CBMT and Musicianship

[MT-PRO Music Therapy List]

Ideally, I think that we need more quality musical training at our 
    colleges and universities.  Students should be encouraged to focus on 
    their piano, voice and guitar skills as early as possible so that when 
    they reach their internship more focus can be placed on using those 
    skills therapeutically.  Also, I think that AMTA needs to tighten 
    standards on other musical courses, such as composition.  My 
    composition class did not teach me anything besides 4-part chordal 
    voice-leading.  It would have been far more helpful to have a course 
    more specifically aimed at writing music that might be used in therapy 
    sessions, such as popular music.  
    
    It disturbs me that some individuals could be graduating with their 
    degrees in music therapy yet not have completed their internship.  I 
    don't know how possible this would be, but I would like to see our 
    educational institutions using a Bachelor of Arts degree instead of a 
    Bachelor of Music.  I may be mistaken, but I think that most of our 
    colleges & universities grant a Bachelor of Music.  For one, this 
    would help prevent people from graduating and being able to say that 
    they have a music therapy degree.  Also, I don't feel that a Bachelor 
    of Music degree gives our profession the credibility it deserves.  Our 
    training requires knowledge in a great variety of areas, but when a 
    diploma reads "Bachelor of Music" this immediately gets discounted.  
    At times I get asked by people what my degree is in.  If they have not 
    seen my work and I tell them that I have a Bachelor of Music, they 
    generally don't demonstrate much interest in learning more about the 
    profession. I think their feeling is that I'm just a person who goes 
    around and sings to people, unless I get the opportunity to explain 
    myself further.  This is very sad considering that some of these 
    people are medical or nursing students.  However, if I tell them that 
    I have a music therapy degree and explain what is involved in 
    acquiring that degree, they are generally more interested.  Of course, 
    if they have seen my work then they are able to judge my clinical 
    skills and know that I am not just a musician.  As I said, I don't 
    know how possible it is to change the type of degree granted, but I 
    think that it could help our profession in more ways than one.
    
    Caroline Gottschalk, MT-BC
-- MT-PRO Music Therapy List, mtpro@multipro.com on 10/30/1999 at 1:02:06 AM


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