Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

9.4.2 Heuristic music analysis as compared to other types of music analysis
There is no direct way leading from music to imagery - apart from the first order
experience of what happens, individually, in the spontaneous BMGIM experience. It
is not possible to infer the image (or therapeutic) potential of a piece of music from a
phenomenological description or a structural analysis of the music. A combination of
phenomenological, hermeneutical and heuristic procedures is needed when a therapist
or researcher wants to establish a deeper understanding of the therapeutic potential of
a music selection or program, or the role of music as “‘co-therapist“. The multiple
perspectives of Bruscia’s Heuristic Music Analysis enable a rich understanding of
music as existential message and therapeutic agent. Music in BMGIM is not a
stimulus leading to a predictable response. The music stimulates, supports and frames
the multimodal imagery, and the images can serve as metaphors of psychological or
existential problems and solutions. The music itself can also be experienced and
understood as metaphor of human being and interacting.
In many studies Bruscia has developed a theoretical, yet clinically based,
understanding of analogies between musical elements and parameters (‘components’
in Hegi’s terminology) and existential-emotional qualities, primarily in his
Assessment-System IAP (Improvisation Assessment Profiles) (Bruscia 1987, 1994).
In his preface to the Norwegian edition Bruscia (1994) writes that “‘...each musical
element provides a musical metaphor – or perhaps archetype – for expressing a
particular aspect of ‘being-in-the-world’ (...) Thus each musical element has its own
range of possibilities for expressive meanings which are different from other
elements.“ Examples: Musical form may serve as metaphor of ‘being-in-the-world’,
texture (mono-, homo- or polyphony) as metaphor of ‘being-in-space’, melody as
‘expression-of-self’ etc. Following Bruscia’s hermeneutic interpretations of music as
metaphor the main theme of the Brahms Violin Concerto, 2 nd movement might be
characterized as an entity/being or gestalt with
• a clear identity
• an ability to collaborate
• a flexibility of structure
• an ability to re-establish balance after episodes of dynamic tension
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