Music is used in many professional contexts that are not associated, in a traditional sense, with either music therapy or music education. How do professionals in different contexts use music, and how do they describe their thoughts about music in their professional work? Those are the main questions in our inquiry, focusing on narratives about music and health in professional relations.

In this presentation, results from a pilot study where six strategically chosen participants from Sweden and Denmark were interviewed, will be presented and discussed. The pilot study was inspired by ethnographic methods and conducted to develop a research design for further research in this area.

Our study is based on the assumption that individuals will establish a relationship with music, regardless of the presence of professional music therapists, community musicians or music educators (Ruud, 2008; Bonde, 2011; Nilsson, 2013; Uddholm, 2012). Furthermore, experience from the field provides evidence that music occurs in various professional relations other than those involving music therapists or music educators, such as: with clients, students, children, elder people; among nurses, deacons, social workers, preschools teachers or care assistants. The field of Music and Health is not necessarily about illness or care, but can as well be understood as an aspect of quality of life. The unique position of music as an aesthetic expression among youth also makes the democratic aspect of music, especially important.

Previous research in this area has often been conducted within music therapy, many times based on biological and neuropsychological explanations of human behaviour in relation to music (Ruud, 2008). Therefore, we find it relevant in our research to investigate narratives from, and by, all kinds of professionals who use music in their practices.