MUSIC THERAPY, IMPROVISATION AND LISTENING: A STUDY ON CREATIVE PRACTICES CENTERED ON SOUND

Abstract

This article presents reflections and findings from a qualitative study conducted with Coletivo Sonus, a group of six music therapists who met monthly throughout 2024 to engage in free musical improvisation sessions followed by reflective discussions. The study is theoretically grounded in a music-centered orientation, drawing on the work of Nordoff and Robbins (1977), Zuckerkandl (1973), and Rudolf Steiner (2012). It integrates the concepts of experience (Bondía, 2022) and musical creativity (Schafer, 2011) to examine improvisation as a relational and therapeutic phenomenon. Data were collected through recordings and transcriptions of focus group discussions and analyzed using content analysis (Bardin, 2011). The analysis yielded four central thematic categories: (a) a sense of creative freedom; (b) playful overcoming of error; (c) refined listening; and (d) heightened self-awareness. The results indicate an expansion of participants’ musical understanding, a challenging of hegemonic aesthetic paradigms, and a strengthening of therapeutic processes mediated through sound and improvisation. Improvisational practice emerged as a privileged space for meaningful experiences, where listening, creation, and subjectivity intertwine, contributing to both clinical deepening and professional training in music therapy.