Foreword by Benjamin Britten

This is an intensely moving, as well as a very important book. It is the story of a distinguished American composer virtually stopping his “abstract’’ composing, as it were, in mid-career and using his talents and energies to discover ways of helping by music mentally deprived children. 1 imagine Paul Nordoff previously knew little of this tragic side of life, and it was s shattering experience for him to come into contact with it: s glance at the illustrations at the back of this book can give « hint of that.
This quietly written account of his and Mr. Robbins’ patient experiments, their journeys into the obscured world of these children, will not easily be forgotten. I am not qualified to comment on the importance of the psychological cures that these two men have achieved, nor of the extension of diagnosis. But this I can say—the book is as well highly important for musicians, particularly composers. At this curious moment in musical history the validity of communication in art has itself been called in question, and it is wonderful to have a book where the concentration is entirely on just this, on communication pure and simple. Any and every form of musical style and technique is tried and used: scales, old and new, chords, rhythms, new kinds of instruments—I long to introduce my friend Rostropovich to the one-stringed ‘cello, to find out what he could do with it. It is indeed salutary to have a description of a composer humbly and un-self-consciously indulging in every sort of freedom, and being guided solely by his success in communicating with, and concern for the well-being of, his young, sick listeners. I can recommend this book wholeheartedly not only to humanitarian readers, but to my musical colleagues as well.
We can all learn from it. Autistic or psychotic children and those with severe brain injury are largely cut off from communication with life, There is a poverty of ego, a failure of development of conscious personality, a withdrawal from a world which has proven too painful or a regular misconstruing of signals coming from that world. Through the methods described in this work, music becomes a non-conflictual entrance into the child’s consciousness. The child's own responses participate in an activity which becomes truly creative within a comparatively short time. For the child (and for the observer) this is a tremendously exhilarating experience. There is a gradual awakening response to the personalities of the therapists and here the potentialities of these crippled children are born. The work of recording the experiences has been done with skill and accuracy. It describes a creative process clearly and understandably, making it available for use for other humanistic musicians in giving active participation in life to otherwise drab existence. It also opens exciting glimpses of new and broadening approaches to further understanding of the human condition. G. Henry Karz, M.D, Senior Psychoanalyst, Lecturer in Psychiatry, The Institute of the Pennsylvania Hospital THE THERAPY THAT lies in music can have a far-reaching ctteet upon the development of children who bear the handicaps of mental impairment, emotional disturbance or physical disability. Over wide ranges of childhood pathology, age, social and economic background, under almost all conditions of special education, institutional or clinical care, this broad assertion holds true. Music is a universal experience in the sense that all can share in it; its fundamental elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm appeal to, and engage their related psychic functions in each one of us. Music is also universal in that its message, the content of its expression, can encompass all heights and depths of human experience, all shades of feeling. It can lead or accompany the psyche through all conditions of inner experience, whether these be superficial and relatively commonplace or profound and deeply personal. That the cultural inheritance of music is endowed with countless gifts for every human being is common knowledge, but for those children with whom we are concerned in this book the “gifts” that music holds are so important that they demand our special consideration. Because these children are mentally or emotionally or physically handicapped—or as is very often the case, multiply handicapped—each one is isolated from the course and. content of normal human life to a particular extent. Frequently the handicapped child is unable to assimilate hfe’s experiences; he may be confused because he fails to interpret them, he may even misinterpret them. He may have little or no faith in the capacities of his own psyche. His responsiveness to life may be crippled by fear or anxiety; he may live in a vortex of emotion or, conversely, his consciousness can be so remote that it is concerned only with distorted fragments of the realities of existence. Severe physical disability may have con. fined him from birth, narrowing his developmental contact with life, his communicative difficulties denying him all expectation of competence and fulfilment, his dependency demoralizing him. For children such as these music may become a world of cogent, activating experience, For the child who is intellectually impaired, music and musical activities can be vivid, intelligible experiences that require no abstract thought. For the emotionally immature or disturbed child the experience of the emotional language of music is inviting : the self-subsistence of its melodies and forms provides security for him. Musical activity can motivate the physically disabled child to use his limbs or voice expressively; its rhythmic-melodic structures then support his activity and induce an order in his control that promotes coordination.
Music therefore becomes a sphere of experience, a means of intercommunication and a basis for activity in which hand:capped children can find freedom, in varying degrees, from the malfunctions that restrict their lives. As such, music possesses inherent capacities for effecting a uniquely significant contact with handicapped children and for providing an experiential ground for their engagement, their personality development, their integration—both individually and socially. To the extent to which music achieves this it becomes music therapy; in practice, the range of expression of music as an art, and the structural constitution of music as an artistic discipline, are directly involved. This book will describe how, in adapting to the different conditions and needs of variously handicapped children, music and musically-supported activities become therapeutically effective in many ways. The book is in the nature of a clinical autobiography; our successive projects from 1959 to 1967 are summarized, and stage by stage our experiences with children are described and discussed. Almost all the experiences the children led us into were totally unforeseeable; the depth and intenaity of their responses and the direetions of their consequent developments have brought us to a new appreciation of the role nausie can play in the growth and enrichtment of children. It is our purpose in this book to provide an introduction to muste therapy with handicapped children which will illustrate the potentiality of its scope and its main musical and psychological perspectives. Our aim is also to provide musicians, therapists, teachers and students with a wide, practical orientation in the implementation of music as therapy by eremplifying the creative use of musical and artistically related principles in a variety of working situations. In both individual and group work numerous techniques are demonstrated. Most descriptions of individual therapy are given in the first person singular for conciseness and in order to reflect the clinical situation. In attempting to depict the central motivating power of music therapy—a child’s commitment to his musical activitywe have become all too aware of the limitations of words to describe musical experience. Only music itself can convey the meaning of its experience, and much more is involved in this than auditory stimuli, rhythm, the “tune”, associations, and so forth. The statement of music is made moment by moment; what it expresses comes to life as it moves in time. Our experience, as we live with it, is defined „by. the character and iteration of its structural elements. Our mood îs charged by its mood. Our emotions are tempered and held by the changing tensions of its harmony. When we live in the movement of a melody we become identified with it—as children do when they sing it. When we live in the tonal and temporal structures of a musical composition—-—as children do when they play instruments in itour participation integrates our responding faculties. It is out of this completeness of the relationship between music and the human being that music therapy in its truest sense arises.


The therpay that lies in music can have a far-reaching effect upon the development of children who bear the handicaps of mental impairment, emotional disturbance or physical disability. Over wide ranges of childhood pathology, age, social and economic background, under almost all conditions of special education, institutional or clinical care, this broad assertion holds true.

Music is a universal experience in the sense that all can share in it; its fundamental elements of melody, harmony, and rhythm appeal to, and engage their related psychic functions in each one of us. Music is also universal in that its message, the content of its expression, can encompass all heights and depths of human experience, all shades of feeling. It can lead or accompany the psyche through all conditions of inner experience, whether these be superficial and relatively commonplace or profound and deeply personal.

That the cultural inheritance of music is endowed with countless gifts for every human being is common knowledge, but for those children with whom we are concerned in this book the “gifts” that music holds are so important that they demand our special consideration. Because these children are mentally or emotionally or physically handicapped—or as is very often the case, multiply handicapped—each one is isolated from the course and content of normal human life to a particular extent. Frequently the handicapped child is unable to assimilate life's experiences; he may be confused because he fails to interpret them, he may even misinterpret them. He may have little or no faith in the capacities of his own psyche. His responsiveness to life may be crippled by fear or anxiety; he may live in a vortex of emotion or, conversely, his consciousness can be so remote that it is concerned only with distorted fragments of the realities of existence. Severe physical disability may have confined him from birth, narrowing his developmental contact with life, his communicative difficulties denying him all expectation of competence and fulfilment, his dependency demoralizing him. For children such as these music may become a world of cogent, activating experience.

For the child who is intellectually impaired, music and musical activities can be vivid, intelligible experiences that require no abstract thought. For the emotionally immature or disturbed child the experience of the emotional language of music is inviting : the self-subsistence of its melodies and forms provides security for him. Musical activity can motivate the physically disabled child to use his limbs or voice expressively ; its rhythmic-melodic structures then support his activity and induce an order in his control that promotes coordination. Music therefore becomes a sphere of experience, a means of intercommunication and a basis for activity in which handicapped children can find freedom, in varying degrees, from the malfunctions that restrict their lives. As such, music possesses inherent capacities for effecting a uniquely significant contact with handicapped children and for providing an experiential ground for their engagement, their personàlity development, their integration—both individually and socially. To the extent to which music achieves this it becomes music therapy; in practice, the range of expression of music as an art, and the structural constitution of music as an artistic discipline, are directly involved.

This book will describe how, in adapting to the different conditions and needs of variously handicapped children, music and musically-supported activities become therapeutically effective in many ways. The book is in the nature of a clinical autobiography; our successive projects from 1959 to 1967 are summarized, and stage by stage our experiences with children are described and discussed. Almost all the experiences the children led us into were totally unforeseeable; the depth and intensity of their responses and the directions of their consequent developments have brought us to a new appreciation of the role music can play in the growth and enrichment of children.

It is our purpose in this book to provide an introduction to music therapy with handicapped children which will illustrate the potentiality of its scope and its main musical and psychological perspectives. Our aim is also to provide musicians, therapists, teachers and students with a wide, practical orientation in the implementation of music as therapy by exemplifying the creative use of musical and artistically related principles in a variety of working situations. In both individual and group work numerous techniques are demonstrated. Most descriptions of individual therapy are given in the first person singular for conciseness and in order to reflect the clinical situation.

In attempting to depict the central motivating power of music therapy—a child’s commitment to his musical activitywe have become all too aware of the limitations of words to describe musical experience. Only music itself can convey the meaning of its experience, and much more is involved in this than auditory stimuli, rhythm, the ““tune’’, associations, and so forth. The statement of music is made moment by moment; what it expresses comes to life as it moves in time. Our experience, as we live with it, is defined by the character and iteration of its structural elements. Our mood is charged by its mood. Our emotions are tempered and held by the changing tensions of its harmony. When we live in the movement of a melody we become identified with it—as children do when they sing it. When we live in the tonal and temporal structures of a musical composition—-as children do when they play instruments in itour participation integrates our responding faculties. It is out of this completeness of the relationship between music and the human being that music therapy in its truest sense arises.

Sunfield Children's Home, Clent, Stourbridge, Worcestershire. Residential. 75 children. Ages: 4-17. Pathologies: all children severely subnormal; moderate and severe retardation, mongoltsm, childhood psychosis, aphasia, multiple handicaps.
This institute sought to promote the social competence and personality development of its patients directly through intensive and varied group activities. The consistent use of a wide range of artistic activities—painting, music, eurythmy, drama and handicrafts—effected an “emotional education’’ of the children. In order to achieve this aim, care was taken to maintain a high level of quality in these experiences. The effects of this enhancement of consciousness upon the children's behaviour and educability were then channelled into a flexible, resourceful educational programme.

Research in Individual Music Therapy
The openmindedness of the professional staff to the research in music therapy and the absence of any restricted system of psychological thought facilitated a wide perception of the scope of musical influence and the formulation of several working concepts.

In considering the effect of music in individual therapy the research group studied and analysed such components and elements as intervals, consonance-dissonance, rhythms, vibrato, and scaleforms. The practical necessity to apply these freely and experimentally in a clinical setting led to the development of mustcal improvisation as a basic technique for individual therapy.