Music therapy is the use of music in a clinical setting to accomplish therapeutic goals. " Music therapists are generally trained musicians who have complete an accredited music therapy program. Although music therapy has been established as a profession only relatively recently, the connection between music and therapy is not new.
Music therapy is a broad field. Music therapists use music-based experiences to address client needs in one or more domains of human functioning: cognitive, academic, emotional/psychological; behavioral; communication; social; physiological (sensory, motor, pain, neurological and other physical systems), spiritual, or aesthetics. Music experiences are strategically designed to use the elements of music for therapeutic effects, including melody, harmony, key, mode, meter, rhythm, pitch/range, duration, timbre, form, texture, and instrumentation.