As a music therapy student at the University of Louisville, I am just getting to know and feel comfortable the methodology and proper techniques in the application of music therapy improvisation. I remember the first time I introduced it in a session. I was terrified. My thoughts were that I wasn’t a good enough musician and that I would not be able to achieve my goal with the client. My first experience with improvisation was in observing an MT in the clinical setting while working with a client diagnosed with a severe to profound Intellectual Disability. My eyes were opened! I watched as a non-responsive client came alive through the music, instantly singing and playing along with the MT. This experience changed my view of improvisation and music therapy as a whole. The following semester I registered for improvisation class with that same MT. I also began a practicum placement at the facility in which the MT worked. This fantastic opportunity allowed me to take what I learned and immediately apply it to active use with a client.
In the Inquiry, Something in the Air: Journeys of Self-Actualization in Musical Improvisation, Heidi Ahonen and Marc Houde discuss the relationship between the feelings, processes and experiences of improvisation sessions as linked to Maslow’s theories of self actualization and peak experiences. The research design was qualitative, abductive, and phenomenological, requiring reflection on experiential hands on experience from six graduate level music therapy students. The following three research questions were asked during this study: 1. What kind of process is experienced when one improvises with an unknown person in an unfamiliar musical style? 2. What is in the air during live interactive improvisation? 3. What are the links between processes of self-actualization and peak experiences introduced by Abraham Maslow? Written reflections, audio recordings, and personal interviews were used to gather the information needed to make a conclusion. The authors conclude there is, in-fact, something in the air, a significant experience when entering into an improvisational encounter. The searching, waiting, building, and releasing techniques used in improvisational sessions involve an indescribable journey through self actualization.
Now that I have experienced using improvisation in a clinical setting I feel more comfortable with the first encounter jitters of improvisation. The feeling in the air is now welcomed and encouraged. The strange feelings of uncertainty that precede an improvisation intervention most often give birth to amazing music and meaningful experiences that would otherwise be missed. If there was one bit of advice I could share it would be that we must remember to embrace silence as an ally during improvisation. Silence often opens the door, providing a safe environment with an inviting gesture. To anyone who is timid or nervous at the idea or thought of improvisation as an intervention, I encourage you to sit down the next time you walk past a piano, taking the first person you see with you, and let the magic happen.