Music as Therapy: an introduction

This term, I will be focusing my studies on Music Therapy. To "break into the business" of researching this area, I read a chapter on the topic from Daniel Levitin's new book The World in Six Songs. Interestingly enough, he references both the "Music Perception Journal" and Huron's Sweet Anticipation , both of which I have blogged about in the past.

The American Music Therapy Association defines music therapy as: "evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional."

One disclaimer that Levitin makes about music therapy is that many of the studies done are not kosher to scientific methodology standards. That is, some researchers may publish studies on music used as therapy but did not necessarily control the experiment properly. It will be important for me to keep this in mind throughout my study.


With that said, some amazing feats have been attributed to music therapy. Some seniors who are unable to walk seem to all of a sudden be able to move around to the beat when they hear a song from their youth. On a more basic level, someone who is just in a "bad mood" seems to all of a sudden feel better just by virtue of a certain pattern of sound frequencies (making up their favorite song) entering their ears. Music can act as a retrieval cue for many different memories as well as a means of changing the hormonal balance in our bodies.


Music has an incredible ability to change the chemistry in the brain associated with health, stress, and even the immune system. The amount of Immunoglobin A (IgA), a crucial antibody for fighting colds and infections, has been shown to increase as a result of music therapy.

Some studies have shown that listening to Techno music increases levels of norepinephrine, growth hormone, ACTH, and certain endorphins ("feel good" hormones)- all of which play a role in the immune system. Another interesting study suggested that listening to Bach in a major key can be beneficial to the immune system while listening to Bach in a minor key is less so.