MUSICAL TRAINING IN THE DEGREE OF PHYSIOTHERAPY: INNOVATING WITH DALCROZE

Music can become a tool for the Physiotherapy specialist. The present research was based on the need to train the physiotherapist to use the musical element as stimulator of their professional practice, as a facilitator of the physiotherapeutic treatment and the patient's gross and fine motor skills. According to this principle, an innovative proposal was developed in the Physiotherapy classroom of the Faculty of Valencia, within the Training in Motion + Music Project adapted to the needs of the physiotherapist (UV-SFPIE_RMD16-417654), which enabled the students to become aware of their own movement and the therapeutic possibilities of the work using the methodology of Dalcroze. It was based on the principles of Educational Music Therapy, so that students could experiment with the possibilities of movement of their own body, from the work of elements such as: rhythm, pulse, tempo, compass, duration, intensity, speed, timbre. Musical concepts that, from the active methodology of Dalcroze, are embodied with live music (traditional); however, another of the main innovations present in this research was that modern music was used, more in line with the needs and tastes of current students. The results showed that the students improved their body knowledge, their mobility and discovered the possibilities of physiotherapeutic application of different components of Music (rhythm, pulse...). They were trying to appeal to the musical stimulus with full knowledge of the cause, without invading the skills of the music therapist and without the Music becoming mere companion of the background, of relaxation. In this way, the Faculty of Physiotherapy of the University of Valencia became a pioneer in the musical training for the students of this specialty.