Modern Music Therapy – Between Art and Science

Abstract

During the time, music found its way not only as art but as science as well. From the great composers to modern electronic music, the science behind it affects us neurologically. Therefore, music becomes involved in therapy successfully. As music therapy it was continuously diversifying its techniques and methods of application it became seen both as an art and as a science. But although practicing music therapy showed effects, these were hard to be quantified through quantitative methods. The new research directions in the field of music therapy brought up apart from the medical instruments nuclear technology for diagnosis, and recording and measuring equipment of the body’s reactions to music. It was found out in which way music affects different areas of the brain, what happens in the body during an audition or a playing session, what reactions we have to a certain type of music and to a musician, and the importance of analyzing the vibrational frequencies of sounds.