Doctoral studies
My doctoral studies (2014 – 2022) at the University of the West of England – focused on the lived experience of learning to improvise for music and music therapy students. A phenomenological arts-based study in which 10 students were interviewed and took part in musical improvisations. Graphic scores and transcriptions of the interviews were created from the research encounters. Findings include learning to improvise can change musical identity, give individual opportunity for development of emotional regulation and include special experiences such as flow. Doctoral supervisors – Professor Leslie Bunt and Dr Cathy Warner.
List of publications and conference contributions
White, B. (2020) Drawing Sound: Exploring Drawing as Meaning Making in Improvised Music in Music Therapy. Proceedings of the 16th WFMT World Congress of Music Therapy, July 7-8, 2020, South Africa, Online, pp. 156-157.
White, B. (2020) learning to Improvise the music of music therapy: A Qualitative Arts Based Research Study. 16th WFMT World Congress of Music Therapy, July 7-8, 2020, South Africa, Online, pp. 142-143.
White, B. (2019) Graphic Scores as Transcriptions of Improvisations in Qualitative Arts Based Research. Paper Presentation. Notation for Improvisers: Institute for Musical Research (IMR), 9th February 2019, Senate House London.
White, B. (2019) Group Clinical Improvisation as Practice of Ritual and Connection for Young People with Autistic Spectrum Conditions. In: Dunn, H., Coombes, E., Maclean, E., Mottram, H., and Nugent J., eds., Music Therapy and Autism across the lifespan: A Spectrum of Approaches. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, pp. 137-154.
White, B. (2018) Learning to Improvise the Music of Music Therapy: Freedom and Transformations. Poster Presentation. The Italian Association of Professional Music Therapists, Music in Music Therapy, Theory, Clinical Practice and Research, 2-5 May 2018, Trapani, Italy.
White, B. (2018) Giving away the freedom: Training in clinical improvisation as identity, change and transformation. Paper Presentation. 3rd British Association of Music Therapy Conference, Music Diversity and Wholeness, 16th – 18th February 2018, Barbican, London.
Haire, N., White, B., & Derrington, P. (2017) The Arts Therapist in Public: The Dichotomy of Clinical and Performative Improvising. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 17(3). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v17i3.927
White, B. (2017) Playing to the Audience: A Music Therapy Research Project and Performative Arts Social Science. Paper Presentation. 14th European Arts Therapies Conference, 13th-16th September 2017, Krakow Poland.
White, B. (2016) Is Improvisation Acquired or Taught? Some Implications for the Training of Music Therapists. Poster Presentation. 2nd British Association of Music Therapy Conference, Re-Visioning our Voice: Resourcing music therapy for contemporary needs, 8-10th April, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.
White, B. (2015) ‘What sound can you make?: A case study of a music therapy group for children with autism, learning disabilities and challenging behaviours. Approaches: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Music Therapy, 7(2).
White, B. (2012) Personal Reflections on working as a Music Therapist, Music Therapy Groups and Music Making. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. Available at : https://normt.uib.no/index.php/voices/issue/current (Accessed 18/7/12).
White, B. (2009) Hello music lady, have you brought a new instrument today? Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy. Available at: https://normt.uib.no/index.php/voices/article/viewArticle/29/251l (Accessed 13/10/11).
White, B. (2005) The whirlwind group, a group for young people with disabilities moving into adulthood, and the working relationships that supported the clinical work in a special needs school. No Man is an Island, Groups, Partnerships and Teams in Music Therapy: BSMT and APMT Conference, The Resource Centre, London, 4-5 February 2005: British Society for Music Therapy Publications, pp. 71-75.
skylark arts 