Just A Song Sunday: Sears and Affectively Ordered Behavior

It is Sunday again, and that means another trip into Music in Therapy, the first trip into music therapy theory that I ever took (way, WAY back). It is taking me a long time to get through this relatively short chapter, but I think that is because I am thinking deeply about this chapter yet again. Eventually, I will be finished, but that time has not come this week.

This week's topic is "music evokes affectively ordered behavior" (p.37-38). In the paragraph that Sears spares for this topic, I find myself saying quite often, "Yeah, but..."

Sears used this one paragraph to illustrate the responses of groups of clients to different categories of music. While not using the words "sedative" and "stimulative" music, those terms are definitely implied. He starts off by averring that:

"Slow tempos, smooth (legato) lines, simple harmonies, and little dynamic change are characteristic of music that tends to reduce or sedate physical activity, and, possibly, to enhance the contemplative activity of individuals; fast tempos, detached (staccato) lines, complex and dissonant harmonies, and abrupt dynamic changes tend to increase or stimulate physical activity and, possibly, to reduce mental activity" (p.37-38).

He goes on to say that these responses are usually stronger within groups rather than with individuals as individuals may have "possible unique associations...with the particular music or with music in general" (p.38).

When I read this book, I constantly have to remind myself of the status of both music therapy and interaction with persons with exceptionalities during the time the book was written. I know, from my knowledge of music therapy history and William Sears, that, at the time of publication (1968), most of the music therapy in this area was in large institutions for persons with mental health concerns. The concept of special education for persons with developmental concerns was brand new. Music therapists were working in various settings, but the concept of the profession was still pretty unfamiliar to most people outside of the university.

Sears must have based his own observations on the music therapists and music therapy students that he supervised doing music therapy stuff. He focused on group responses and reactions, possibly because he spent most of his time with groups rather than with individuals. Also, the focus on groups may have been a practical choice of Sears due to the way therapists functioned at the time - running groups rather than focusing on individuals. 

For me, this paragraph holds the beginnings of the ISO-principle concept. I notice that there is no real discussion about changing activity and behavior through the systematic use of music. Sears may not have cared too much about that concept but wanted us to be aware of how to use music to sustain the type of behavior that we wanted in our groups. The only real allusion to the ISO-principle that I can see are the phrases "reduce or sedate physical activity" and "increase or stimulate physical activity" (p.37; p.38). There is no discussion about how a therapist can move a client from one behavior state to another one using the music, there is only a reference to the need for a person to have "a knowledgeable use of music" (p.38) to accomplish a "desired result."

In the almost 50 years since this book was published, we have learned so much about music, about therapy, and about music therapy. We can glimpse inside the brain and see what parts of the brain respond and react to different types of music. We have decades of research about how specific clients respond and react to elements of music, so reading Sears requires a bit of an historical perspective. What I find interesting is what I agree with Sears about, even 47 years later, and what I do not agree with. For example, I think that there is more to using music to sedate or stimulate physical activity than Sears states. I do not believe that you can classify music into only two categories - stimulative and sedative (which, you will notice, Sears did NOT do). I do not believe that this effect is stronger in groups rather than in individual sessions, but I have the benefit of much more research and music therapy theory than Sears did.

As the majority of my therapy role is spent as group leader, I am finding this exploration through Sears' thoughts on group responses to music to be fascinating. I am happy to find things that I agree with and am just as happy to find topics that I do not agree with in my readings.

Next week's topic is sensory-elaborated behavior. Stay tuned for more about William W. Sears and his thoughts about music therapy.
 

Sears, W. W. (1968). Processes in music therapy. In E. T. Gaston (Ed.) Music in therapy (30-44). New York: MacMillan.