Throughout my life, I have been drawn to music for one reason or another. My education began with flute lessons at primary school, which soon opened up a whole range of musical possibilities of which I was eager to take advantage. Before long I was playing in local wind bands, orchestras, taking up new instruments, and even composing my own music. I was most intrigued by the latter, and this led me to study composition, first at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and then at the Royal College of Music.
As a composer, I have written almost exclusively for youth groups or for education projects, so my work has often fallen under the umbrella of what one might call ‘community music’. This has generally taken the form of a youth opera, commissioned by an opera house with the intention of bringing together and focusing the energies of young people in the area where it is located. Over seven years' writing such pieces, I developed an appreciation for how music may be used to serve a specific social function – that is, to bring a community together in a single activity. This is partly what inspired me to train as a music therapist with Nordoff and Robbins – a training I have just completed, and which feels like the culmination of my musical experiences to date.
Nordoff and Robbins course
As the full title of the Nordoff and Robbins training course – Master of Music Therapy: Music, Health, and Society – suggests, students are expected to reflect on how music may intersect with issues of health and wellbeing. Furthermore, we are encouraged to reflect on these in relation not only to music therapy literature, but also to our own developing practice. The core of the training course is Placement, whereby each student is placed, for one day a week, in a setting where there is a particular demand for music therapy (for example, a school, hospital, and so on), each of which comes with its own unique rewards and challenges. Not only does this equip students with an introduction to the kinds of settings in which we might work during our career, it allows students to observe, first-hand and through practical work, the infinitely various ways in which the experience of participating in music therapy may support a client's health and wellbeing.
Music's power to connect
Over the last two years as a trainee, I have worked in a school for children and young people with Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD), a mental health hospital providing a range of interventions for adults with mental health difficulties, and a school for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. And in these settings I have experienced how music may meet a client where they are, and then offer or inspire new possibilities for development. These possibilities depend on each client's unique personality, their challenges, and their gifts, and it is not possible within the scope of this article for me to present a detailed picture of my work. What I can say is that three student placements, supported by two years of study with Nordoff and Robbins, have helped me to appreciate in more vivid colour something I have felt – perhaps subconsciously – for years: that is, the power of music to bring people together. Whether in the context of local music groups, which helped me to find a sense of belonging as I was growing up, or music theatre projects, such as community opera, that I feel are perhaps uniquely suited to offering a large group an experience of being united in a single artistic endeavour, I believe what has drawn me to a lifetime of music is this possibility for connection. Training as a music therapist has given me the privilege to witness how this plays out between people who crave connection – as I believe we all do – but may find it particularly challenging because of their health concerns or other difficulties they face.
Truth in individual experience
I have also learned that health and wellbeing are highly subjective concepts, the only truth being in individual experience. Our society is very quick to apply labels like ‘sick’, ‘mad’, or ‘disabled’, which may serve only to further isolate people with difficulties. On the other hand, music therapy that begins from a stance of non-judgement and empathy may serve to model an alternative future for society in which a person is not defined solely by the difficulties they face, but rather may learn to define themselves through exploration of their own interests, capabilities and dreams.
Find out more about the Nordoff and Robbins Master of Music Therapy (MMT) programme at nordoff-robbins.org.uk/master-of-music-therapy-mmt
