Frequently Asked Questions
- Who does music therapy help?
- What happens in a typical music therapy session?
- In what kinds of ways does music therapy help?
- Are certain types of music suitable for particular problems/illnesses?
- Why is music therapy effective?
- Is Nordoff Robbins music therapy different from other forms of music therapy?
- Is there a difference between ‘music therapy’ and other uses of music for health-giving purposes?
- Do you need to be musical, or have had music lessons, to benefit from music therapy?
- Does music therapy teach musical skills?
- What skills do music therapists have?
- How can I get music therapy?
- What if there are no services currently available to me in my locality?
- How much does music therapy cost?
- How long does music therapy last?
Who does music therapy help?
Music therapy helps people of all ages across a wide range of difficulties. Please see our page Who benefits from our work?
What happens in a typical music therapy session?
The basis of music therapy in the UK is the use of active, or live, improvised music. Music therapists assist people in participating in a creative musical process that is a dynamic interplay between client and therapist. The way in which this process unfolds will vary greatly according to circumstance. A wide range of instruments are normally available, including percussive instruments (drums, cymbals, etc) and melodic instruments (piano, xylophone, etc).
In what kinds of ways can music therapy help?
For people with communicative disorders, music therapy can enhance expressive and interactive ability; for people isolated by illness or disability, it can provide a means of socialisation, sharing, and developing community. Music therapy can also facilitate a process of self-exploration.
Scientific studies have demonstrated that music has a physiological effect on the body (eg lowering the blood pressure). It can alter the way we feel and move; it affects our mood and therefore how we think.
Music therapy cannot cure an illness or disability, but it can provide strategies for helping a person to cope with their difficulties, and for cultivating existing or latent abilities and strengths. In this sense, music therapy is often said to work with the part of a person that is well, rather than the part that is ill or disabled.
In circumstances where a direct correlation can be found between the progression of a condition and the way the sufferer relates to it (for example in Alzheimer’s disease, or in chronic depression), the positive effects of music therapy on the person’s mental state therefore impact directly on the condition itself.
Are certain types of music suitable for particular problems/illnesses?
Everybody has a unique relationship with music. We have individual tastes, which connect us to a personal, intimate and authentic world of inner experience that expresses our individuality. Music is not a pill – it cannot be prescribed like a medicine. The whole picture of a person’s cultural, racial and social circumstances and ancestry contribute to the forms of music that he or she finds meaningful. We believe that it is therefore impossible to parallel specific types of music with specific conditions – it all depends on the individual.
It is sometimes said that ‘classical’ music is good for relaxing people. This is too simplistic: it would be more accurate to say that certain types of classical music can have this effect – particularly music with a slow tempo or a lyrical melodic style. There are plenty of examples of music within other styles – including pop genres – that can have the same kind of effect, and conversely plenty of classical pieces that can have the opposite effect of stimulating and enlivening. Again, a person’s past musical experience will also have a significant impact on their responses to specific types of music.
Why is music therapy effective?
Music therapy is based on the power of music: it works, simply because music ‘works’. People benefit from music therapy because responsiveness to music is our universal inheritance.
The basic substances of music – tone and rhythm – are deeply embedded in human physiology and functioning. Our heartbeat and breath, for example, are rhythmic processes that go on continuously within us, while in speaking we use tone which we vary (for example becoming louder, quieter, higher or lower) for expressive purposes. We might say that human beings are put together in the way that music is put together. This is why it energises and appeals to us; we identify with music and it reaches our emotions.
Is Nordoff Robbins music therapy different from other forms of music therapy?
The use of improvisation as a basis for music therapy was pioneered by Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins in the 1950s and 60s, and today all music therapy approaches used in the UK are primarily improvisation-based (this is not, however, true for all countries). However, music therapists vary in the level of emphasis they place on the inherent therapeutic value of musical experience; some favour a more psychotherapeutic approach in which improvised music is treated analytically to help clients develop greater self-awareness. This has led to a broad distinction between music as therapy and music in therapy, but these terms do not represent exclusive camps so much as a spectrum of practice. The Nordoff Robbins training emphasis is geared towards the former, but music therapists who have trained elsewhere may also be this way inclined.
The core beliefs regarding the power of musical experience, on which Nordoff Robbins training programmes are founded, were articulated by Paul Nordoff and Clive Robbins and remain the same today. As a result, Nordoff Robbins programmes place particular emphasis on the development of musical skills and improvisational techniques, equipping therapists with a comprehensively resourced musical ‘tool-kit’.
The service framework offered by Nordoff Robbins services in the UK – including the support package offered to employees, which includes supervision, training, network meetings and access to resources and facilities – is highly valued by our therapists and partner organisations alike, and has acquired a strong reputation in the sectors within which Nordoff Robbins operates.
Is there a difference between ‘music therapy’ and other uses of music for health-giving purposes?
Music therapy is a state-registered profession in the UK (through the Health Professions Council). What this means is that people must undertake a recognised training programme in order to call themselves music therapists, and secondly that practising music therapists are required by law to register. The overall purpose of state registration is to maintain standards of practice for the protection and confidence of the public.
State registration does not mean, however, that music therapy has a monopoly on the use of music for 'therapeutic' purposes. A number of research studies have provided evidence that music affects people at a psycho-physiological level – for example, listening to Mozart has famously been linked to reduced stress, improved learning and pain relief. These studies have a certain value, but often view music as a passive experience that can be prescribed and administered. By contrast, music therapy focuses on the way that music connects people together, and it aims to animate people in musical activity.
One common misconception about music therapy is that its primary purpose is to calm or relax people. Yes, music may have the ability to do this, but it is only one of the many properties of music! Music therapy goes so much deeper – the physical and often exhilarating experience of making music, the engagement with people and with life can produce far more profound feelings of wellbeing and fulfilment.
Music therapy is closer, ideologically speaking, to the animative work of community musicians than it is to the use of music for relaxation. Music therapists additionally benefit from the comprehensiveness of their Masters level training, which equips them with the skills to work with people with complex or chronic needs and to work with attention to small detail.
Do you need to be musical, or have had music lessons, to benefit from music therapy?
Absolutely not. Everybody responds to music, no matter how ill or disabled – it’s part of what it means to be human. Every person experiences an impulse to make music, or be part of musical experience, and it is this basic urge that music therapy exploits in order to bring about change.
Does music therapy teach musical skills?
It is not the fundamental aim of music therapy, but development of musical skills is an inevitable by-product of the work. Musical skills, however, will not be taught systematically or abstractly in music therapy – they will be absorbed in a form that is directly relevant and helpful to a person’s immediate circumstances and needs.
What skills do music therapists have?
Music therapists are skilled musicians who have undertaken a Masters level training in music therapy. There are currently 8 music therapy trainings in the UK, of which 3 are Nordoff Robbins programmes. Because music therapists work primarily through the medium of musical improvisation, the acquisition of apposite practical musical skills forms a central part of the training. This is supported by background courses of study in aspects of psychology and pathology. People interested in training as a music therapist need to have a naturally sensitive, empathic and open-minded personality. The work requires a high degree of spontaneity.
How can I get music therapy?
At our London Centre we operate an open referral system, which means that people can be referred by parents, doctors, schools and other professionals, or may refer themselves. The same system operates in some of our regional services; at others the service is restricted to individuals who attend or live at the host institution where the music therapy service is provided. See Our Services for details of all the services we currently offer.
What if there are no services currently available to me in my locality?
Please contact the Head Music Therapist of your region (see Our Services) as new services are being established all the time in response to local need.
If the person you wish to refer to music therapy currently attends an institution where you think a number of people might benefit from music therapy, it would be worth speaking to the head of that organisation to see whether he or she would be interested in initiating a collaboration with Nordoff Robbins.
The Association of Professional Music Therapists can also supply details of any other music therapy services that may be available in your area.
How much does music therapy cost?
As a charity, Nordoff Robbins is fortunate that it need turn no individual away for lack of funds. A sliding fee scale operates so that people pay according to their means. However the more income we are able to generate, the more we will be able to extend our services.
For organisations interested in using the services of Nordoff Robbins, different levels of collaboration are possible.
How long does music therapy last?
Music therapy is normally offered on a weekly basis. Sessions with children are usually scheduled for half an hour, though depending on age and other factors a shorter period may be more appropriate. Sessions with adults are often longer – up to an hour.
There is no set time length for a course of music therapy – it is infinitely variable according to need – and people typically attend for any length of time between a few months and several years.