Music can be a powerful tool

Watch this video from Nordoff Robbins, showing that music is a powerful tool for enhancing the lives of people of all ages and with different needs.

Music speaks to all of us, regardless of our language, culture, or abilities. Music can change the way we think, feel, and move. It can enable us to connect with other people and to the world around us, to express our feelings, to increase socialisation and to communicate in new ways. It is for everyone, regardless of additional support needs or previous musical experience.

This course will introduce you to the principles of why music ‘works’. Using techniques from our specially trained Nordoff Robbins music therapists – combined with your own expertise – we will explore how to make music effectively within your own care setting.

The course won’t teach you to be a music therapist. However, by taking inspiration from music therapy techniques, you will learn about how you can use the natural connection that everyone has with music to help with everyday scenarios and interactions between people in your care setting.

We will mainly focus on the active use of music – singing and playing instruments – as well as considering other ways that music can be used to enhance the lives of the people you support. There will be lots of practical examples demonstrated throughout the course, and links to resources to make music part of the life of your care setting.

You will discover how music can help with daily activities, easing difficult moments, promoting relationships and improving the overall atmosphere of your setting. This course will inspire you to think about the benefits of music – for yourself and for the people you support – and how to apply this in a practical way within your care work.