The Stimulation of Imagination and Creativity Through Music and Music Therapy
By Robin Neary, State University of New York at Fredonia
Conclusions and Results
Abstract
Theoretical and Integrative Reviews
- Musical interventions such as composition, arrangement, and improvisation have shown to be the most effective in the influence and stimulation of musical creativity (Hargreaves, 2012; Heath & Lings, 2012; Kokotsaki & Newton, 2015; Pool & Odell-Miller, 2011; Sovansky et al., 2016)
- View on relationship between divergent/convergent thinking and creativity conflicted between some articles (Dietrich, 2007; Hargreaves, 2012; Sovansky et al., 2016)
- Both hemispheres of the brain are believed to be involved in creative thinking, as opposed to the previous belief that only the right hemisphere was involved (Demarin et al., 2016; Dietrich, 2007)
- Heath and Lings (2012) claimed that creativity in music therapy can be used to express a range of emotions, feelings, and experiences
- Music therapy clients may benefit from addressing goals of creativity because they can discover creative outlets to express themselves, which can also help them outside of the therapeutic environment.
- Interventions to address goals of creativity may include: improvisation for the client to demonstrate how they feel through the music; and composition to creatively express an idea or emotion that they wish to display.
- The world we live in today would not be nearly as exceptional as it is without the pursuit of creative thoughts from millions of imaginative individuals throughout history
- The stimulation of creative thinking and imagination within an individual can thus be encouraged through music therapy
- Creativity in music found to be most effectively stimulated by participation in free exploration, improvisation, composition, and arrangement (Hargreaves, 2012)
- Dietrich (2007) claimed that creativity should not be considered as divergent thinking; it can just as easily be manufactured through convergent thinking
- Music triggers responses in particular areas of the brain, and influence functions that are accountable for “memory, motor control, timing and language” (Demarin et al., 2016)
Imagination and creativity are essential elements that set human beings apart from any other living beings; they motivate and inspire individuals to explore, find solutions to problems and tasks, and ignite passion. It is widely believed that music and music therapy create a positive effect on the stimulation of imagination and creativity. Research has shown that music can inspire and prompt creative responses in individuals (Barbot & Lubart, 2012; Cominardi, 2014; Heath & Lings, 2012; Kokotsaki & Newton, 2015; Pool & Odell-Miller, 2011; Scholer et. al, 2015; Sovansky et. al, 2016).
Research Studies
- Sovansky et al. (2016) claimed that expert musicians demonstrate more divergent thinking, hence more creativity, than experts of other professions or talents
- Kokotsaki & Newton (2015) conducted study to examine musical creativity in 13-year old students
- students created pieces of music using a program, and pieces were judged by trainee music teachers
- pieces that were deemed most creative had variety and originality
References
Introduction
Studies in Music Therapy
- Barbot, B., & Lubart, T. (2012). Creative thinking in music: Its nature and assessment through musical exploratory behaviors. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 6 (3), 231-242.
- Cominardi, C. (2014). From creative process to trans-cultural process: Integrating music therapy with arts media in Italian kindergartens: A pilot study. Australian Journal of Music Therapy, 25 (Special Issue: Regarding culture in music therapy.), 3-14.
- Demarin, V., Bedeković, M. R., Puretić, M. B., & Pašić, M. B. (2016). Arts, Brain, and Cognition. Psychiatria Danubina, 28 (4), 343-348.
- Dietrich, A. (2007). Who’s afraid of a cognitive neuroscience of creativity? Methods, 42 (1), 22-27.
- Hargreaves, D. J. (2012). Musical imagination: Perception and production, beauty and creativity. Psychology of Music, 40 (5), 539-557.
- Heath, B., & Lings, J. (2012). Creative songwriting in therapy at the end of life and in bereavement. Mortality, 17 (2), 106-118.
- Kokotsaki, D., & Newton, D. P. (2015). Recognizing creativity in the music classroom. International Journal of Music Education, 33 (4), 491-508.
- Pool, J., & Odell-Miller, H. (2011). Aggression in music therapy and its role in creativity with reference to personality disorder. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 38 (3), 169-177.
- Scholer, M., Lemétayer, F., & Schiltz, L. (2015). Revealing the creative process in music psychotherapy by applying a test of creative thinking and clinical observational frames. Nordic Journal of Music Therapy, 25 (3), 229-247.
- Sovansky, E. E., Wieth, M. B., Francis, A. P., & McIlhagga, S. D. (2016). Not all musicians are creative: Creativity requires more than simply playing music. Psychology of Music, 44 (1), 25-36.
- Exact or agreed-upon definitions of both creativity and imagination have often been debated
- Pool and Odell-Miller (2011) state that creativity involves producing, with great power, something original into existence
- Hargreaves (2012) proclaims that “creativity is only one facet of a much broader phenomenon, the central core of which is imagination”
- Interest in this topic originated from my personal minor struggle with being creative and using original ideas
- Scholer et al. (2015) conducted exploratory study to examine levels of creativity in long-term psychiatric rehabilitation patients through improvisation and "drawing under musical induction"
- results showed that creativity increased in all patients involved
- Pool & Odell-Miller (2011) conducted exploratory qualitative study to examine connections between aggression and creativity in music therapy
- composed of a case study and interviews from experienced music therapists
- connection was made that creativity and aggression both involve mastery, affect, and action