Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

client’s playing in improvisational music therapy, as demonstrated by Trondalen
(2004) 68 .
9.4.2.2 The SMMA
The “Structural Model of Music Analysis” (SMMA) was developed by Grocke (1999)
to to identify common features of specific music selections. Grocke was inspired by
Bonny’s unpublished sheet of “Musical elements to listen for in the GIM tapes”
(Grocke 2004, personal communication). This sheet is included as Table 9.3., and I
agree with Grocke that some of the elements in the sheet do not fit together. Grocke
focused on the structure and form of the music selection as well as the elements of the
music, with the aim of identifying features of the music, which could underpin pivotal
moments in the clients’ BMGIM experiences. (p. 190). Grocke suggested that the
SMMA could be used as an “assessment tool for analyzing the elements or effects of
the pre-recorded music in future GIM studies” (p. 216)
In this study SMMA was used as a procedure integrated in the heuristic music
analysis. The advantage of the SMMA is that it is very inclusive and precise, and that
it enables a comparison of musical selections in all relevant musical parameters. Thus
it can be used to explain some of the musical features specific in ‘supportive’ or
‘challenging’ music. It also enables a dialogue with musicologists because it uses
well-established terminology. All relevant musical elements and parameters are
present in the (revised) model, and it gives a systematic overview of them in a
concentrated form. The disadvantages or (better) limitations of the SMMA are
connected to three very different aspects of its use. First, the SMMA requires that the
researcher/therapist masters the terminology of traditional musicology, including
specific musical terminology and traditional methods of analysis. Second, the SMMA
does not describe the music as a dynamic temporal sequence and experience; it is
more like a static summary of salient musical features. Third, the SMMA does not
inform the reader about the clinical or experiential significance of the musical
elements described.
68 I have discussed the name of this graphic representational tool with Trondalen on several occasions.
In earlier versions of this study I called it a ”Profile of Affective Expression” (PAFEX, a construct used
by Lem). Trondalens ph.d. dissertation was published in the Spring of 2004, and I decided to adopt the
name she advocated in her study, namely the IP. Trondalen’s understanding of the IP can be found in
section 3.4.3.2.1 of her dissertation (p. 66-72)
351