7 Movie Clips to Demonstrate the Use of Music for Non-musical Purposes


One of the things that I did quite a bit ago was teach an Introduction to Music Therapy course for non-majors. To introduce the concept of using music to convey specific emotions, tasks, use of music for non-musical outcomes, I compiled a bunch of clips from various movies from my own movie library. Here they are...
  1. Get Over It  - The use of music to convey emotion - I enjoy the juxtaposition of this upbeat song that describes how love is stronger than any other force on earth, used to illustrate the despair of losing a love that you think is your destiny.
  2. Evolution - The use of music to attract attention - Okay, so it's a prehistoric-type mutant, but he uses his singing to direct attention to him in order to save the girl.
  3. The Muppet Movie (the original one) - The use of music to convey emotion, again. Gonzo sings about his origins.
  4. Gigi - The use of music to spur memories - I love this song and love that they remember things very differently.
  5. Stop, Look, and Listen - The use of music to teach a concept, also music to prompt memories - This version of the song is credited to the performer. I couldn't find the original Disney cartoon.
  6. Mary Poppins - The use of music for relaxation - Again, I think most of my enjoyment of this song is the contrary nature of the lyric to the rest of the music, but this is a good example of how to use music for relaxation. I dare you not to yawn during this song.
  7. Follow Me - The use of music to stimulate movement and specific purpose (marching, camaraderie) - sorry that this doesn't have the movie clip, but you can certainly hear the marching in the music.
These are just some of the ways that the movies in my library demonstrate the use of music for non-musical purposes. 

What other clips do you know? Please let me know so I can include them in future posts and courses. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dear AMTA

Dear American Music Therapy Association: I am debating long and hard about remaining in this relationship. I have been in this relationship since college, and this is not a decision that I am taking lightly or without great cost.  I am not happy with what you are bringing to this relationship. Now, I have been a selfish partner over the past several years - mainly because I am not feeling like we share a common mission anymore. It is easy for me to place the blame on you, but I know that this is not all on me. I have tried to be invested in communication and support and understanding, but everyone comes to a time where enough is enough. I am trying very hard to decide if the benefits that you provide to me are worth the feelings that I have about where I think you and I are going. I am not sure that our destination is the same anymore, and this makes me sad. To be completely honest, I am only in this relationship these days for the music therapy interns. I don't think that is a hea...
Read more

Songwriting Sunday: Repetition

Image
One of the things that I find to be helpful with my client population (children, adolescents, and young adults with dual diagnoses) is repetition of phrases, lyrics, and music. As a result of 30+ years of working with this population in various iterations, I have found that my clients respond the most to songs with three repeated phrases to prime their responses with a different phrase to communicate the important part of the experience. DISCLAIMER: This is not a definite way to write music for clinical interactions. This is what seems to work well with my particular group of human beings. Don't go to your supervisors and tell them that I told you that this is the ONLY way to write music - It is NOT! You have to find what works for your clients and for their clinical goals. Since my clients respond well to this type of song, I tend to write songs in this format more than any other. What I have found is that my clients remember these songs more than the ones that I do in different f...
Read more

Being An Internship Director: On Hiatus

Image
It has been long enough since I have had an intern that I am seriously feeling like I have little to say on the subject. At the same time, I am currently writing Chapter 5 of my general internship handbook, so I am able to write about being an intern and what types of things to think about during this important time in our professional development. It is a strange place to be in, and it is one that is a bit challenging for me. Right now, I have had three vacant internship positions since the beginning of the calendar year. I will have a vacant position next month and that will be an entire year of rejected offers. In the past nine months, I have offered positions to three applicants who have declined. It is interesting how people complain that there aren't enough internship programs, but programs like mine are empty. I guess there aren't enough internship programs that pay large stipends (which mine cannot) out there. I get it. It is interesting to me how we have moved from an ...
Read more