I'm a Music Therapist

Music therapists are Jills and Jacks of all trades when it comes to playing instruments. In our training, we all learn how to play and utilize guitar, piano, voice, and percussion in therapeutic settings plus the basics of orchestral instruments. On top of that, we may have specialized in another instrument before studying music therapy. And you never know if I’ve recently taken up ukulele, accordion, or harmonica just for fun.

2. Sometimes, I actively stay away from music

Although music therapists often get into the field because they love music and desire to help people, the truth is that music has become an integral part of how we pay the bills. When we’re engaging with music all day, sometimes we need a break to recharge our battery and be ready to serve our next clients the next day with music. Don’t be surprised if we’d rather listen to an audiobook or have silence on the commute home.

3. I’ve given thought to how musical instruments can be weaponized

We’ve seen it all: boomwackers being used as swords, kids hitting their neighbor with mallets instead of their drums, or clients playing guitar so hard the strings snap. For the safety and integrity of the session, we are thoughtful about what instruments we bring into the therapeutic space and how they will be used. Solutions may include adapting instruments to better serve our clients’ abilities, or not even using certain instruments with a particular client or clinical population.

4. Music therapists brag about how many miles are on their cars

This may mostly apply to music therapists who provide in-home services, but traveling might be a big portion of our day. It’s not uncommon for us to put 100,000 miles on a brand new car in a few years of clinical work. When buying a new car, we also swap car recommendations for which vehicles provide the best gas milage and have the best trunk storage (for all those instruments).

5. I’m horrified people say they “just don’t have an ear for music”

Music therapists see music as an inherent human ability that we take advantage of to help our clients reach their clinical goals. So you think you’re tone deaf: can you hear the pitch of someone’s voice go up when they ask a question? When you say you don’t have rhythm: do you ever tap your toes along to a song’s groove? Even if you’re never going to win a karaoke contest, you’re not giving yourself enough credit when it comes to your brain’s amazing ability to perceive and respond to music.

6. I’m even more horrified when I hear stories about people that have been told to not participate in music

It’s a story I’ve heard way too often from adult clients: when they were a child in choir, the choral director told them to mouth along during a performance rather than sing because their voice was “bad.” Hearing this makes me want to punch that choir director; no one should feel ashamed about making music. For music therapists, our sessions emphasize the process of making music, not the final product. Yes, writing a song or singing or group drumming may be intimidating at first, but our job is to make a musical experience as accessible and comfortable as possible so that our clients can succeed.

7. There’s no such thing as a “bad” music genre for music therapy

I do an inner eye roll when people think that I sing “You Are My Sunshine” all day (not that there’s anything wrong with that song). But being a music therapist isn’t about an “prescribed” music that is guaranteed to make someone feel better. That kind of music does not exist. Instead, music therapists take their clients’ preferences into account when tailoring a music therapy intervention, even if it’s not necessarily what someone else considers “good.”

8. I may be able to freestyle rap/yodel/scat with you right now

On a related note, part of utilizing diverse genres in session involves learning the skills to implement said repertoire in the moment. For example, a colleague of mine never listened to rap music until she started working in a juvenile detention center. Because that genre was so motivating and engaging for those clients, she uses rap and beatboxing in almost every session she has now! For music therapists, it’s all about meeting our clients where they’re at musically.

9. I know how to change your heart rate without you knowing

Music is able to influence your behavior at an unconscious level. Music therapists use the iso principle to match a client’s mood or energy level with live music and then adjust the music to change a client’s behavior. For example, when working with an anxious medical patient before a procedure, we might play music to the tempo of their faster breathing pattern. Once their breath is entrained to the music, we can gradually slow down the music’s speed which in turn slows their breathing and heart rate, leading to less pain and a calmer mood.