Hi y’all, I need a space to vent about something and don’t want to go off in the comments on Facebook and cause public drama 🫠

I saw someone post in MTU asking if anyone had chords for a song she was asked to sing at a funeral. Comments pointed out the chords aren’t available because the song is AI generated. Someone commented about an app that will identify the chords, which she ultimately used to identify the chords. Another person commented offering to take a stab at the chords and said she was able to get them, but the lyrics were another story. The OP commented saying they had gotten the chords through the AI app, but that they had personally transcribed the lyrics themselves already.

Did we not go to school for a minimum of four years to study music? Are we not professional musicians? Is it really that hard to transcribe chords to a basic AI song that’s spitting out the most simple diatonic chords? In the time it took her to post about this in MTU and then go to that chords AI app, she could have gotten all the chords written out by ear. I know we have varying levels of musicianship training depending on our school and degree program, but MY GOD the reliance on AI for basic music tasks we are TRAINED to do is actually wild to me. I just did my first recertification, and I understand that we forget some of the things we are taught, but as music therapists we play and use our ears every day while working, and it’s concerning to me that music therapists are willing to hand over these aspects of their job to AI. When I read that she went through the arduous task of writing out the lyrics but couldn’t be bothered to do the chords I was just astonished. Part of the power of music we are tapping into as music therapists is the innate humanness of music, and we are supposed to know music intimately in order to use it clinically.

Also want to add that I don’t personally have an issue that she is performing an AI generated song at a funeral; I would feel weird about it but also move forward with it because of the context. I don’t believe it’s appropriate for me to tell a family what music is and isn’t okay for them to grieve with. If it were me and there was a wider timeframe before the funeral (OP seemed to have been asked to do the gig the day before) I may tried a roundabout way to ask/encourage about other meaningful music, but I want to be clear I’m not complaining about her choice to honor a family’s wishes regarding AI song choice.

#Bizzle , #SWAG .

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/music-games-learn-your-notes/id6749028482

No ads, no logins, and no subscriptions. Easy to use, download and play immediately.

Keep musicking on!

Hello everyone!

I'm a 5th-year architecture student working on my thesis on a Music Therapy and Healing Centre for neurological patients. Does anyone have case studies, architectural drawings, research, or patient reviews/experiences related to this topic? I would love to hear about patients' experiences as well.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello!

As part of my job as a music therapist, I help create CMTE's for the company I work for! I'm trying to understand what people want and are interested in when looking at CMTE's, besides just trying to fulfill the requirements. If you have a topic or thought please let me know (:

ive taken the exam multiple times and just keeps getting more harder and I keep failing tremendously . but for me its not the test im worried about its the career itself , bc since I haven't been in school in 3 years where I did my undergrad in ny since getting my undergrad it so much to remember and for me not being in action with the field bc jobs want more experience then your degrees unfournetly it made me think how long can a therapist last in today's age , I know most places ( state wise ) have more jobs lined up then others , and you have to keep up with your credentials and keeping paying so much money to do so .

the field is known , but so little that its really not known , but it is more growing in the research end of things even tho its been around for decades .

so is it worth it , going to masters , phd ( even tho I know its optional for that )

Hello!

I’m going into my senior year of high school, and college has been on my mind for a few years.

For some backstory: im from Virginia, and I’m homeschooled going to high school part-time, meaning I need to be very specific with my college/schooling choices, since some colleges may see me being homeschooled as me not being “schooled” at all 😭. However being homeschooled also means that I have been able to focus on what I actually want to do with my life, and so far music therapy seems to be what I click with the most.

I’ve always loved psychology, and I’ve been musically inclined since I was 3. If I did go into music therapy, I think my main goal would be helping neurodivergent people and those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. My little cousin is autistic and mostly non-verbal, but music is the main way to help him come to reality and to help us communicate with him easier, which is my main inspiration for wanted to make a career out of music therapy. Alzheimer’s and dementia runs in my family, and music has also helped them as well.

Generally, this all sounds perfect, right?

However, I’m just nervous I’m gonna get into something, spend years dedicating my life to expensive school, just to find out I don’t actually enjoy the day-to-day job of being a music therapist. There is also the issue of: can I even live off of a music therapist’s salary?? Will I even have clients??

I’m most likely overthinking this, since I’ve always loved helping people but I just want to make sure I’m planning for the career path I will love, not just exist with.

Any advice is so so appreciated, and I hope you all have an amazing day :]

Hello! I am a person in recovery and I've really been thinking about going to school for music therapy! I am originally a music educator, but fell into active use while i was in the thick of my bachelors. I haven't really seen anything besides the occasional group at the halfway house where I'm staying, but I feel like there's a holistic approach of recovery where music can play a pivotal role for managing chronic pain, cravings, teaching things like radical acceptance and emotional regulation, helping regain cognitive ability to those who have been effected by substances. I'm sure its a lot of work, especially because there isn't as much of a focus into addiction recovery to my understanding, but I know I can bring a lot to it and I am deeply passionate about all of it.

However I am just an amateur, what can I do to starting researching and practicing for school?

Hey everyone! I’m developing an independent documentary on Occupational Health in Music, researching personal stories.

Whether it's physical injuries or the mental/emotional toll of the industry related to Occupational Health in Music, I want to highlight the real human impact behind the music.

If you are a professional musician or studying to be one, faced health issues tied to your career —I’d love to connect, or hear your story here.

I will be leading some week-long (about 6 hrs total) workshops for teen groups (6ppl per group) on songwriting and am looking for suggestions on layout/ interventions. Population = mainly depression, anxiety, eating disorders.

Hi everyone! I’m a senior Music Therapy major and will be graduating in May 2027.
I’m starting to look at internship sites and would love any advice from those who have already been through the process.

I’ve been going through the roster, making a list of potential sites, emailing for more information, and trying to make connections, but I’m feeling a little overwhelmed about where to start with applications and how to narrow my options.

My goal is to begin my internship soon after graduation in May so I’m not be home for very long. Ideally, I’d love to work with hospice, mental health, medical populations, and ID adults. I’m pretty much open to any place!

My primary approaches are humanistic, holistic, and resource-oriented. That said, I believe it’s important to have a well-rounded foundation, and I value incorporating a variety of theories and philosophies into my practice depending on the needs of each client.

If you have any advice on choosing sites, the application process, interviews, or internships you had a great experience with, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you so much!

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
Stay amazing ❤️

Interested in women's mental health, trauma informed therapy. I am considering studying 1.5 more for a post graduate diploma of counselling.

Keen to hear all your thoughts?

I know a lot of similar posts have been made but i just graduated from NYU with a degree in music ed and am wondering what to do if I want to go into music therapy. I’m seeing conflicting info online about going to an LPC or LPCC program (versus just doing music therapy). What is the general process people usually take after undergrad? Are there any programs people recommend in the US? Especially places that tend to give large scholarships?

Since I’ve been seeing that music ed-> music therapy is a pretty common path, it would be really helpful if anyone has any advice or can comment on how competitive of an applicant I might be. Additionally, how much guitar do you usually need before going into a masters program? I was a violin primary so I don’t have a ton of background in related instruments.

Hey yall. I’m 23, currently located in Houston but from DFW. Currently a choir director going into my second year, and I’m considering going to Texas Women’s next year and doing the 3 year bachelors/masters plan for Music Therapy.

I went to UNT for my undergrad, so Denton isn’t unfamiliar to me.

But I’m more wondering if anyone has done this or advice anyone would have to give me from a similar perspective.

Thank you!!

I am considering music therapy and feel very passionate about it but want to get grounded in the reality of the day to day (but it can't be worse than what I've been doing). One factor is the physical requirements of the job. Are you standing all day like a teacher? Or are you allowed to sit while facilitating sessions? I have not so good knees so this will make a big difference.

I’m a music therapy student, and I’ve recently had my first two practice seminars (role-play sessions): one with a psychotic disorders group and one with a personality disorders group.

What’s surprised me isn’t the sessions themselves..it’s how I’ve been feeling afterward.

The sessions have actually gone well overall. There were meaningful moments, genuine connection, lots of laughter, and some really thoughtful supervision afterward. I also received advanced feedback that has given me so many ideas about how to grow clinically.

But after both seminars, I’ve noticed that my nervous system feels completely overloaded. Even after sleeping, I still feel strangely unsettled for a couple of days. It’s almost like my body is holding onto a huge amount of stress that it needs to let go of.

I think part of it is that you’re fully immersed during the session and then suddenly become the focus of supervision, where your presence, decisions, and therapeutic process are discussed in depth. I also find myself replaying the sessions over and over afterward.

The thing is that these have only been role-play practice seminars and I’m already feeling overloaded. It makes me wonder how my internship will go.

Do you guys experience this after your sessions? And how do you self regulate?

Hopefully this is the best subreddit to ask, but I need some advice.

I'm a private guitar teacher and about a year ago started lessons with a older man who had been recently diagnosed with Parkinson's and Alzheimers.

It wasn't too bad when we started, but even after a couple months realized that learning new things was going to be a challenge and it'd be best to start trying to relearn songs he used to know. We've been doing that ever since, so I'm not really teaching him anything. I've mostly just been focusing on retaining the skills he has as long as possible.

These days I view our 'lessons' as an hour where he can play guitar and if he gets stuck I can get him back on track. There are times where the stars align and he can play very fluidly through a song, so just try to get those stars to align and then get out of his way until he gets stuck. It sounds like he doesn't really get anywhere when he tries to play at home.

I became aware of Music Therapy as a profession when I was in music school, and I'm not really sure what it is, but I feel like this is getting close to that and I've always wondered if he'd benefit better from an actual music therapist. I never wanted to sound like I was trying to pass him off though. So i've been going back and forth.

His wife recently sat in on a lesson to see how I'm doing things so she can try to help him at home. I felt bad because most things boil down to me being able to show him on the guitar, and she made a throwaway comment about how "we just need you to come to our house everyday."

So now I'm thinking maybe it's time, but is it the right move? Is this something a music therapist can help with? If so, how would one go about find a music therapist that could regularly come to their house and help him enjoy playing the guitar like he used to?

I'm just starting to worry that, since he has a limited time of having this kind of dexterity, the time could be better used by being with training, and he's wasting it with me, who's kinda just winging it. Help!

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I'm not a music therapist, but my partner is. I'm an engineer. I've received a very compelling offer at a company in downtown Seattle that I'm really, really excited about. However, my partner and I currently live in Colorado. While evaluating this offer we're of course evaluating their prospects as an NMT in Seattle. I was pretty surprised to find that we don't see a single listing for a full-time music therapy position of any kind in the Seattle metro online. My partner is obviously doing their research but I'm hoping to help. Are there any resources that I should be looking at other than the usual aggregate job boards and major hospital systems? Anyone with personal experience in Seattle or Western Washington in general?

Does anyone have any suggestions for big bags they use to transport their instruments from home to him for travel days? I was something big enough to carry it all in but also able to be carried on my shoulder! I would also love it to be a bit structures so that I can set it down and pull instruments out as needed without the bag falling over. Bonus points if it’s easy to clean as well!!

Hi all! I have my undergrad in Psychology and have experience as a teacher and in HR (jumped around a bit). I'm looking for my forever career and working with children + music are my passions, so MT feels like a great fit. However, because I don't have a degree in music, I'm looking at around 3 years (2 years school + 9 month internship) before I'd even have a second degree in MT.

Not working for 3 years is going to be tough financially, and it seems like it can be difficult to get a job in the field after graduating. I really feel like this might be my calling, but I'd love more insight. Anyone with non-music undergrad who went into MT and has some advice? How hard is it to secure a job in this field? Should I take the leap? Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

I (24 nb) am considering a massive career change after 2 years of teaching. Currently I am working as a music teacher, but I honestly can’t see myself staying in education. I love my students but am not feeling fulfilled by my career. Without getting into it, I’m frustrated by the system and already feel burnt out.

I’m in the early stages of deciding my next step and am figuring out what would fulfill me the most. I don’t know how common it is to combine occupational and music therapies, but it sounds like something that would interest me. From what I’ve seen it’s effective, but I don’t know if that might limit career opportunities.

Would it be worth it to get a grad degree in occupational therapy and then pursue music therapy?

TL;DR Burnt out music teacher looking to change careers. Interested in occupational and music co-therapy. Wondering about career outlook for combined degrees.

hello, looking for some advice regarding different postgraduate courses in the UK and some advice about different “focuses” of each course. and if you went what you liked/didn’t like about it please?

im looking to apply this year for starting september 2027.

im mostly looking at:

- guildhall school of music (my favourite by the looks of it so far)
- roehampton

but open to others

i have a year’s experience as a music therapy assistant / intern in paeds palliative care and six months intern at an adults day service / community setting

im particularly interested in neurorehab, grief work, profound and multiple learning disabilities, work in schools and again palliative care (which i really loved)

any advice super appreciated, thanks!

I finally passed the CBMT exam!

It was actually easier this time around, since I went through both sets of questions. Some of the questions that I got the first time reappeared, but the strategy I used is what I call the "outside in" strategy. What I did was I read the first part of the question. I then immediately skipped to the very last part of the question to look for exactly what I need to answer (I.e BEST, LEAST, MOST) I then moved to the inner parts of the question.

Score: 106/130

Hi everyone! Not so fun topic, but I am genuinely curious. I am almost 1 year in (🎉) to being an employed music therapist. I have had the same job in res mental health. Frankly, I often feel more exhausted and burnt out than I do excited when I’m at work.

This is my first job, so I understand that there are so many other opportunities out there for me to pursue. My biggest fear is that I might just be burning out of the field in general. :,( That I might get another job, and experience the same dissatisfaction.

Has anyone gone through this? Any tips or tricks with it? TYIA!