Proceedings, Oxford, UK (2002) - World Federation of Music Therapy

A still more detailled analysis of reciprocities reveals the elements of a
musical dialogue. This grahic shows the interaction pattern of a sequence
from the ninth session with a five year old autistic boy. The
communication pattern of this sequence clearly demonstrates a dialogical
structure. The boy is signalling his communicative reference by directing
his gaze to the hands of the music therapist after finishing his
contribution. This musical dialogue is characterized by reciprocal turn
taking, that is very well tuned and by musical contributions, that are
shaped both by the own preceding contribution and the contribution of
the partner.
You will see the musical score on one of the next charts. The music
therapist has succeeded in creating a balanced responsive relationship
with the boy.
On the micro level finally the layers of relation concern the processes of
attention, intention and invention. These relations are formed and
transformed by the relations on the meso and macro level. The
attentional, intentional and inventional activities are dependent from the
processes of participation, perception and proprioception as they are
mediated or transmitted through the music therapy situation.
To be concise we are here on a construct level, because attention,
intention and invention cannot be easily observed but have to be
operationalized to be measured. The interaction analysis and the
empirical data show that the co-constructed music therapy context with
coherence, synchronicity and reciprocity creates a balanced responsive
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