not the case in the academic classroom. </p>
<p>Many young people can succeed in music activities even when they are not able to display their abilities in cognitive tasks. Success in one area can promote a belief in oneself, or in a peer, that they “can do it”.</p>
<h2>Music education is a right</h2>
<p>A decent music education should be the right of all children, as stated by the <a href="http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/UN_Convention_on_the_Rights_of_the_Child">UN Convention on the Rights of Children</a> and also the <a href="http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml">Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities</a>. </p>
<p>All children have social and cultural rights, and children with disabilities must be offered: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance, and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Music is not just “auditory cheesecake”, as American psychologist Steven Pinker once infamously <a href="http://musiccognition.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/was-steven-pinker-right-after-all-part-2.html">suggested</a> when deliberating the evolutionary function of music. </p>
<p>It is a necessary and essential condition that is omnipresent in all human cultures, perhaps because of the opportunities it affords for connectedness with others. </p>
<p>Without equitable access we reaffirm social distinctions between those who have, and those who have not.</p>
<p><br>
<strong>Further reading:</strong><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-resilience-is-the-question-is-music-the-answer-22632">If resilience is the question, is music the answer?</a>
<br></p>
<hr>
<p><em>The Conversation is running a series on Class in Australia. See the other instalments <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/class-in-australia">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22956/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katrina McFerran does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Katrina McFerran discusses how access to music education can reaffirm social…Katrina McFerran, A/Professor in Music Therapy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/226322014-02-18T19:13:14Z2014-02-18T19:13:14ZIf resilience is the question, is music the answer?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41783/original/f6pfj2zb-1392699993.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">We reap the benefits when we engage with music. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ed Yourdon</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>What role does music play in your life? </p>
<p>Music surrounds us, in shops, at work, on television, and at the movies. We program our own personal soundtracks effortlessly via iPods and similar devices. With new technologies, listening to music has moved from being an active activity to a passive one in a generation. </p>
<p>We all “do music” – but to really reap the benefits we need to engage with music. Going through life with a passive backing track is not enough. </p>
<p>A growing body of research from a number of diverse fields point to the benefits gained by actively making music. The most obvious field is music therapy. A relatively new therapy with its formal origins in the years following the second world war, music therapy is <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-music-therapy-20154">a complex and diverse field</a>. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, music therapists use music to form their therapeutic relationship and provide group and individual interventions in diverse settings including schools, prisons and hospitals.</p>
<h2>Helping adolescents cope with risky, stressful treatments</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24469862">Research by US researchers</a> published last month points to improved positive health outcomes using music therapy. </p>
<p>The research, conducted with adolescents and young adults undergoing high-risk stem-cell treatment for cancer, used music therapy to target their resilience. </p>
<p>Stem-cell therapy is risky, painful, and causes high levels of distress in patients. This distress can have a heavy impact on the treatment outcomes – which are affected by the patient’s ability to cope with the illness and treatment, and their relationships with other people. </p>
<p>What the researchers did was design an intervention that targeted the patient’s resilience. </p>
<p>As with many resilience interventions, this intervention was “strengths based”, aiming to build on known protective factors for resilience and minimise risk. They found the individuals in the active music therapy group were able to cope better with the treatment, and had better relationships with their family and others. The effects of the music therapy intervention were still obvious 100 days after the intervention.</p>
<p>Resilience is an important characteristic often referred to as an umbrella trait. It does not remove problems – but it provides shelter and protection while people make choices about how they will deal with what they are facing. </p>
<p>It does this by pitting protective factors of resilience against the risk factors. A person exhibiting more protective factors than risk factors is resilient. A person who exhibits more risk factors is “at risk”. </p>
<p>The protective and risk factors are flip sides of the same coin. The three most prominent factors – self-regulation, initiative and relationships with other people – are the factors targeted in the US study. That’s why the music therapy intervention, which strengthened all of these, was particularly effective.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/41786/original/vb5ynqsx-1392700531.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=616&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frans Persoon</span></span>
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</figure>
<h2>Music psychology and kids</h2>
<p>My <a href="http://griffith.academia.edu/JoRuksenas">own research</a> – you’ll <a href="http://wp.me/p4kfZX-3">get an idea here</a> – examines the effect of active engagement in music on the development of resilience in preschool-aged children. I look at the ways that active involvement with music influences normal kids on any given day. The role of music in development is what drives my research. </p>
<p>I follow nearly 200 children each week as they undertake music lessons, examining the same factors of resilience: self-regulation, initiative, and their relationships with other people. I talk to the children, their parents and their teachers. I test their cognitive abilities and their resilience.</p>
<p>The preschool years are very important. The children’s brains are undergoing massive reorganisation and restructuring. Importantly, children are just starting to engage with formal schooling, breaking away from their families and forming new relationships with their peers. </p>
<p>Would education be more effective if resilience was fostered and developed from the earliest years, and what role does music play?</p>
<p>Active engagement with music has a number of intrinsic properties that mirror and enhance the protective factors of self-regulation, initiative and relationships with others. Resilience supports learning in other areas in the same way that it supported better health outcomes in the music therapy study.</p>
<p>Whether these skills translate for normal children on a normal day is yet to be seen. </p>
<p>What is understood is that 60% of people are naturally resilient. Even children who suffer horrendous abuse generally sort their lives out by the time they are 40. How different would the life trajectories of “at risk” children be if they were given the tools of resilience from the earliest ages? </p>
<p>How different would our schools be if we built on children’s strengths and gave all children tools for self-regulation, initiative and building better relationships with other people from the start of their education rather than applying remediation and punishment once problems occur? </p>
<p>What if the solution is engaging with music?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joanne Ruksenas does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>What role does music play in your life? Music surrounds us, in shops, at work, on television, and at the movies. We program our own personal soundtracks effortlessly via iPods and similar devices. With…Joanne Ruksenas, PhD Candidate, Music and Public Health , Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/201542013-12-09T04:08:45Z2013-12-09T04:08:45ZExplainer: what is music therapy?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36286/original/srvw2zcj-1385520766.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Music therapists work with people of any age and ability, culture or background.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">flyzipper</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Defining music therapy is challenging because the practice is so diverse; but the <a href="http://www.austmta.org.au/">Australian Music Therapy Association</a> (AMTA) uses the following definition: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Music therapy is a research-based practice and profession in which music is used to actively support people as they strive to improve their health, functioning and wellbeing. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Music therapy is the intentional use of music by a university-trained professional who is registered with the AMTA. </p>
<p>Registered music therapists draw on an extensive body of research and are bound by a code of ethics that informs their practice. They incorporate a range of music-making methods within a therapeutic relationship and are employed in a variety of sectors including health, community, aged care, disability, early childhood, and private practice. </p>
<p>Music therapy is different from music education and entertainment as it focuses on health, functioning and wellbeing, and music therapists work with people of any age and ability, culture or background.</p>
<h2>History</h2>
<p>The use of music in healing has had a long history, but music therapy as a profession began to develop formally in USA in the 1950s to help war veterans suffering from physical and emotional problems. The demand for a university curriculum grew as hospital musicians needed training. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36297/original/x4z4m3b2-1385524672.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock.com</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://www.musictherapy.org/">American Association for Music Therapy</a> was established in 1971 and the Australian Association soon after in 1975 by music therapy pioneers <a href="http://www.austmta.org.au/about-us/honoured-members">Dr Ruth Bright</a> and <a href="http://www.conservatorium.unimelb.edu.au/staff/denisegrocke">Emeritus Professor Denise Grocke</a>.</p>
<p>As anyone who sings or plays a musical instrument will tell you, making music, especially with others, is great for the mind, body and soul. The benefits flow whether you are an accomplished musician or an enthusiastic amateur. </p>
<p>Music therapists draw on the benefits of music to help people of all ages and abilities attain and maintain good health and wellbeing. They work in a range of places including hospitals, nursing homes, schools and the community, delivering tailor-made programs to meet specific needs.</p>
<h2>Endorphin, dopamine and oxytocin triggers</h2>
<p>The techniques used by music therapists can include writing songs for or with clients, free or structured movement to music activities, singing and vocal activities, improvisation, playing traditional instruments or digital music equipment, listening to recorded music and engaging socially in a group setting. </p>
<p>The ability of music to change our mood seems to be related to the production of different chemicals in the brain. Endorphins triggered by music listening and music-making provide a kind of natural pain relief, where dopamine leads to feelings of buoyancy, optimism, energy and power. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36288/original/z8z598bw-1385521219.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">gagilas</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This may explain the kinds of “flow” and “peak” experiences often described as being evoked by both music-listening and more active musical participation. </p>
<p>Impacts are even more potent for group music-making, because shared, positive experiences also release oxytocin, a brain tool for building trust. In this way, musical relationships develop encouraging non-verbal and emotional expression and building self-esteem, motivation and confidence.</p>
<h2>Music therapy in neurorehabilitation</h2>
<p>Music is processed widely across the brain in connection to memories, emotions and communication. Developments in brain-scanning technology show that making music increases brain activity, creating new pathways across both hemispheres of the brain. </p>
<p>This makes music therapy especially beneficial in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurorehabilitation">neurorehabilitation</a> where the organising function of rhythm in music can be used to rehabilitate movement and speech following a brain injury or stroke. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=463&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36293/original/gdfsmt32-1385522611.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=582&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The small, black arrow points to the region of our brain devoted to music appreciation and music-making.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Mikey G Ottawa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Music therapy and dementia</h2>
<p>There is a strong connection between music and memory as can be attested by the flood of emotion stimulated by hearing significant songs, or the annoying advertising jingles that get stuck in your brain. </p>
<p>Music therapists use this feature of music to help people with memory difficulties access important pieces of information in specifically composed songs. </p>
<p>Memory for music is closely linked to emotions and both are processed deeply within the brain. Memory for song lyrics often remains long after other memory and verbal ability have deteriorated for people with dementia. </p>
<p>Music therapy often awakens something within people in late-stage dementia and can stimulate windows of lucidity, providing family members with glimpses of the person they love.</p>
<h2>Music therapy in children’s hospitals</h2>
<p>Music therapy is frequently used in children’s hospitals for pain and anxiety management during procedures and to engage children in a normalising activity that is unrelated to them being unwell. This provides an opportunity for choice and control in an environment where they have little control over everything else. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/36291/original/v2q22q5q-1385521984.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MTSOfan</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>In special education, music therapists work with children with intellectual and/or physical disabilities to help them meet developmental and educational goals. This may include using music to increase opportunities for cognitive and sensory stimulation and to help develop motor skills, orientation and mobility. </p>
<p>Music therapy provides an outlet for a child’s emotional expression, increased awareness of the immediate environment and other people, and enhances self-confidence through active music making. It can also help improve a child’s social skills and communication.</p>
<h2>Teenagers and music</h2>
<p>Young people spend a significant amount of time engaging with music and vulnerable teenagers spend even more so. Music therapists in adolescent mental health use this strong connection that teens have with music as a resource in grappling with their emerging mental health problems. </p>
<p>The Australian Research Council has recently funded a research project headed by <a href="http://www.conservatorium.unimelb.edu.au/staff/katrinaskewesmcferran">Assoc. Prof Katrina McFerran</a> to investigate the music uses of young people with and without mental ill-health with a view to early identification and early intervention in adolescence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/20154/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jeanette Tamplin has previously received research funding from the Victorian Neurotrauma Initiative. She is currently employed by the University of Melbourne.</span></em></p>Defining music therapy is challenging because the practice is so diverse; but the Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA) uses the following definition: Music therapy is a research-based practice and…Jeanette Tamplin, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Music Therapy, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.