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Music Therapist
Uses music to address physical, emotional, and cognitive needs of patients.
Did you know?
Musical memory is surprisingly robust in Alzheimer's. A 2015 study found the brain areas that store long-known songs are among the least damaged.
How subjects help
- Music: Play and improvise songs that match a patient's mood and then gently lift it.
- Psychology: Use music to help someone express grief, anger or fear in a safe way.
- Biology: Use a steady beat to help people relearn walking after a stroke or brain injury.
- Communication: Connect through singing and shared music with people who struggle to speak.
A famous name
E. Thayer Gaston: Directed music therapy at the University of Kansas and helped build music therapy as a profession.
Try it yourself: Build a rubber-band instrument
- Stretch the rubber bands around the open box, gently, keeping them away from your face.
- Pluck each band. Which gives the highest note, the thin one or the thick one?
- Slide a pencil under the bands like a bridge. What happens to the sound when a band is tighter or shorter?
- Make up a short tune for a happy moment, then one for a calm moment. What did you change?
Luthiers shape instruments so they sound just right, and musicians and music therapists choose sounds and rhythms to change how a moment feels.
Also try: Choose colours for a feeling.
Known for it in
USA, UK, Australia, Germany, South Korea