With the Master of Music Therapy, you will learn how to demonstrate and substantiate the effects of your music therapy practice through neuroscience and practice-based research. Throughout the programme, you will develop your own original research project and receive guidance in academic writing and publishing in scientific journals in the fields of music and arts therapies. You will also strengthen your skills in communicating your music-therapeutic methods, interventions and research findings – both to your clients and to fellow arts therapists.
If you are a musician or music therapist aiming to build or deepen your practice through research, then this master’s programme may be the right fit for you. Perhaps you want to focus on elder care or mental health, or you are exploring broader applications of music in neonatal care or intensive care settings. Since 2023, this programme has also offered music-therapy research residencies with people living with Korsakoff’s syndrome. Whichever direction you choose, the Master of Music Therapy at ArtEZ will help you discover and deepen your unique voice and specialisation as a music therapist, while simultaneously reinforcing your practice and interventions with solid, practice-based research.
Thanks to the master’s programme, I can now speak the language of the people in my field, such as doctors, psychologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. I can connect points more easily and substantiate my ideas more clearly, which makes a big difference in collaboration.
In the Master of Music Therapy, you will deepen and advance your clinical, musical and research skills. Based on your personal study plan, you will investigate the effect of music (therapy) on a specific population, contributing evidence and innovation to the field of music therapy. That is why the programme is built on three core pillars:
Throughout the programme, you will refine and expand your musical skills by integrating them directly into music therapy practice. With a focus on your creative and performing identity, you will explore and strengthen your identity as a music therapist. You investigate the use of music for and with your clients, the clinical effects of your musical choices, and how to shape and describe these musical experiences in an evidence-based way. Courses in Music and Music Therapy make use of both music technology and conventional musical instruments. Finally, you will engage in musical self-exploration through counselling and self-care.
- Improvisation Skills (3 ECTS)
- Applied Music Technology (2 ECTS)
- Counselling and Self-care (2 ECTS)
- Community Music Therapy (2 ECTS)
- Elective: Community Music Therapy (4 ECTS): in this elective, under supervision from ArtEZ faculty, you will execute a community project of your own design, which you may further develop into your final research project
- Free Study Credit (1 ECTS)
During the programme, you develop advanced, evidence-based music therapy skills applicable across various clinical contexts. The curriculum emphasises (neuro)scientifically informed evidence, the role of music, the therapeutic relationship and professional collaboration as key aspects of clinical practice.
- Neurologic Music Therapy (3 ECTS): includes the certified NMT basic training, clinical masterclasses and the supervised clinical application of NMT within the weekly Parkinson’s group
- Advanced Music Therapy Methods (3 ECTS)
- Cognitive Behavioural Music Therapy (2 ECTS)
- Professional Skills (1 ECTS)
- Elective: Music Therapy Micro-interventions (4 ECTS): in this elective, you develop a protocol-based micro-intervention that can later be expanded into your final research project
- Elective: Integrative Music Therapy in Medical Settings (4 ECTS): in this elective, you study integrative models in music therapy within medical environments and develop clinical interventions
- Internship or supervised clinical practice (10 ECTS). If you enter the master’s programme as a qualified music therapist, you must demonstrate completed professional hours; graduates entering from the pre-master’s programme must complete 280 hours of supervised clinical internship throughout the programme. You are also required to secure an internship placement before starting your studies.
Research is at the heart of this master’s programme. During your studies, you will design and conduct an original, individually supervised research project on the specific effects of music and music therapy on a particular population. Your project may take the form of a feasibility study, a community music therapy project, an innovative intervention or a literature review. Your research supervisor will guide you through designing and carrying out your research as well as communicating your findings. In study groups, you will learn about music-based research. You will also have access to our wide networks from the ArtEZ professorship in Music-Based Therapies and Interventions, universities, NGOs and healthcare organisations.
By writing an article and giving presentations, you will learn to present and articulate your findings to professional music therapists and other health-related disciplines. Your research contributes to the music therapy field, to healthcare and ultimately to people’s wellbeing. Join our annual Master of Music Therapy symposium and listen to presentations by our graduates. Research topics include:
- Evidence-based Music Therapy (4 ECTS)
- Designing and Analysing Research (4 ECTS)
- Research Project (15 ECTS)