Saturday...Back to the Beginning
It is early on a Saturday morning, and I am starting my list of things to do during the next three days. The bullet list started off pretty small, but it is growing and growing as I am sitting here, thinking.
(I should probably stop thinking as it seems to lead to more and more stuff to do...)
Well, that failed. So, if I am going to continue thinking, I might as well start thinking about something to write about.
There aren't many music therapy texts that I buy every single edition, but I do have two different books that I have purchased all available editions. Those books are Defining Music Therapy by Kenneth Bruscia and The Music Within You by Carol Merle Fishman and Shelley Kasch. I love both of those books, but for very different reasons.
The Music Within In (edition 1) was the very first book that was related to music therapy that I ever purchased. I have no idea how I even found it, but I found the title and then convinced the local bookstore (at our mall) to order it for me. I was 16 when I first laid hands on that book, and my dad bought it for me - probably for a birthday or something like that, though Dad would always buy us books - it's the special ordering that makes me think that this was for a special occasion.
I devoured that book. Until I had it, the only information that I had about music therapy was a mimeographed brochure (we didn't even get the original brochure) from the National Association for Music Therapy. As I sit here in all of my professional experience, I realize that the book itself is written for a non-music therapy population about using music to gain wellness goals and habits. Back then, it was nirvana. I got a glimpse of what my life would be like as a music therapist, and I loved it! When the authors came out with another edition, I snapped it up immediately!
My journey into the paths of Defining Music Therapy was a bit different. The first edition was assigned as a course textbook. We parsed all elements of that book during our senior classes. It resonated with me because Dr. Bruscia and I think about almost everything the same - I disagree with his terminology of music AS and music IN therapy - I always think of them as opposite of how he describes it. That's about all that I don't like about that book.
I bought the second edition because I was teaching the same class that I had taken years before. The professor still used Bruscia's text for teaching, and he had produced a new edition. So, I bought it again.
I bought the third edition completely on my own. I listened to Bruscia make some very interesting statements about how his views on how music therapy "should" happen had changed over his career. The third edition reflects those changes in ways that are fascinating to me.
I think it is time to dive back into my favorite music therapy textbooks. I think I will start the way I started way back then - with my first book, the first edition. I am going back to the beginning of my understanding of what and how music influences human behavior and then will travel into the complexities of Bruscia.
What books do you find essential to your identity as a music therapist?
(I should probably stop thinking as it seems to lead to more and more stuff to do...)
Well, that failed. So, if I am going to continue thinking, I might as well start thinking about something to write about.
There aren't many music therapy texts that I buy every single edition, but I do have two different books that I have purchased all available editions. Those books are Defining Music Therapy by Kenneth Bruscia and The Music Within You by Carol Merle Fishman and Shelley Kasch. I love both of those books, but for very different reasons.
The Music Within In (edition 1) was the very first book that was related to music therapy that I ever purchased. I have no idea how I even found it, but I found the title and then convinced the local bookstore (at our mall) to order it for me. I was 16 when I first laid hands on that book, and my dad bought it for me - probably for a birthday or something like that, though Dad would always buy us books - it's the special ordering that makes me think that this was for a special occasion.
I devoured that book. Until I had it, the only information that I had about music therapy was a mimeographed brochure (we didn't even get the original brochure) from the National Association for Music Therapy. As I sit here in all of my professional experience, I realize that the book itself is written for a non-music therapy population about using music to gain wellness goals and habits. Back then, it was nirvana. I got a glimpse of what my life would be like as a music therapist, and I loved it! When the authors came out with another edition, I snapped it up immediately!
My journey into the paths of Defining Music Therapy was a bit different. The first edition was assigned as a course textbook. We parsed all elements of that book during our senior classes. It resonated with me because Dr. Bruscia and I think about almost everything the same - I disagree with his terminology of music AS and music IN therapy - I always think of them as opposite of how he describes it. That's about all that I don't like about that book.
I bought the second edition because I was teaching the same class that I had taken years before. The professor still used Bruscia's text for teaching, and he had produced a new edition. So, I bought it again.
I bought the third edition completely on my own. I listened to Bruscia make some very interesting statements about how his views on how music therapy "should" happen had changed over his career. The third edition reflects those changes in ways that are fascinating to me.
I think it is time to dive back into my favorite music therapy textbooks. I think I will start the way I started way back then - with my first book, the first edition. I am going back to the beginning of my understanding of what and how music influences human behavior and then will travel into the complexities of Bruscia.
What books do you find essential to your identity as a music therapist?
Jackie Peters first edition was my intro text. That one stayed with me and influenced my thinking.
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