Aesthetic Perturbation: Using a Chance/Aleatoric Music Therapy Intervention to Reduce Rigidity in Adult Patients with Psychiatric Disorders.

Music therapy research focusing on composition as process, chance/aleatoric composition, and/or indeterminate music as an intervention is an unexplored area. The purpose of this qualitative experimental-music study was to assess the effects of a chance-centered music therapy intervention on rigidity in adult patients with psychiatric disorders. Participants (N = 3) joined a music therapy group designed to challenge musical conventionality via aesthetic perturbation by performing experimental chance/aleatoric music. Aesthetic perturbation is defined by the author as the act of challenging the patients' aesthetic system by frustrating expectations, catapulting the group participants into an unconventional musical experience. Consequently, the members of the music therapy group reported anecdotal information on the effects of chance/aleatoric music on their rigidity, revealing that the intervention helped them gain insight into their own reluctance towards engaging in new experiences. More importantly, participants were willing to accept that change is healthy for growth, happiness, and healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]