Deep Listening
Attend closely to the musical, relational and contextual cues that are already present.
Music Therapy × Music Education
The Improviser’sMindset
A reflective, adaptive and relational orientation for making decisions in music therapy and music education.
BeforeThink deeply. Plan lightly.
DuringNotice carefully. Respond fluidly.
AfterRevisit compassionately. Adjust critically.
An Orientation, Not a Formula
Improvising With Intention
An improviser begins with preparation and a sense of possible direction, while remaining ready to be changed by what happens.
This mindset treats uncertainty as something to work with. It balances structure with spontaneity, knowledge with intuition, and professional judgement with attention to the people in the room. The aim is not perfection, but responsive and purposeful musicking.
Four Interwoven Orientations
A Way of Being in Practice
The mindset is a practice to return to, not a fixed state to achieve.
Responsiveness
Let what is unfolding inform the next phrase, gesture, question or decision.
Adaptability
Hold plans as flexible structures that can change in response to participants and circumstances.
Reflective Decision-Making
Think musically and relationally before, during and after practice.
The Reflective Framework
Before, During and After
A dynamic cycle for planning, facilitating and evaluating sessions with intention, imagination and care.
Before · Reflection-for-action
Think deeply. Plan lightly.
Imagine forward. Draw on knowledge, context and past experience to prepare a flexible plan with enough shape for meaningful musicking and enough space for discovery.
A Reflective Practice Tool
The Prescription Spectrum
Consider how much support is useful at any given moment — and crossfade between participant-driven and practitioner-driven approaches.
Use the interactive device before, during or after a session to reflect on structure, scripting, prompting, materials, scaffolding, instruction and information.
Open the Interactive ToolThe Foundational Paper
Developed Through Interdisciplinary Dialogue
Music Therapy With an Improviser’s Mindset: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue at the Intersection of Therapeutic and Educational Approaches
Al Fuller and Brad Fuller · Oxford University Press · 2026
Read About the Ideas and Authors Read the Original Paper