Strum it or Stream it?

Strum It or Stream It? Using Live vs Recorded Music in Music Therapy 

Every day, music therapists carefully decide how to use music with their clients, keeping in mind each client’s unique relationship with music. One major part of this decision is whether to use live or recorded music, if they should stick to one or the other, or provide a mix of both. This decision is always informed by the client’s interests, needs, strengths, and goal areas, as well as the resources available to the music therapist. Let’s take a look at some of the ways music therapists use live and recorded music on a daily basis, and some of the benefits and common uses of each! 

Live Music

Live music is a core component of music therapy, and for this reason, all music therapists are required to know how to sing, play the guitar, and play the piano in a clinical setting. Music therapists also utilize a variety of other accessible instruments, based on their clients’ interests and goals, to engage their clients in music-making. 

Live music can easily be tailored to specific situations using two music therapy concepts: isoprinciple and entrainment. The isoprinciple is the act of providing music that matches a client’s current state, then gradually changing elements of the music over time to induce a desired state, such as relaxation, regulation, or alertness. For example, a music therapist may enter a session and see that their client is upset, pacing around the room, vocalizing loudly, and repeatedly flapping their hands. The music therapist can play music that reflects the client’s current emotional state back to them, using the same tempo of the client’s pacing and matching the volume of their vocalizations. Once the client has tuned in to the music, the therapist can then gradually decrease the intensity of the music, and even cue relaxation techniques, such as deep breaths timed with chord changes, to ease the client into a more regulated state. In a similar vein, entrainment is the process of synchronizing a physiological or biological rhythm, such as heart rate, breathing, or movement, to an external rhythm, such as music or a metronome. This concept is used in a variety of ways in music therapy, including guiding premature infants’ sucking patterns as they learn to bottle-feed, cueing deep breathing along with chord changes to promote relaxation, and helping patients improve speech, gait, and other important functions in rehabilitation settings. 

          With my Keynote clients, I often use live music to build group cohesion, promote self expression, and elevate mood and energy within group settings. In 1:1 sessions, one of my main uses of live music is to promote speech skills through fill-in-the-blank singing and call and response singing using clients’ preferred songs. I also love to rewrite existing songs with my clients using my clients’ original ideas, promoting emotional expression and creative self expression! Here are a couple of my favorite songs to sing live and adapt to my clients:

1. I’m In The Mood by Raffi

   1. Whether in a group setting or 1:1, this song’s lyrics can easily be replaced with whatever dance move or playing style your client wants to do! 

2. Twist And Shout by The Beatles 

   1. I love to personalize this song with the names of my clients (singing “shake it up, client name” instead of “shake it up, baby) to encourage them to move to the music! This works great in group settings, as each client in the group gets a solo to dance in the middle of the group, while the rest of the group sings and plays instruments to support the soloist. This intervention supports confidence, self expression, and group cohesion, and often results in lots of laughter and smiles! 

Recorded Music

You may have experienced the benefits of recorded music yourself, like noticing that fast, upbeat music helps you stay energized during a workout, or that slow, gentle music helps you fall asleep. Music therapists take this concept a step further, using song recordings as specialized therapeutic tools to meet their clients’ individual needs. Just like the use of live music, recorded music is selected and implemented carefully, with the client’s specific strengths, needs, goals, and interests in mind. 

While live music is more adaptable to clients’ acute needs, recorded music offers endless possibilities that often can’t be replicated live by one music therapist. Listening to an instrumental arrangement of a familiar song, humming along with your client, and prompting your client to guess what song the melody is from can address goal areas in cognition and social interaction. Or, if you and your client are from different cultural backgrounds, your client may respond best to authentic performances of culturally significant songs, recorded by trained professional musicians within their culture. Recorded music can also make it easier for the music therapist to model movement or instrument play for their clients to follow. Here are two ways I like to use recorded music with my clients: 

1. Guess The Theme 

   1. Recently I chose 3 recorded songs that shared a theme, and encouraged my clients to guess the theme between the songs. If used in the beginning of a session, this could also introduce a theme for the rest of the session! 

   2. For example: These Boots Are Made For Walking, Walking On Sunshine, and Walking After Midnight. Show your client(s) snippets of each song, prompt singing or playing instruments along to increase engagement, and afterwards, discuss with your clients what the 3 songs have in common. 

   3. Clients may even enjoy discussing differences between the songs as well. This can be a great way to promote idea sharing, support cognitive goals, and spark conversation between clients.

2. Parachute interventions 

   1. Clients of all ages can benefit from waving a parachute, but it is especially loved in school settings, early childhood groups, and adult day programs! 

   2. To more effectively facilitate movement with the parachute, I often play recordings of clients’ preferred music while waving the parachute with clients. My clients enjoy changing the speed and height of the parachute movements to match the music, while also receiving vestibular input and working as a group!

          In conclusion, there are a myriad of ways to use live and recorded music within music therapy sessions, and the way music is presented can make a huge difference in clients’ therapeutic experience and progress. I hope this article sparked some ideas and deepened your understanding on the use of different presentations of music in music therapy!