Whether you’re starting Music Therapy, thinking of becoming one, or are just an interested passerby, here are some books to feed your thoughts:

Music Therapy: Intimate Notes (Pavlicevic)
Mercedes Pavlicevic gives a wonderful view inside the Music Therapy space through interviews with each chapter containing a music therapists’ recollection of a meaningful client. I think this book is captivating; each chapter reads differently due to the voice of the therapist changing, but each chapter is grounded in Pavlicevic’s commentary at the end. Pavlicevic easily communicates her thoughts about the cases without overshadowing the voice of the therapist; adding insight and context in an easily digestible form. This is a great book for anyone interested in learning more about the process, thinking and humanity behind Music Therapy as a discipline.

Music Therapy: An Art Beyond Words (Bunt & Stige)
It can be hard to recommend a more ‘text book’ style book but Music Therapy: An Art Beyond Words is pretty accessible, especially in the first few chapters. Opening with a history of Music Therapy in the UK and USA, outlines of some theoretical perspectives (orientations) about music therapy, and components of music as a phenomenon; it soon dives into case studies and explores the work from a more humanistic/creative lens. The case studies cover the lifespan: child, adolescent, adult and older adult, and wrap with a perspective of how the future of music therapy may look and evolve. If you’re looking for slightly more dense book from a specifically creative music therapy perspective then this would be a good starting point (especially for interested or beginning students).

This Is Your Brain on Music (Levitin) & Musicophilia (Sacks)
Slightly straying from the beaten path of Music Therapy comes two books influential in my choice to purse the discipline. This Is Your Brain on Music is a deep dive from a neurologists perspective on how music affects your brain and why it has the effects that you feel. It’s been a while since I’ve directly read the text but Daniel Levitin has a voice that’s easy to read if you’re comfortable engaging with less narrative books. Whilst Levitin’s book is far from a text book, Oliver Sacks’s Musicophilia is a more narrative exploration of the subject of music and neurology. Each chapter is a case study from Sacks’s illustrious career of meeting and writing about extraordinary individuals, this time with a focus on their relationship to music through their neurology. From amusic people to piano-obsessive prodigies, I cannot recommend Sacks’s book(s) enough for anyone and everyone.

Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening (Small) & Free Play: Improvisation in Life & Art (Nachmanovitch)
Even further off the beaten path and into the realms of musicology and artistic philosophy comes Musicking and Free Play. The markers of my Master’s essays must be exhausted from reading the citation of Small in every other sentence, but I found Musicking to be so formative in how I understand music (or, should I say, musicking). A core premise is that music should not be thought of as an object, but as a verb – to do music. To participate in musicking can be as innocuous as sitting in the room next to someone practicing the guitar. Small makes compelling argument for the expansion from noun to verb which fundamentally alters our relationship to how we engage in seeing concerts, practicing, performing, and even thinking about music. I’ll admit, Musicking took me a few passes to make it through and digest Small’s words, but the perseverance is worth it. Free Play is a simpler read, but equally full of richness and perspective on art and life. Nachmanovitch makes a wonderful case for embracing inner childishness and creativity in the pursuit of art and life. Improvisation is a core feature of Nachmanovitch’s method of engaging with creativity, and is also a core aspect of the history of Music Therapy in the UK. If nothing else, this book is short, wonderfully written, and great encouragement to occasionally shed the rigidity of adult-ness and live a little more spontaneously.

Garrick Wareham