THE FUNCTIONS OF MUSICAL STRUCTURE AND FORM IN PSYCHOTHERAPY (Rola struktur i form muzycznych w psychoterapii)

The article sets out to demonstrate that the use of music in therapy is inherently connected with the manipulation of the organisation of the patient's 'self'. Therefore, it is crucial to consider how the form and structure of music is organised. Five kinds of musical structures were distinguished on the basis of musicological analysis which makes use of Lerdahl's theory of generative music. The structures which turn out to be crucial in psychotherapy are those of a multidimensional hierarchical character. These are typical in the system of the functional harmony (major-minor) of tonal music (within the evolutionary and dynamic principle/ progress of development). Multidimensional hierarchical structures present a mature, differentiated pattern of cognitive and affective style, the area in which those patients suffering from neurosis or eating and personality disorder are observed to be deficient. These structures can also be a form of auto-therapy for young people who listen to pop music most frequently. Pop music is based on tonal harmony reduced to 'musical alphabet'. Tonal music (from a variety of historical periods) fulfils the need for a pattern, a structure as a hierarchical system and figure-ground formation (Gestalt) in dependent people, whose personalities are not fully formed and who experience internal chaos. It strengthens their sense of identity by providing metro-rhytmic structure (an equivalent of 'developed' pulse and biological rhythms), as well as emotional structure (emotional attachement/bonds) to their experiences, thinking and behaviour. The subject is presented from an interdisciplinary perspective: musicological, psychological and psychotherapeutic, using empirical evidence.