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Music therapy is the use of music to restore, maintain
and improve the mental, emotional and physical health
of people. Music therapists plan programs to meet
those needs, either acting alone or with other
therapists. They use instrument playing, singing,
improvisation, rhythmic experiences and other aspects
of music to accomplish this goal. In effect, they use
music to achieve non-musical progress in their clients.
After due consideration of the record before us, we find
that petitioner's occupation as a professional pianist and piano
teacher is different from the services she performs and will
perform as a music therapist. While performance and teaching
skills are no doubt skills utilized by a music therapist, we
believe that the specific therapeutic goals of music therapy
exert an influence over a music therapist's tasks and activities
such that the tasks and activities differ from those of a
professional pianist and teacher. Rather than teaching music
skills to a student, a music therapist uses music skills to
effect a therapeutic change in an individual. Significant in
this regard are the following statements by Dr. Michel:
[A] music therapist has to be able to adapt the
music skills in another way to meet the needs of the
client.
And that is quite different than performing on the
stage or teaching in the studio. There are some
similarities with the teaching area, but not so much in
the performance, so music therapists have to learn to
adapt those skills to make use of them to follow the
goals that are set for therapy.
* * * * * * *
And music therapists are teaching sometimes, but
if you are a teacher of music, your primary reason for
teaching is to teach music skills. If you are a music
therapist, it is to use music or help clients learn
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Last modified: May 25, 2011