Transposing musical cultures in music therapy: Exploring the use of Indonesian gamelan music in western clinical practice

This study was borne out of the experience of the author as a music therapist and as a gamelan player. The gamelan is an ensemble of instruments on which the traditional music of Indonesia is played. Music therapy practice in the UK is grounded in improvisation and live music-making, while also making use of pre-composed and recorded music (British Association for Music Therapy 2012). The range of instruments used generally includes tuned and un-tuned percussion, some orchestral instruments, keyboards and some world percussion instruments (Bunt & Hoskyns 2002; Darnley-Smith & Patey 2003). These are selected to be playable by clients with no musical training. There are no reports of the use of an entire ensemble of non-Western musical instruments in music therapy practice.