Dissertation - World Federation of Music Therapy

Sad/Heavy, Dreamy/Sentimental, Serene/Gentle, Graceful/Sparkling, Happy/Bright,
70
Exciting/Elated, Vigorous/Majestic] In her working log Bonny wrote:
“Music may be defined as a carrying wave demanding fluidity of response. A
time-metered and measured event, which is a linear progression, yet filled
with spiralling forms and multileveled progressions. In the listening to music
or in the playing of it we are dependent upon the moves of the composer, his
ability to entice and satisfy our expectations, or to thwart them. We feel drawn
on through tension-release mechanisms and, as in physical exercise,
experience a reward in the resultant exhaustion.” (Bonny n.d.) 71
Bonny suggested a categorization of the music programs based on either their primary
function within a BMGIM series: Basic/beginning; Sustaining affect; Working,
Exploration, and Advanced Working; or according to their appropriateness to the
client’s therapeutic issues: Anger, Interpersonal relationships, Grieving, Life
assessment, Resistance to uncovering processes (Grocke 2002, p. 91-92). She also
identified six characteristics of the music chosen for the programs:
Table 9. 2 Bonny’s six characteristics of the music chosen for the GIM music
programs (Bonny 1996; Grocke 2002, p. 92-95)
• music as a catalytic agent that creates tension and release
• music as a container for the clients imagery experience
• music stimulating the flow and movement of the imagery experience
• music as a variable stimulus the imagery
• music conveying a variety of moods
• music from the Western classical tradition only (multi-layered, predictable yet
variable, dynamically descriptive of human emotion, creating ambiguity, entering
the composer’s creative imagination, more or less familiar, performance quality
has importance.
70 Ex. Vigorous: Fast 6, Low 13, Firm 10, Complex 8, Descending 8. The number indicate the relative
weight of each musical factor. Mode was not an influential factor in this mood category. For a
discussion, see Gabrielsson and Lindström (2001)
71 Typed note in the folder ”Art” in The Bonny Archives – maybe a quotation.
354