Ulrik Volgsten

The roots of music: Emotional expression, dialogue and affect attunement in the psychogenesis of music

In this paper I sketch the outlines for a comprehensive theory of the psychogenesis of music. That is, a theory of how human beings may come to hear certain sounds and combinations of sounds as music. It is a theory that takes its empirical starting point in previous and well-known research findings on fundamental human interaction and communication. As such it incorporates at its core a developmental-psychological theory about the human being’s development of a sense of self in relation to others, from infancy on, and is further supported by findings from research on infants’ behavior and reactions to music. It is argued that human interaction and communication is at the outset musical – or protomusical – and that which makes interaction and communication work is the emotive, or affective power of sound (“communicative musicality” is another term that has been used for mainly the same phenomenon). Although the empirical foundations are familiar, the comprehensive picture offered by the theory is new. The theory is structured according to a main thesis that states that music is a way of “making special” human self-development, our “sense of self”. However, for this affective-communicative theory to explain not only our reactions to protomusical sound, but also music at large (music understood in a broad universal sense), it must be extended to answer certain questions about human cognition. Therefore I start by referring to research in cognitive-psychology that explains cognition in part as a capacity to categorize phenomena according their level of detail or generality.

Live music therapy with lullaby singing as affective support during painful procedures: A case study with microanalysis

ABSTRACT During the most vulnerable period in a child’s life, preterm and sick infants are exposed to a high number of painful procedures, sometimes without the comfort and affection of their parents. Since repeated pain and frequent use of analgesic drugs may have consequences for the neurological and behaviour-oriented development of the infant, it is vital to identify effective non-pharmacological interventions with regard to procedural pain. This paper reviews the use of live lullaby singing as an adjuvant to the control of premature infant pain. The objectives of this case study were to analyse the live lullaby singing for two premature infants during venipuncture in comparison to standard care only, and the infants’ physiological and affective responses emerging before, during and after this procedure. The empirical data stem from a quantitative clinical study. From this larger study, two premature infants were selected. Through microanalysis, with in-depth analysis of video footage, and pain assessment with Behavioral Indicators of Infant Pain (BIIP), painful standard care procedures with and without live lullaby singing, were analysed. The results show that live lullaby singing with premature infants is a communicative interaction which may optimize the homeostatic mechanisms of the infant during painful procedures. This case study shows the importance of predictability of the affective support, right from the start of the live singing intervention. It is important in a painful context that vocal interactions provide regular and comforting intensity, shape and temporal structures.

Singing, sharing, soothing – biopsychosocial rationales for parental infant-directed singing in neonatal pain management: A theoretical approach

Infant-directed singing is a medium for parents and infants to communicate in a mutual relationship. Parental infant-directed singing is a multisensory, biopsychosocial communication that applies to ill and vulnerable hospitalised infants. The primary musical features of infant-directed singing are ideal for emotional coordination and sharing between parent and infant without the risk of over-stimulation. In this article, we suggest that parental infant-directed singing is regarded as a nonpharmacological emotion regulation intervention, which may modify the painful experience for both the infant and the parent before, during and after painful procedures in the neonatal intensive care context. Parents have the biopsychosocial resources to alleviate their infant’s pain through infant-directed singing, if they are empowered to do so and coached in this process. A music therapist specialised in neonatal music therapy methods can mentor parents in how to use entrained and attuned live lullaby singing in connection to painful procedures. Pain and the vast amount of painful procedures early in infancy, combined with early parent–infant separation and lack of parental participation in the care of the infant during neonatal intensive care, place arduous strain on the new family’s attachment process and on the infant’s and parents’ mental health, both from a short and long-term perspective. Therefore, we argue with biopsychosocial rationales, that live parental infant-directed singing should be promoted in neonatal pain care worldwide. Consequently, parents should be welcomed round the clock and invited as prescribed pain management for their infant.

Musicalization and Mediatization

This chapter identifies and examines a phenomenon we propose to call musicalization. It discusses how processes of musicalization relate to and interact with processes of mediatization. Musicalization is defined as an ever-increasing presence of music in culture and everyday life. As such, it comprises both a discursive and a dramaturgical dimension. In the first part of the chapter, these dimensions or aspects of musicalization are considered in detail. The second part discusses how musicalization relates to mediatization. We argue that three possible variants of this relation can be discerned: musicalization may be regarded as (a) quantitatively conditioned by mediatization, (b) a qualitative part of mediatization, and (c) a relatively autonomous phenomenon in relation to mediatization. As such, musicalization involves both analogue and digital modes of communication.

Live music therapy with lullaby singing during painful procedures in neonatal care

Background: Acute and repeated pain has long-term negative impact on infants’ development and future behaviour. The use of analgesic drugs has negative side effects, which emphasises the need for c ...