Experiences of music therapists sharing improvisation remotely during lockdown

Annesley, Luke; Haire, Nicky

Abstract

Music therapy has faced challenges to practice during lockdown. This co-first authored study considers the literature on music therapy improvisation (MTI), and on meaning making in improvisation more generally. The authors explored the creative possibilities of multi-tracked improvisations. This involved the creation of recorded improvised ‘prompts’, a few minutes in length, which were then ‘answered’ using audio software for multi-tracking. Through reflections which draw on the principles of auto-ethnography, we seek to describe and explore these experiences and draw meaning from them. Both authors are improvising musicians, music therapists and music therapy educators. While the project began as a way of maintaining motivation for musical activity, it became useful to reflect on the therapeutic and pedagogical potential of the process.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 17, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 14, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 2, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Music, Health and Wellbeing
• Electronic ISSN: 2515-981X
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Series Title: Special Issue on: Musicking through COVID-19: Challenges, Adaptations, and New Practices
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6703765
• Publisher URL: https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/20.500.12289/11672/11672.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
• Related Public URLs: https://www.musichealthandwellbeing.co.uk/; ; https://www.nickyhaire.com/