The Art of Improvisation for Use in Music Therapy (6 credits)

Improvisation can be one of the most responsive tools available to a music therapist. There’s no predetermined song to follow and no single “right” way the music needs to unfold.

But that freedom can also make improvisation intimidating.

What do you play when there’s no chord chart? How do you respond musically to what a client is doing? And how do you facilitate an improvisation without feeling like you have to be an expert improviser yourself?

In this experiential course, you’ll expand your improvisational skills while exploring practical ways to use spontaneous music-making within therapeutic and musical contexts.

After an introduction to the history and theoretical foundations of therapeutic improvisation, you’ll experiment with a wide range of approaches drawn from jazz, classical, rock, folk, blues, and world music traditions. Rather than learning one “correct” way to improvise, you’ll develop a broader musical vocabulary you can draw from in the moment.

You’ll explore how improvisation can become a nonverbal form of communication, allowing music therapists and clients to connect, respond, express, and create together without relying entirely on words.

You’ll also learn practical techniques for facilitating improvisation groups, adapting instruments so people can participate successfully, and using music theory “on the fly” to help you respond more confidently to whatever emerges musically.

And because improvisation doesn’t have to be limited to traditional instruments, you’ll even learn how to create simple contact microphones that can transform everyday objects into amplified sound sources for creative musical exploration.

Through experiential music-making, case material, discussion, research, and reflection, you’ll also consider mindfulness-based improvisation, self-care, and the role of culture in the ways we listen, respond, and create music together.

In this workshop, you will learn:

How to become more comfortable and confident improvising without relying on predetermined music.
Approaches to improvisation drawn from jazz, classical, rock, folk, blues, and world music traditions.
How to use improvisation as a form of nonverbal communication and musical interaction.
Practical strategies for facilitating individual and group improvisation experiences.
How to adapt instruments and musical experiences so clients with different levels of musical experience can participate successfully.
Ways to use music theory spontaneously to support and develop an improvisation.
How to listen and respond more intentionally to what is happening musically in the moment.
How to create and use simple contact microphones to expand the sounds and objects available for improvisation.
Ways to incorporate mindfulness and self-care into improvisational music-making.
How cultural perspectives can influence improvisational approaches and musical interactions.

Leave with a larger musical vocabulary, greater freedom at your instrument, and more confidence using improvisation as a responsive music therapy tool.

Learning Objectives:

Participants will be able to define musical improvisation
Participants will be able to interpret the intended and underlying communicated meaning of a musical improvisation
Participants will be able to create 1 improvisation-based intervention
Participants will be able to apply at least 1 improvisational skill or principle to their own personal clinical work

Course Schedule and Format:

1 hour: Background, Theory and History of Improvisation in Music Therapy

We’ll discover where improvisation is situated historically and theoretically in relation to music therapy and the therapeutic models that you are most familiar with.

1 hour: Overview of Improvisational methods

Through experiential examples and a vast array of diverse methods for improvisation ranging from jazz and classical techniques to rock, folk, blues and world music approaches we will explore the most essential principles and how you can immediately incorporate these into your own work.

1 hour: Improvisational interventions that work!

We’ll discover note-by-note how to work with specific therapeutic goals and objectives through improvisation in relation to a wide range of situations including individuals, groupwork, non-verbal somatic communication and working with all ages across the entire life cycle.

1 hour Q&A and Wrap up

Evaluate by feedback form

1 hr Homework Assignment Self-Study

CBMT Domain Areas

III.A.7 Music therapy methods used to support therapeutic outcomes (e.g., improvising, recreating, composing, listening, moving); Task Statement 36 Engage the client in individualized music therapy experiences to address the client's established goals and objectives within multiple domains of health and well-being (e.g., psychosocial, physiological, spiritual, musical)

III.A.-6 Theoretical frameworks for music therapy treatment implementation (e.g., educational, developmental, neurological, psychological)

III.A.10 Clinical adaptation of musicianship to address therapeutic needs

The Art of Improvisation for Musicians and Therapists is approved by the Certification Board for Music Therapists (CBMT) for 6 CMTEs-Continuing Music Therapy Education credits. The Spiegel Academy, CBMT Approved Provider #P-106, maintains responsibility for program quality and adherence to CBMT policies and criteria.

Class Description