Sing A Song Sunday - The Time Change Song (Fall)

Tempo and the Music Therapist

I think that tempo is one of the most powerful therapeutic elements of music. I also think that it is one of the least emphasized in our music therapy training.

Dr. Michael Thaut, an eminent researcher on the effect of music on the central nervous system, emphasizes that motor functions occur within a temporal framework - coordinated in time. If you can find the client's initial tempo, you can change the speed of motor function through subtle changes in the tempo of the music presented.

I believe that the same function occurs in domains other than the motor domain. I believe that there is a cognitive processing entrainment node for each person. Now, I have NO proof of this. I do not have the ability to use sophisticated imaging machinery to see if electrical impulses change to accommodate the musical stimulus or to see if matching the music to the electrical impulses can increase cognitive function, but I feel that there is something to the idea.

There are times, when I am running music therapy sessions and experiences, that I can feel a change in how clients are attending to the stimulus I am presenting. Many times it is only one client who has the shift in response, but I occasionally hit a "golden tempo" for an entire group. When that happens, the music therapy experience becomes more meaningful for the clients. There are shifts in behavior that indicate a connection between the music and the client as well as increased connection with the therapist during those moments.

One of the most difficult aspects of tempo as an important therapeutic element of music is that many clients in one convenience group do not share similar tempo preferences. How can you coordinate a group of diverse tempi into one experience? I submit that you cannot provide all tempi for all clients simultaneously. The best you can hope for is to coordinate the tempo for clients with the greatest need at the moment.