A really interesting graphic novel as well as an interesting take on music and its benefit, I would recommend it to anyone interested in music and not so much into reading non-fiction. I would also recommend it to parents who want to make their children read!

What has music got to do with our health? Why is music included in therapeutic treatments? What is music therapy? In this graphic guide aimed at children, readers learn about the history, various music therapy methods, qualities of music, the treatment process, the therapeutic experience, theories, approaches, and how it can be adapted for general and medical use. Written by a team of four that consists of a Professor of Music Therapy, two Music Therapist practitioners, and an Art Therapist, we get a graphic guide that tells us the basics of music therapy approaches, theories, applications, and how they can be useful tools to improve our quality of life. We learn that music therapy can be used for general health and specialized situations. The authors define music therapy (MT) as the "intentional use" of music to build "shared experiences" that aid our health in our "physiological, cognitive, communicative, social, emotional, and spiritual domains." They cover various professional definitions and the qualification needs from different countries such as Australia, the UK, and the US, etc. They also clear up some misunderstandings of music therapy. For example, some might think all music therapists are musicians. While therapists know music, musicians tend to focus on performance while therapists use music to facilitate healing. The historical background is quite interesting as it shows us the universal appeal of music through the ages.

We learn about the several different beneficial applications of Music Therapy. It enables us to tell our stories via our unique interpretations. They also promote social interaction. Other applications range from physical stimulation to spiritual contemplation. The authors list four methods of MT: Composing music, Recreating existing music, Improvisation, and Listening. There are technical aspects of MT as well which the authors describe clearly and graphically.

This is a clearly written primer for the general reader to understand what MT is all about. We have heard a lot about the need for better mental health management. Doctors can diagnose and prescribe medication. Nutritionists help recommend the most optimum diet for health. Sports and general exercises facilitate our physical fitness. For holistic health, we need something for mental health. Music therapy occupies a specialized slot in this increasingly critical area. As a primer, this book checks out many important boxes. I have heard about music used therapeutically in counseling, spiritual guidance, and various calming activities. Apart from the professionals, not many understand the greater significance of MT. This book can raise the awareness of using music for the greater good.

Bill Matney is an Assistant Professor of Music Therapy at the University of Kansas. He is the author of Tataku: The Use of Percussion in Music Therapy and co-author of Roots and Branches: Songs of Tradition and Culture. He also presents consistently at regional and national conferences of the American Music Therapy Association.

Becca Kurtz MT-BC works as a Music Therapist in acute inpatient pediatric services in The University of Kansas Health Systems. She is studying for a Master's in Healthcare Administration.

Mandy Griffin MME MT-BC works as the Expressive Therapies Manager and music therapist at a community mental health center in Topeka KS.

Amy E. Huxtable earned their Master of Science in Art Therapy Counseling from Emporia State University in 2019. They work as an art therapist at The University of Kansas Health System: Marillac Campus.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Jessica Kingsley Publishers via NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

The visually captivating book A Graphic Guide to Music Therapy by Bill Matney, Mandy Griffin, and Becca Kurtz explores music therapy. This book, which combines text and graphics, deconstructs the fundamental ideas, methods, and strategies of music therapy in the style of a graphic novel. It covers everything, from the ins and outs of music therapy to the finer points and effects of individual sessions. This guide offers a concise and understandable summary of the fundamental components of music therapy as well as its function in advocacy and education, making it perfect for anybody thinking about pursuing a career in the field.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This book was a great introduction to music theory. It isn’t to content dense or utilising too much jargon but still manages to teach us the key concepts of music theory allowing us to understand the practice. It is has a helpful section on dispelling myths and the history of music theory which was really interesting to learn.

Not a terrible book. This gives a good oversight into what music therapy is, the pitfalls to look out for, and who it can help. What lets the book down is the illustration - which is a shame because that’s the point of this format of learning. There’s no colour, the drawings aren’t great, and there are still big chunks of text not incorporated into the pictures. This book would do better if not marketed as a graphic guide - because in my opinion it’s not one.

This volume is an essay in the form of a graphic novel. Simple, greyscale drawings accompany explanations of the practice of music therapy. So many aspects are explained with accuracy but also clarity and accessibility, making it very enjoyable to read.
I was able to get interested in a subject that I never even thought I would go into, and this text gave me a lot of inspiration to continue further research.
Recommended for both people who love music and those who don't.

Have you ever wanted to know about music therapy? This book tries to tackle that in a graphic novel format, but ultimately, misses the mark. The text itself is very well done and simplified that a high school student considering the field of music therapy could get a lot out of it. Unfortunately, that's about all this book is helpful for. There is a good amount of diversity in the characters represented. The art work is digital (I think) and inconsistent. Sometimes when someone is speaking their mouth is open, but then the mouth is not and I found that distracting after I started noticing it. A lot of it looks to be copy pasted from page to page. The lines are too straight for me to enjoy the artwork, such as the buildings in the background. The layout of the book is confusing and not that exciting. It feels like it was made on Microsoft Word. I found my eye wandering many times over the page to read different blocks before reading the top part I needed to start at. There was also some redundancy which, sometimes necessary, was almost word for word the same as earlier in the work (music therapy for medical reasons). The work also would have benefited from some pronunciation guides for certain words (trust me, not everyone knows how to pronounce timbre which is very different than how it is spelled). Overall, the strength in this work lies in the resources and making the information accessible, but in a confusing package. Do not recommend for a public or school library collection.

(QR Codes not tested)

This is a well crafted and helpful introductory guide for musical therapy. It would be beneficial for families (to explain how it works and why it is helpful), for music therapy students (to explain the basics of music therapy), and for those that are going to undertake music therapy (so that they may know what it will be like). The illustrations are well down and help make the book clear and accessible.

Thank you Jessica Kingsley Publishers and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this book. This is a very interesting and informative guide to music therapy. If you ever wondered what music therapy is, what happens during sessions, if it requires a qualified provider, and how it helps (among other questions) — you might want to check out this book. It is written in a simple, easy to understand language and includes QR codes and additional resources at the end of the book for even more information. Definitely recommend!

This digital ARC was obtainable via NetGalley for an honest review.

"A Graphic Guide to Music Therapy" is a wonderful resource to use when one is learning about music therapy or just music itself. It explains everything clearly about why it is beneficial, how the process goes, and more. I think this would have been helpful when I took my MUS 121 class.

As a psychology/music student planning on pursuing a MT-BC and a degree in clinical psychology, this book was very helpful. The literature review was very thorough as well, and I appreciated how the QR codes are in the back as a sort of "glossary" so the reader can look back on afterwards for any information they may have missed. Personally, this answered so many of my questions and reaffirmed that music therapy is definitely something that I still would like to pursue. Not only is it good or a student, anyone who may not know much about psychology and is interested in it could benefit from this book, as it's accessible and breaks down a couple of the different psychological approaches that you learn in an introductory psychology course! Overall, I enjoyed this. The associates and author(s) put a lot of work into thi. Extra point for the simple illustrations that don't take away from the main ideas.

I didn't know anything about music therapy aside from the fact that it existed before I read this book. I wasn't born with perfect pitch, and I was never the type to notice the background music in movies, or the effect it has on the audience. Still, this guide cause my eye because it's something I don't know much about, and I wanted to learn more about it even if it wasn't something I would look into for myself.

The guide does a great job of introducing readers to music therapy. It eases you into what it is, clears up any misconceptions you might have, a brief history, and describes how music or rhythms weaves itself in our everyday lives. After laying down that groundwork, it describes the different methods of music therapy, who can benefit from it, as well as additional resources to review. I didn't realize the impact music and music therapy can have on people and animals, and I've learned that music therapy is a lot more interactive than I initially gave credit for. This was an informative book, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the subject!

This book was very intriguing to me, I work with children with special educational needs and disabilities who benefit from different therapies- music therapy being one of them and we have music therapists come to The school on a regular basis.it was so interesting to read and learn more about music therapy and I hope this can also help me to better understand the music therapy sessions at work going forward. This book is perfect for anyone who's curious but also for anyone who might work closely with people who may benefit from or receive music therapy themselves.

The writing in this is deceptively simple, with basic illustrations throughout. I say it's deceptively simple because the book goes through a lot of topics, breaking down the concepts in an easy way. I was interested in this because I was a psychology major, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the book covers different schools of practice to show how music therapy can be applied even by people using vastly different methods. There is even a list of people who can benefit from music therapy, which is basically everyone, but includes specific groups that may not think of it. Music therapy is something that can bring you joy while you are getting the benefits, so this is such a great idea. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

I did not enjoy this book. There was some useful information, however I found the format and illustrations to fall flat. This is not a book that I would pick up at a store, even if I needed a guide on music therapy.

Thank you for access to this early copy of A Graphic Guide to Music Therapy. While simple, it is accessible, comprehensive and well done. I can imagine it in a children’s hospital or clinic.
My podcast (Read.Talk.Grow) is aimed at a different audience. I do appreciate this work and congratulate you on the collaborative effort executed so successfully.

I’ve always been curious about the field of music therapy: how it worked, what it entailed, so this book looked like the perfect place to find some solid information. While full of thorough info, I had some issues with the artwork. At first it felt almost juvenile which matched the very early, basics of music fundamentals. I felt like I had picked up a book for children and was a little confused since there were still so many pages to go. Later on in the book, the language and concepts became much more advanced and there felt like a disconnect between the information and the art style. I did appreciate the repeated use of characters; familiar faces helped lighten the mood when the book got really information heavy, and I found myself making up backstories for each character.

There seemed to just be a lot of information and I wonder if it was all necessary. It took me a couple of weeks to finish this because it honestly was a bit overwhelming. I understand that each concept needed an illustration but some of them felt unnecessary or extraneous. Overall, though, at the end I came out feeling like I finally fully grasp the concepts of music therapy and I am grateful for that. My opinions on the artwork are certainly being nit-picky and if you’ve ever wondered about the field of music therapy then I couldn’t recommend this one more.

I´ve found this book so useful. I´ve learnt a lot. For example, I didn´t know that music therapy can help us to build resilience and improve cognitive skills. I definitely wanna try it, and now I have a confident guide throught my personal process.

I love the format style. I highly recommend it.

Always intrigued by the concept of music therapy, I found this graphic guide incredibly helpful in explaining what it is and how it helps. Recommended!

A few people have suggested that I try music therapy. I’ve been unsure of it, so when I came across this book it piqued my interest. This book explains what music therapy is and the different ways music therapy can help. I’ve personally found this to be quite helpful while I explore the possibility if music therapy is for me. I can now make a more informed decision if I want to give it a go and honestly I think I might. The resources provided within the book was also very useful.