What Is Music Therapy? A Detailed Scientific Guide for Beginners

Good thing Taylor Swift keeps churning out music — or who would help you get through that really tough breakup? When Beyonce released “Break My Soul,” an anthem to quit your job to — people actually did just that. And we can’t forget Miley Cyrus’s song that she released on her ex’s birthday — an ode to how she’s just fine being independent.

Music can inspire us to feel. And, if we’re so inclined, expressing ourselves through music is a powerful way to deal with hurt and move through our emotions. While listening to music or feeling heard and seen by a song is an informal way to use music to better your well-being, music therapy is a practice that uses professional music therapists to help you work through physical ailments and mental hardships.

Definition of Music Therapy

Music therapy has an established definition, set by the American Music Therapy Association (AMTA): “Music therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program.”

Music is an essential part of the human experience that starts at the very beginning of our lives and connects us together, notes one scientific article.

Music has been an important component of cultures and society — and its health benefits have been explored since Aristotle and Plato — but it wasn’t until after World Wars I and II when modern day music therapy began to be recognized as a legitimate wellness practice, according to the AMTA. During that era, musicians traveled to hospitals to use music to soothe veterans’ trauma from war.

In the 1940s, universities began to establish music therapy programs. E. Thayer Gaston, chairman of the music education department at the University of Kansas, started the first music therapy graduate degree program in the United States, notes research. For that reason, he is considered the “father of music therapy.”

The field developed throughout the decades, and in 1998, the National Association for Music Therapy and the American Association for Music Therapy merged to become the modern-day American Music Therapy Association.

Music therapists incorporate music therapy modalities and tools to help bring about healing in patients. Music therapy can be uniquely effective because of the impact music has on the brain — namely, in neuroplasticity, says Mia Krings, clinical training supervisor and board-certified music therapist with Greater Chicago Music Therapy. Neuroplasticity refers to how your brain creates new neural connections, or in other words, your ability to learn and experience new things.

Music has a powerful way of enhancing the components of neuroplasticity in several ways. Listening to tunes can stimulate the release of dopamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter, when in the presence of pleasant or enjoyable music, research shows.

Music also “creates a clear signal for the brain to process and understand information,” says Krings. Engaging with the music by moving while listening or music making — like tapping your toes to the beat — also uniquely fires up neurons in the brain to form new connections, she says. What’s more, music engages a large part of the brain via reading and processing, listening, and singing, among other techniques.

There are three distinct ways you might incorporate music into your wellness routine:

Listening to Music

Not done in a clinical setting, this involves recreationally listening to music on your own to improve your mood, decrease stress, or increase motivation to do things like exercise, or to increase enjoyment while performing tasks like working or cleaning.

Music Medicine

When a medical professional plays prerecorded music to manage symptoms, according to research.

Music Therapy

As described above, music therapy involves musical interventions for specific healthcare goals, and is performed under the guidance of a certified music therapist. It can be done in an individual session or a group setting, and involves four main intervention types: re-creation (engaging with music), receptive (listening to music), composition (writing music), and improvisation (in-the-moment creation of music). More on these shortly.

For Dementia Care

Music therapy may aid in dementia care by helping manage symptoms of dementia, including reduced depression and anxiety, according to a systematic review. Given music’s strong ties to memory and vast brain activation, “music [may] help compensate,” says Krings.

For Mood Elevation

You can learn to use music as a tool to cope with stress, something you can bring into your everyday life. Indeed, a large amount of research suggests that music therapy may be effective in helping to reduce stress-related symptoms — and for some, the best stress-buffering benefits come from working with a music therapist who tailors treatment to individual challenges and musical preferences.

While music may have a profound ability to boost your mood on a tough day, it’s important to work with a trained music therapist if you experience depression. Some research has shown that those with depression may have a tendency to choose music that worsens a depressed or sad mood, though they may not be aware of this habit. A music therapist can guide your experience and therapeutic program according to your goals.

For Self-Discovery

If you’re feeling stuck, music therapy may help you face your problems in a safe way. It’s normal to put up defense mechanisms to avoid processing your feelings, but music has a way of getting around those, says Kristen Stewart, a board-certified music therapist and assistant director at The Louis Armstrong Department of Music Therapy at Mount Sinai in New York City. “We can use music to go directly to deeper states of our consciousness and bring awareness to the present,” she explains. In other words, listening to music may bring emotions to the surface and allow you to explore how you’re responding to your inner and outer world.

What’s more, music may help guide emotional experiencing and processing, which might ultimately help improve your mental health, suggests a small study that examined the effects of group singing on adults in mental health recovery.

For Disease Symptom Management

Music therapy is often used in hospital settings to help decrease the severity of symptoms associated with certain medical conditions. For example, research on 1,152 patients with oncologic conditions, sickle cell disease, or hematologic diseases (disorders of the blood and blood-forming organs, per the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases), found that 30-minute music therapy sessions helped reduce pain, anxiety, and fatigue, and increased enjoyment and gratitude, compared with pre-session ratings of these symptoms. (There was not a control group.) One factor that made a difference, particularly in pain? Playing one’s preferred music. The authors point out that music may cause harm if not carefully used, stressing the importance of working with a music therapist in a medical setting.

For Rehabilitation After Stroke or in Neurological Conditions

Music therapy can be used to improve cognition, such as elements of attention and focus, after a stroke, says Krings. According to research, music therapy in stroke rehabilitation may improve one’s ability to swallow, speak, enhance motor function, and lift one’s mood. (A music therapy regimen in this context can be lengthy, which may be limiting for some patients, researchers note.)

In addition, when it comes to neurological movement disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or spinal cord injuries, music interventions like singing or playing a wind instrument have been shown to improve respiratory function; playing a percussion instrument was also found to improve bradykinesia, per research. (Bradykinesia is a common symptom of Parkinson’s disease involving slow or halting movements, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation.) Overall, those with neurological conditions reported better quality of life when engaging with music.

Music therapy is generally safe for most patients. However, there are some considerations to discern before starting. “We might think that in daily life, music is not something that can create harm,” says Stewart. “But remember that we [may] store memories with music.” For that reason, it’s important to be mindful of the relationship between memory and sensory experiences, she explains.

Ensure your music therapist is aware of your history, especially if you experience depression, or trauma or PTSD. It’s possible that music may evoke unpleasant feelings if the song, tune, or beat is associated with challenging memories. “[Music therapists] are not all trauma specialists, but we have to be informed about how this can surface in any client in any setting,” Stewart adds. It’s best to seek out music therapy with a qualified practitioner, rather than trying it on your own.

If you are interested in exploring the power of music as part of your healthcare routine, then you should seek out a board-certified music therapist (MT-BC) to talk about if pursuing music therapy aligns with your goals. Music therapy, a complementary approach, is used in conjunction with other modes of healthcare, such as talk therapy for depression or anxiety, medication for Alzheimer’s, or chemotherapy and radiation for cancer. Always speak with your primary doctor or your specialist managing your condition to make sure music therapy aligns with your treatment regimen before you begin.

Know that you don’t have to have a background in music, “be musical,” or know how to sing to participate in and enjoy music therapy, says Stewart. “The beautiful thing about music therapy is that almost everyone relates to music. You don’t have to be an expert musician to enjoy it,” she says. Professionally trained musical performers, as well as novices can benefit from music therapy.

It’s important to seek out a qualified therapist. Look for the MT-BC designation, which indicates that the therapist has passed the national examination from the Certification Board for Music Therapists, according to the AMTA. You can find someone in your area by Googling “MT-BC, [your city],” checking your local hospital system to see if they offer comprehensive programs that include music therapy, or searching the AMTA's directory.

Before you go, here’s what you may want to know:

Before Your Session

Before starting treatment, you will connect with a music therapist for a personal assessment. You will talk about why you’re interested in music therapy, your challenges, your goals for treatment, as well as develop a treatment plan that includes frequency of sessions and whether or not you’ll attend individual or group sessions, says Stewart.

Prepare for each session (individual or group) to last about 45 minutes to an hour, adds Krings.

During Your Session

Within music therapy, there are four main interventions used, says Krings. Together with your music therapist, you can decide which ones to incorporate within therapy to best suit your goals. While the following can be used, they wouldn’t all be used in each session:

Re-Creation

Consider this “active music making,” says Krings. Playing instruments or singing along to songs would be considered re-creation. “We’re recreating songs that already exist and using them in a way that enhances one’s engagement,” she says.

Receptive

This is what you might be most familiar with: Active music listening. Receptive methods would use music to trigger relaxation responses or recover from stressors.

Composition

Song writing or other ways of making music from scratch can allow people to express their emotions in a unique way, says Krings. Together with the therapist, you might write lyrics, write a song without lyrics, create melodies, or choose the instruments that you want to play.

Improvisation

“Improvisation is in-the-moment creation of music to express yourself,” says Krings. It can help you let go of emotions or relive a good memory, among other benefits. “I often use this modality when I’m introducing a new instrument to a client. They play around with it to see what sounds they can make. Exploring something new is always an engaging and joyful time,” she says.

After Your Session

When you’re done with your session, talk to your music therapist about when you should return for your next session and talk about how often you should be seen. Also, it’s important to process what music listening or making felt like. Talk to your therapist to see if they build this processing time into each session. You can also have a discussion about how you can bring some of the things you’ve learned home with you to use as a coping mechanism for stress or everyday life experiences that you may be struggling with, says Krings.

The cost of music therapy sessions vary depending on several factors, including location and experience of your therapist. In general, hourly rates for an individual music therapy session range between $70 and $94 per hour and $64 to $105 per hour for group music therapy, according to a 2021 workforce analysis (PDF) by the AMTA.

Music therapy may be reimbursed by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance, though rules differ by provider and state. It’s also sometimes offered within hospitals or clinical settings, and sessions may be tailored to the needs of the patient admitted, such as pediatric care. Talk to your insurance provider to see what benefits are available to you on your plan.

Best Organizations

American Music Therapy Association

For an introduction to music therapy, information on how to find a qualified music therapist, and a list of FAQs, the AMTA has many readily available resources. Need to find a music therapist? Visit their practitioner search tool to locate one in your area.

International Association for Music and Medicine (IAMM)

The international nonprofit was founded in 2009 and focuses on how music may be used to enhance treatment in healthcare settings. The IAMM also focuses on research, publishing the journal Music and Medicine. Check out their Content Library for recordings of past IAMM events.

Best Research Resource

Journal of Music Therapy

Published by the American Music Therapy Association, this is a go-to resource if you’re looking to dive deep into the scientific research and rationale behind music therapy. The journal publishes quarterly, and you can also browse back issues.

Best Books

This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession

Written by neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitan, PhD, you’ll dive deep into the inner workings of the brain to learn just how music works on a cognitive level. Though it’s not about music therapy itself, reading this book will provide a better understanding of why this type of therapy can be so impactful.

There’s a Song for That: Lessons Learned from Music and Lyrics: A Music Therapist’s Memoir and Guide

Written by musician Julie Hoffer, a board-certified music therapist who who has been a music therapist since 2005, the book details her own relationship with music, as well as the wellness benefits of music and why it moves us. You’ll also learn strategies — from songwriting to drumming — for incorporating music into your life in a therapeutic (but safe) way.