Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

predominantly explorative/challenging (as identified by the researcher); and finally
the specific information on when the music was used with which client. (Appendix
8.1).
For a validation of the categorization of the music (‘supportive’ vs. ‘challenging’ and
‘mixed’) I have made a self inquiry, using the RepGrid qualitative research program
(software; Shaw and Gaines 1993) in order to elicit my perception of these basic
constructs (Fig. 8.10). This method has been used in music therapy research to reveal
‘tacit knowledge’, i.e identifying properties of contrasting experiences or
phenomenons without addressing them directly (D. Aldridge 1996; G. Aldridge 2004;
Abrams 2002). I selected 4 examples of what in my pre-understanding was more
supportive and respectively more challenging GIM music. These eight music
selections (including the two analyzed in section 8.3.1) served as elements in the
investigation of constructs, ending with a total of nine constructs (polarities), some of
which seem to be closely related.
Figure 8. 10 RepGrid Focus grid
The Focus grid in Figure shows the researcher’s construing of supportive vs.
challenging properties of the music, identifying Vaughan Williams’ Rhosymedre and
the slow movement of Bach’s Double Concerto as the most supportive selections, and
Vaughan Williams’ In the Fen Country and the Andantino movement from Debussy’s
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