Music Therapy Music therapy is the use of music to address physical, psychological, cognitive or social goals. A music therapist utilizes music as a medium to create a change in non-musical behavior. Music therapists are trained musicians who often engage their clients in live musical interactions. Music therapists work in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, assisted living facilities, hospice care, schools, businesses, and mental health facilities. Music therapists also work with a wide variety of clients including individuals living with cancer, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Autism, Asperger’s disorder, Down’s Syndrome, mental retardation, developmental disabilities and other diseases and disorders. Music therapists also work with individuals who are looking to maintain their health by using music as an outlet for expression and stress relief. Music therapists work with clients and their families in order to create lasting change. Neurologic Music Therapy As defined by the Training Manual for Neurologic Music Therapy (1999), Neurologic Music Therapy is the therapeutic application of music to cognitive, sensory and motor dysfunctions due to neurologic disease of the human nervous system. Neurologic Music Therapy is based on a neuroscience model of music perception and production and the influence of music on functional changes in nonmusical brain and behavior functions. Treatment techniques in Neurologic Music Therapy are based on scientific research and are directed towards functional therapeutic goals. Neurologic Music Therapy Techniques include: Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) – RAS is a specific technique to facilitate rehabilitation of movements that are intrinsically biologically rhythmical. One of the most important of these rhythmical movements is gait. Patterned Sensory Enhancement (PSE) – PSE uses rhythmic, melodic, harmonic and dynamic aspects of music to provide temporal spatial and force cues for movement which reflect functional exercises and activities of daily living. Therapeutic Instrumental Music Playing (TIMP) – TIMP uses playing musical instruments to exercise and simulate functional movement patterns. Musical Mnemonics Training (MMT) – Musical exercises addressing various memory encoding and decoding/recall functions. Musical Attention Control Training (MACT) – Structured active or receptive musical exercises, involving precomposed performance or improvisation in which musical elements cue different musical responses to practice sustained, selective, divided, alternating etc attention functions Speech Stimulation (STIM) – The use of musical and song patterns to stimulate nonpropositional speech Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT) – A treatment technique for aphasia rehabilitation which utilizes a client’s unimpaired ability to sing to facilitate spontaneous and voluntary speech through sung and chanted melodies which resemble natural speech intonation patterns. Rhythmic Speech Cuing (RSC) – The use of rhythmic cuing to control the intiation and rate of speech thru cuing and pacing. Vocal Intonation Therapy (VIT) – Intoned phrases simulating the prosody, inflection and pacing of normal speech. Vocal exercises to train all aspects of voice control. Therapeutic Singing (TS) – A technique that is used to practice articulation or initiation of speech as well as increase breath control and posture. Oral Motor Exercises (OMREX) – The use of different musical elements to practice muscular control of a speech apparatus to facilitate the production of specific sounds. * Center for Biomedical Research in Music, Colorado State University, Training Manual for Neurologic Music Therapy, 1999