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A full understanding of the music therapy profession must begin with an understanding of each component of the relationship.
The soul of music therapy is the music. Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1991) defines music as "the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity (p.781). Music is more than just the ordering of tones and sounds. It also requires silence to contrast and highlight the sounds. Sounds are in the environment continuously. Humans cannot escape from sounds. One view of music considers all sounds as music. In this view, music is never-ending. Even when the conventional definition is considered, music is a convenient therapy modality. All known cultures have a form of music as part of life. The majority of people in the world listen to or produce music in one form or another.
Music therapy is more than just listening to or playing music. The second component, therapy, is the "remedial treatment of bodily disorder" (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, 1991, p. 1223). In music therapy, sessions are not designed for the sole purpose of remedial treatment, but also incorporate learning and new experiences. Therapy services include assessments, interventions, goals and objectives, evaluation, and termination of therapy. The word therapy implies that a person applying treatment has received instruction in specific techniques. This instruction is both academic and clinical and teaches the future therapist about methods of music therapy.
When the above components are combined, music therapy begins to take shape. The American Association of Music Therapy (AMTA) defines music therapy as "the prescribed use of music by a qualified person to effect positive changes in the psychological, physical, cognitive, or social functioning of individuals with health or educational problems" (AMTA, 1998). This definition is a broad view and many therapists develop their definitions of music therapy. One such definition is as follows:
Music therapy is the use of music and musical elements to organize, encourage, and elicit behavioral, social, and psychological responses implemented by a trained professional. These responses are designed to encourage the learning, transfer, and application of skills to music and non-music settings. This process encourages the development of a client-therapist interaction (Landaker, 1991).
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