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

Because the Interaction Themes are developed gradually from session to
session, they bear witness to the interaction history the child and therapist
have developed together, that makes it possible for both of them to 'read'
variations/deviations in the other's actions. Through closer analysis, it
becomes apparent that every Interaction Theme is make up of a series of
smaller and relatively implicit practices between child and therapist, that
to a great extent are guided by social-pragmatic cues.
In order to analyse these Interaction Themes, I have recorded music
therapy interplay with two cameras and subsequently edited, so that both
the child and the therapist appear in the same frame. First I have
transcribed the auditive and visual material, then I have analysed the
sequences horizontally and vertically. In the horizontal analysis, the
material is divided into a series of episodes, which then are analysed
parallel to the temporal axis in the material. In the vertical analysis the
interactions are compared across the material, for the purpose of finding
patterns in the material. (Pattern-generalisation is one of several
qualitative ways of addressing the question of validity (Lincoln & Guba
1985, Silverman 1993), as repeated interactions between child and music
therapist show that these actually are interactions and not arbitrary
parallel incidents).
Practices; example 1
The first example is with a boy of 9 years with typical (infantile) autism.
He and the music therapist have developed an Interaction Theme with a
big drum (90 cm. in diameter) where he plays a certain small rhythmic
motif. The music therapist typically accompanies with a counter-
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