This was an eye-opening article for me (See Fortnightly columns: October 7- 21, 2002). I had no idea that Music Therapy had so much in common with the Carnival. After reading this article I have a new view of what music therapy is and how it really works at helping others.
The similarity between the two was amazing. During carnival, music plays an important part of the celebration, and music is a great part of music therapy. While the music plays at the Carnival it is hard to keep still. This is also true in music therapy. At the carnival all ages can participate, and in music therapy age is not a criterion for a meaningful music experience. Another similarity in music therapy is that the therapist has a client who is in or has suffered with pain while using music tries to find some joy and closure. On the other hand during carnival the rules are suspended and the search for joy and pleasure begins.
According to the article, during carnival people can assume the identity they want and live the life they want to with the help of the music. Meanwhile in music therapy the therapist use music to help the client become able to live a better life or the best for him or her. The article makes it
clear that a carnival is a time for people to for people to travel back and forth between reality and illusion. Music therapy help people through the illusion of music find reality and themselves.
This article clearly shows how effective music is in all societies. It is a universal trait to be used in more than one way. Music can be used for recreation as well as a healing tool. Music is like the air we breathe; we all need it and without it we would surely die.
Response to Carnival and Music Therapy
I am a drummer, a music therapy student, and I have had a little experience with batucada style samba. So, I was naturally drawn to this article when exploring what Voices had to offer. I especially wanted to explore the connection between various cultures’ use of music and how they relate to music therapy. Most everyone seems to agree that music is a very therapeutic force; but how?, why?, and does music therapy translate across cultural lines?
The article Carnival and Music Therapy provides some great insight into the “world” of music therapy. Being in a sambadrome is, in a sense, Brazil’s national therapy session. The feeling of so many coming together for one purpose is a truly unifying experience- one that easily relates to the concept of entrainment. Music therapists most commonly associate entrainment with drum circles, so it is fitting to discuss that when talking about Carnival since they have some of the largest drumming groups playing together. To me, a samba school (the drumming ensemble as a whole) is a great representation of the crowd. They are both made up of different classes/sections (like the different instrument groupings) yet they are coming together to create one thing. It breaks down social barriers. That’s the great thing about music therapy too! We can share experiences with people who might not be able to communicate with us on most levels, but we can always communicate through music.
On the flipside, I think trying to bring Carnival into the music therapy setting could be difficult. As the author notes in the first paragraph, there are lights, and fireworks, and fantastic creatures that seem unreal all converging in a frenzy of action! This could be very overstimulating for many clients. Of course there would never be actual fireworks, and the size and setting would be completely different, but that is what the rhythms and instruments are designed for. They are loud, and very stimulating. Can the same instruments used in a typical bateria create other soundscapes and moods? Could they create a quiet, meditative state of being? I would imagine this might vary depending on your cultural understanding of the instruments. Since I learned to play bateria drums in the traditional “batucada” style, it is harder for me to imagine them used in a different way. Is it easier for people who aren’t familiar with those specific techniques?
It would be very interesting to see how other cultures embrace samba in music therapy...
Reference:
Barcellos, Lia Rejane Mendes, 2002 Carnival and Music Therapy. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved November 05, 2011, from http://testvoices.uib.no/?q=fortnightly-columns/2002-carnival-and-music-...
Hello my name is Jaronda Primrose and I am a music therapy equivalency
student at Georgia College and State University, working towards a master's degree
in Music Therapy. I have a degree in Piano Performance from Jackson State
University.
I must say that this issue was great! I enjoyed reading it. From the very first line, it caught my attention and it made me want to keep reading. I especially liked the example of the samba that I heard. (I wasn't able to download the example written by the client.) I also enjoyed reading about the Carnival. It made me want to move to Brazil to attend one of these parties. I really enjoy dancing, dressing up and at times, singing, (remember I am a pianist), so I would fit right in! Being able to hear the music, really gave me an idea of the actual experience of the Carnival. Just from reading, it reminded me of what the Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana is about. Especially with the mention of the masks and costumes, but I would still like to see how it is in Brazil.
I think that the Carnival is Music Therapy because everyone needs to escape from reality sometimes and for four days...wow! This type of therapy can be used for people/clients who are overly tensed, stressed and depressed, or someone who has low social skills. This would be exactly what could be used for them to become more adequate in their surroundings. They could sing, dance, dress up with make-up, masks, and different clothes, and learn to participate and not have to worry about what anyone says or does, or how they are looked upon because for that period of time, they will be able to have fun, and enjoy their surroundings, which will in turn help them to be able to cope with every day life.
Thanks, Lia Rejane Mendes Barcellos, for a brief, lesson on Brazilian culture and how Music Therapy can be brought to life!
While reading the article that compared music therapy to the celebration of Carnival (See Fortnightly columns: October 7- 21, 2002), I thought that the most important thing that a music therapy student needs to do is understand who their client is and what, as the author described, their "reality" is, or even to understand what the term reality actually means. I am a first year music therapy student in the United States, so I have not been exposed to a wide variety of clinical settings. However, because of the classes I have taken and the articles I have read, including this one, I have become aware of just how important this idea is.
I come from a French and Cajun heritage, so it was easy for me to understand the description of the "fantasy" of Carnival, since it is so closely related to our celebration of Mardi Gras. This, like Carnival, is a chance to indulge yourself, in our case before Lent, and be who ever you want to be for a few days. What makes it even more important to me is how both are characterized by music. For me, this comparison allowed me to understand how our "fantasy" in these few days is actually "reality" for some. It makes me think, is there not a universal picture that could help other music therapy students have a clearer understanding of this "reality"?
Just like everything in Carnival and Mardi Gras is held together through music, so is a music therapy session. The music that is produced during a music therapy session, is allowing the client to "say" something about themselves, while Carnival and Mardi Gras allows us to do this only once a year and is usually an expression of what you want to be, not what you actually are.