What can I understand about children with special needs from the musical offerings that emerge in the music therapy process? : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Music Therapy at New Zealand School of Music, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2008
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Massey University
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Abstract
This arts-based research thesis sought to understand two children with special needs,
through their musical offerings within the context of their music therapy sessions. The
process of understanding the children came through firstly listening to and extracting
meaningful musical data from recordings of their sessions. This data included both actual
excerpts of the musical interplays between the child and music therapist (myself), and
more broadly, underlying themes drawn from the recorded session material. The data was
then creatively ‘melded’, resulting in two original instrumental works, herein referred to
as 'songs'. Before, during and after writing the songs, rigorous analyses were undertaken
utilising both a formal approach, via the use of a contextual question framework, and two
creative approaches: free-form narration and data-led imagery. The contextual question
framework, involving the repetitive use of two key questions - where? and why? - sought
to understand the data’s context, its purpose for inclusion, and its influence on the
respective song. One of the creative approaches, that of free-form narration, sought to,
rather than analysing the song through formal structures, instead ‘tell the song’s story’,
narratively conveying the experience of being with the child in his music. The other
creative approach, that of data-led imagery, involved creating images during and after
being ‘immersed’ in the musical data, employing instinctive or subconscious means to
further develop the therapist’s understanding of the child’s musical offerings, and
moreover, the child himself. Upon completion of the two songs, it was discovered that
clinical themes present from the sessions strongly influenced the song creation process.
Results also strongly supported the validity of arts-based research as a viable means of
analysing music created with children with special needs.
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Keywords
Music therapy, Special education, Children