How Music Helps in Music Therapy and Everyday Life

Why is music so important to most of us? How does music help us both in our everyday lives, and in the more specialist context of music therapy? This book suggests a new way of approaching these topical questions, drawing from Ansdell's long experience as a music therapist, and from the latest thinking on music in everyday life. Vibrant and moving examples from music therapy situations are twinned with the stories of 'ordinary' people who describe how music helps them within their everyday lives. Together this complementary material leads Ansdell to present a new interdisciplinary framework showing how musical experiences can help all of us build and negotiate identities, make intimate non-verbal relationships, belong together in community, and find moments of transcendence and meaning.

How Music Helps is not just a book about music therapy. It has the more ambitious aim to promote (from a music therapist's perspective) a better understanding of 'music and change' in our personal and social life. Ansdell's theoretical synthesis links the tradition of Nordoff-Robbins music therapy and its recent developments in Community Music Therapy to contemporary music sociology and music studies.

This book will be relevant to practitioners, academics, and researchers looking for a broad-based theoretical perspective to guide further study and policy in music, well-being, and health.

CONTENIDO:

Preface
Introduction: music?s help

- Part I Musical Worlds:
Musical ecologies
Musical lifeworlds

- Part II Musical Experience: The music of experience
Aspects of musical experience
Helpful musical experiences

- Part III Musical Personhood:
Musical recognition
Core musicality
Musical identities
Musical performances

- Part IV Musical Relationship:
Musical connection
Musical companionship
Musical dialogue
Musical meeting

- Part V Musical Community:
Musical togetherness
Musical hospitality
Musical belonging
Musical ritual

- Part VI Musical Transcendence:
Musical epiphany
Musical thresholds
Musical hope

Conclusion: musical flourishing
Appendix
Bibliography
Index