Certified music practitioners

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: GUEST
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 04:04 PM

I'd better give some background. I've used something rather extraordinary in European defence diplomacy for some time - assessibly so, which may be why they got men to stare at goats. If they'd bothered to ask me, I'd have given them some solid pointers, but being military, they thought anyone could do it, if ordered to. The UK effort drove a bunch of RAF recruits half crazy, poor sods.
On return to the UK, the observations of members of the Healer community that I was using Healer power in working in diplomacy had me check it to a scientific standard again, I test at Reiki Master level, according to the norms of the Western Reiki practitioners, but I'm not going that way because they're a cash-hungry organisation, which I guess is what you're complaining about. I quote Riki because it came from the same roots in Japanese defence policy.
The long and the short of it is that I have walked the same path in the UK these last couple of years, trying to find what's what in qualifications. Wisely, the BMA takes the view that you can only do it if you do do it, and as there's no course which can teach that kind of skill/gift, they're not that bothered. If you can't, then you'll stand out as a charlatan anyway. Yes, there are a couple of busybody organisations who'd like to corner the market in the same way you say the US is going, but they actually fall flat routinely because the spiritual positivity needed for the work and that ethic are antivalent.
Perhaps the answer is to ask WHO is doing the testing. If they don't qualify on each and every skill themselves, then what right do they have to judge? It's like US Customs, destroying instruments because they don't even follow their own Rules, let alone understand the whys and wherefores behind them to guide their hands in the grey areas around the edge.
If this is the way they go, then perhaps that's not they way you should be going. These are experts in analysis, not synthesis, little children who are excellent at pulling things apart in an attempt to discover how they work, but not much use at putting things together properly afterwards.

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: GUEST,Inquiry
Date: 10 Aug 14 - 02:05 AM

Thank-you everyone for this thread. My question is this: I'm a licensed RN, and a self taught musician for years now… several instruments, including the harp. My bachelors degree education, as well as over 25 years working in direct patient care (ER, ICU, Medical Surgical, Medical Rehabilitation, Telemetry, Urgent Care, Hospice,). That is work experience, as I'm not even listing other areas of internship that also including OR, OB/Gyn, etc. I was also a working EMT prior to becoming a nurse. So my patient care experience already fulfills one aspect, and my musical ability fulfills the other. My education also fulfills a ton more than what is required in all of these musician therapy programs, including psychology, ethics, etc. from a clinical standpoint that is. So why would it still be necessary to become certified as a harp therapist? I was told it was still necessary via various music therapy schools I checked into. Sorry, but I'm not going to pay money for mini clinical courses at these schools… courses I've previously been trained in at a more extensive level.

I'm already swamped with having to keep up CEU's for a ton of medical/nursing related certifications every two years, adding an additional number of them for harp therapy certification would just add to a greater expense and exhaustion for same.   As I get older, I just don't feel the desire to add more CEU requirements to all that is on my plate at the present moment. I feel very frustrated regarding this matter, as I would love to provide comfort to patients on a musical level as well on my down time from clinical nursing, especially in my retirement years from nursing, and for which I would still love to bring comfort to patients via music therapy.


It is becoming ridiculous that almost everything requires certification these days. I suppose some of it has to do with the litigious society we live in, as well as monetary gain for those who offer the certifications. I understand that a musician would need certification for the clinical patient care aspect, because they never had patient care training, and all it entails, but not the other way around, as in my case. Very frustrating indeed! I also personally feel that a Music Therapist as someone in the thread previously mentioned they are, would be the better choice for a medical facility to choose from, because they need the patient end education which they do obtain versus others from lesser 'quick' certification programs.   But for an RN/Musician, I don't fully understand. Am I missing something here?   I also know a lot of very qualified Physicians who are really musically talented… also self taught musicians themselves. Would they also have to study to get certified as music therapists? Seems ridiculous to me.

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 11:50 PM

open mike-thank you and blessings for sharing your experiences.

The power of the music to bring ease and restfulness to those whose level of pain had surpassed the ability of morphine to even take the edge off...to help the dying to find the peace and space to let themselves let go of their suffering into death....

Janie

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Kaleea
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 11:30 PM

There are many persons who play Harp, Autoharp, & other instruments who are wonderful at providing comfort to those who are bedfast or dying. Many have no specific training or certification whatsoever--just talent, knowledge of some Music & the desire to give Love & comfort to others.
I was just speaking to a Harp teaching pal just the other day about "Harp Therapy." This is not the same as someone who has a degree in Music Therapy. There are folks who will go to someone & pay big $$ to get a certificate to do "Harp Therapy." My pal knows the local gal (has known her for many years) who takes a large amount of $$ from folks to provide them with a certification "program" which she invented not too many years ago. The gal has no formal Music Education or training of any kind in counseling, therapy, or anything related to dealing with the ill or dying.
I also know some Music Therapists who have degrees from acredited universities who are quite good at what they do. I think a good Musician with the desire to share their Music can give a lot of comfort to others.

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: open mike
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 11:15 PM

When I sat with my mother on ;her death bed in the hospital,
I sang and played music for her for days. I believe she heard
it, although she was unresponsive. It helped me get thru the
experience as well as others in the hospital who i saw at the
door and listeneing to the music that helped soothe them too.

After my experience with mom (8 days), I felt i had gained some
insight into the process of "passing away" and felt as if i
wanted to become a hospice volunteer in order to share with others.

A few weeks ago i had the opportunity to sing and play for many
hours at a house where the people's daughter lay in her last moments
of life. It was an honor to be able to be there and provide the
music to help bring everyone together and help ease the passage
over the threshold for our dear girl. (It would have been easier
to remain detached if I had not known and loved the girl--I feel
i circumvented some of my letting go of grief by holding it
together in order to provide music for everyone else...now I
have to find a way to grieve for her on my own.) I was glad to
be able to fill the room with music. One unusual request was
Janis Joplin's Mercedes Benz. I was open to singing the songs
that everyone there wanted to hear, and naturally songs of
flight and flying came thru me as her soul departed...
it was a magical, blessed time and a type of work that felt good.

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Janie
Date: 29 Jun 06 - 10:26 PM

NPR aired quite a nice story about this topic this morning that I thought I would pass along. here's the link.

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Musicman
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 11:04 AM

yes charcloth.. my qualifications include a degree in music and a degree in music therapy (about 7 years schooling here in canada).

i would be suspect to of a weekend course because it will miss on many of the important aspects of becoming a music therapist (registered in canada and Board Certified in the US.)

it dosn't sound like you'd get much from it with you previous experience and like you say.. probably not worth your while.... I'm sure you could go into any facility and offer your services, but be careful not to mis represent yourself and your qualifications, it could open doors to problems for you..... other than that.. go and do......

musicman

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 08:31 AM

Thanks Musicman for you coments. I suspect your qualifications is a college degree but I am particulary suspect to this "Certified Music Practitioner" course which is a series of 5 weekends. In looking over the material I don't really see anything that compels me to make the investments required for this certification. I know of no facilities that call for this type of certificate. I also see very litle that I haven't had to address before in my own life experiences.
Before I comment much futher, I must add that I have been studying for the past year & a half to get the Ohio State Medical license in Massage Therapy, so I had the anatomy & other medical type things. But I've also played at many a bedside of folks I know crossing Jordan's River. Yes it is different from a regular performance but mostly because you can be more specific with your repertoire fine tuning it to what they "want to hear" instead of a crowd.
I am sure the four year degree has it's benifits But this 5 weekend deal I am really in suspect to it.
Charcloth

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: wysiwyg
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 02:51 AM

Also recommend the old thread "Why We Sing."

Main thing is, do it, and let people know you want to do it, and word will get out, and you will find your phone ringing. Follow the path through the open doors.... walk through one and another will fall ajar, up ahead. Don't worry. Just sing.

(I can say all this because I have heard Charcloth sing.)

Some other places to offer:

Battered women & children's shelter

Welfare office waiting room

Home hospice

Incest survivors' organizations

AIDS organizations

Ministerium

~Susan

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 01:09 AM

More to the Mudcat Magic than we know, Mark. After I'd posted, I went to ICQ to send Musicman a message about this thread. In the midst of writing to him, he sent me a message that he'd just posted to the thread! Now, it gets even more magical because tonight is the first night in many, many months that I've even had ICQ on AND I am always on "invisible mode" so Musicman had no way of knowing that I was on, writing to him! Love the CatConnections, eh?

Thanks, Musicman, and Mark, thanks for the loving story...that's beautiful and I will check out your song, tomorrow. I promised myself bed over an hour ago!**BG**

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 01:02 AM

Hey, kat, it only took two minutes! That's pretty damn good even by Mudcat standards!

Some of you folks, especially Charcloth and musicman, might be interested in this song, SOUTH STREET WALTZ. There's an interesting story behind the song. When I wrote it, I had in mind a scene in the movie "Harry and Tonto" in which Art Carney visits an old lover in a nursing home. She is pretty much incapacitated by Alzheimer's, but when he starts dancing with her she seems to be her "old self" again. As far as I knew, that was just fiction. Then I sang the song at the Seattle Song Circle. Afterwards a friend of mine came up to me and said that that was exactly what had happened to his mother: music and dancing were the only things that could bring her out of the deep hole she had sunken into, and when she was dancing she would seem just like she had been before.

Charcloth, certification or no, keep doing what you're doing!

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Musicman
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:24 AM

Charcloth.......

to open with.. i am a trained Music Therapist and worked in the field for about 10 years.

the whole issue of 'certification' has been touched on above as i was reading over the previous comments.... and from what i percieve you spend time going into facilities playing for the residents there.. Very Commendable, keep up the good work.. they NEED it and appreciate it more than you will ever know. I could give you stories upon stories of how the music i shared affected individuals lives.. even for just a moment... which in turn.... affected me and the staff around me...

the need for Certification depends on what you want to do and how far you want to take what you do.... Going in to the facilities and playing for the residents does not require certification, everyone will enjoy it and you will have an impact. If you're lucky, you'll get paid something for it.... but.. you will be an entertainer.

Someone who is trained, now becomes a 'therapist' and with that title comes a whole lot of responsability, training and expectation. The difference between Therapist and entertainer lies in the planning. An entertainer will go in, play some music, maybe get to know some of the residents, and leave, to return again. The therapist job is to know the residents, their history, there likes/dislikes, their disability and must have an understanding of the disability/disease that is affecting them. The Therapist will then assess each indivdual in their care and decide on a course of action to improve their standard of life. The course of action as a music therapist always includes music of course, but it could be any form with any instrument... playing/listening/singing. This is where the knowledge of the individual comes in.... what did/do they like.. did they play an instrument? sing? dance? etc.... how can i as the therapist use that then to improve their quality of life?? I've done things like spending time with a resident listening or playing classical piano music, because he was a concert pianist before a stroke ( i know he wasn't hearing the notes i was playing but himself playing years ago..... i was missing too many....), or had Alzhiemer's patients dancing and singing along with songs from their childhood.. and talking about those memories....., or doing a recording session with a resident who used to be a professional music before a stroke took away his ability to play. Encouraging residents to play an instrument.. alone and in groups to help with physical movement and social interaction...

It's in the planning of these activities... and then reporting on them and their outcome to other staff, medical practitioners and being able to measure effectiveness to these people.. this is where training and certification comes in.... It's not just playing music, but a whole lot more. You get involved in planning sessions for residents, family meetings about residents.. essentially you become part of the therapeutic team. And this is with any disability, any age group. I have worked with children as young as 2 yrs old to seniors pushing 100.. physical disabilities to mental and psychological illnesses.... the newborn to the dying...

so, as a trained thereapist, you have to have a basic understanding of the 'diseases' that you may be dealing with, and a complete understanding of music in all it's forms and an ability to create music.. sometimes on the spot (improvise to a situation)

It is a wonderful calling and very rewarding, and the jobs are opening up as the effectiveness beyond entertainment is realized.

if you do a thread search back about 3-4years.. you will find some good threads about music therapy......

i hope this helps answer the question..

musicman

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Feb 02 - 12:22 AM

So would I, Charcloth. From what I've seen the main benefits would be getting paid more and, in more formal or picky settings, being taken more seriously. I guess it really would depend on how much money you need to make or want to make and what the venues are. If we keep this thread at the top, perhaps we'll get more folks interested who may be able to tell us more.

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 11:14 PM

Is there anyone out there who is "certified" for this & is there any need for cerification. I am not convinced there are any benifits to this certification. I would appreciate it if someone could shed some light on this
Charcloth

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: van lingle
Date: 24 Feb 02 - 06:15 AM

i'm afraid, Hrothgar, that it would be a violation of their "hip"ocratic oath.*G*

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Hrothgar
Date: 24 Feb 02 - 05:01 AM

If you are a certified music practitioner, can you tape musak for accountants' offices?

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 24 Feb 02 - 02:10 AM

I can see both sides of the issue here. & am undecided how I feel about it, but I play a lot of nursing homes (something I consider a "Calling" if you will) and I hear all the time now some intertainers come in do their act & demand their check & leave. I on the other hand, try to make my act a visit, I try to speak with everyone & shake their hand & sometimes even give the residents a hug.
Music as I see it, is just a way to make a connection & is the starting point. I charge for an hour's performance but spend time afterwards with short conversations to as many of the patients I can. Sometimes, if I know a resident likes music & they are unable to leave their room, I will take the extrah steps & visit them in their room & play a couple of numbers.
I won't get riches in dollars but I do become richer in blessings
I'm not sure how all this fits into the topic of this thread but the connection is there
Charcloth

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Feb 02 - 06:35 PM

Charcloth, in exploring the required curriculum, it looks as though anyone who does not live near a teaching institution which offers these courses is out of luck. Also, they are quite extensive.

Dr. Mark, I understand all of the things you noted as to why people should be certified, but some of the stuff they teach I would think would be old hat to many folkies, esp. those who perform on a regular basis and are sensitive to their audience.

It *feels* as though the old tradition of singing a person through pain, healing and/or transition, through intuitive and innate sense, as well as using traditional oral teachings has been co-opted by academia.

One wonders if a traditional healer, such as my Lakota friend, would be allowed to work with someone, at their request, in a medical setting. I suppose one could just call themselves an intuitive music facilitator or some such and not claim any kind of certification, but I can see as this becomes bigger, business-wise, those types will probably be shut out, or at least relegated to word-of-mouth at-home practices.

Sorry, still not trying to pick a fight, it just bothers me some. Of course music can also harm if it is ill-used, but I don't think there'd be many who would try to make such a practice of it and I don't think most of us need any training in assessing whether it is helping or not.:-)

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 23 Feb 02 - 05:37 PM

I finaly was able to pull up a web site for the Music for healing & Transition program it is www.mhtp.org
maybe this can tell us what all is required
Charcloth

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 23 Feb 02 - 05:33 PM

I once played at a nursing home & this felow in a wheel chair & hooked up to oxygen asked me to play some hillbilly type number. Which I gladly did. Anyway He literaly took the out of his nose, ggot up out of the wheelchair & clogged. I will never forget that as long as God gives me breath.
Charcloth

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 23 Feb 02 - 02:11 AM

Well, yes, there is that.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: GUEST,CLETUS
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 11:53 PM

Music do got sum reel power an thets a fact! Thair wuz thiz one time wen Paw, Buford, an tha Reg boys wuz out lookin fer me an thay trailt me all over tha place. Yasee I wuz a part uv a crazed tiple an noseflute band that had bin traint ta overthrow the gubmint by playin tha Oscar Meyer wienie ditty. I hed bin sent ta the Neil Young Center for the Terminally Screwed after I spent 3 dayz watchin Hamsterdance an the NYCFTTS wuz a CIA trainin center whair thay formt theezeer crazed tiple bandz. We wuz purty good too cuz we wuz tha reeson thet Libby Dole dint run fer President. We playt it over an over beneeth ol' Bob's bedroom windur an it got ta him reel gud cuz tha next thang ya new he wuz runnin thru Rock Creek Park in hiz flappin boxers screamin', "I got WOOD!!! Itz a WOODY!!!" Whal, I tel ya thet embarassed Libby plum ta death an she dropt out uv the race. She wuz rite happy tho senz it cured hiz problemz an he dint need no more Viagra. So yassee music kin even cure you iffen you got a disfuntional erectile.

CLETUS

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 11:38 PM

Greg Stephens, sorry, I used garg's real first name when I should have used his nickname. I meant "garg." Thanks, though.

Mark, thanks for the clarification. I still feel there should be some way of proving what one has in the way of life experience, esp. if it involves any kind of medical training, such as my EMT certification. Just my opinion and not meant in anyway as an argument against regular certification.

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 10:47 PM

Certainly, Charcloth, any musician can find a way to help a sick person feel better through music. (I should stress, by the way, that music therapy is used for much more than aiding with dying.) The instruments that may be used by a music therapist simply depend on the interest and ability of the musician. The therapist from D.C. I mentioned has an electronic instrument that can be played by "strumming" part of the surface with your fingers. She uses this to help children in the hospital to make their own music...which is very effective.

The reason for having a program for certifying music therapists is that when a person is working in a hospital, nursing home, or other health care facility, and caring for patients in any way, there has to be some way of verifying that this person has the training, skills, and experience to do the job safely and effectively. One would need to know some basic things about psychology and interpersonal communication and the therapeutic encounter, and about health and illness (such as when to call the nurse!), as well as have a good grounding in what is known about the effects of music on the functioning of the mind and body in health and disease.

Certainly, there were good music therapists before there were certification programs. But certification is a way hospitals can assure a basic level of competence to protect themselves and their patients, just as they do for doctors, nurses, lab technicians, and everybody else.

If you want to do music therapy but don't want to work in that kind of setting, you probably don't need a certificate; although you'd better check your state laws to be sure. Even barbers and cosmetologists need licenses, after all. (Only parents don't...but don't get me started!)

To reiterate again one more time, the difference between certification in music therapy and certification in "Folk Music" is that the former interacts with people in a healing/therapeutic setting, and that requires extra attention and care--at least, that's what we as "society" have decided.

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: greg stephens
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 10:43 PM

that was gargoyle, kat, not me. i was just making jokes.sorry greg

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 10:31 PM

I've not looked into it any further, though I would be interested to know if they give credit for life experience.

Here's another thread you might find interesting: Musicians on call - healing org. They have a new website which should come up and it's a little weird the way it operates, but you can still get an idea of what they are doing. I cannot find anything in their literature which says one has to have a degree, but it si all volunteer, so maybe that is why.

The book sounds interesting, greg, thanks for telling us about it.

kat

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: GUEST,gargoyle
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 09:47 PM

John M. Ortiz book The Tao of Music : Sound Psychology with Tune Your Brain : Using Music to Manage Your Mind is an informative, fun, read for both the lay person and the health care professional.

It is a good starting point.

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 09:31 PM

In looking this over it looks as though this requires a college degree & not something that be given through a few weeks sessions. Am I correct or is there different certifications?

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: greg stephens
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 06:06 AM

yes i was a bit worried by the Certified Music Practitioner title too. having been reading recently of the Folk Music Degree course at Newcastle, and of the funding thats been made available to the Folk Mentor scheme, I was kind of wondering how long us self-taught types were going to be allowed to continue working. when my time to transition comes along, i hope my friends will bring fiddles, accordions(button,not piano please) and banjoes, plus beer. I'll happily wait for the harps till i get to the other side.

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 05:33 AM

As far as I know the scholl of thanatology in Montana uses only harps, but I've heard of CMPs using flutes and whistles and, while I am not accredited, I have used my lap dulcimer at the local hospice.

One kind of neat vote of confidence was my neighbour came over and heard me play it. She is the sister of an important Lakota (healer)interpreter (his choice of words, he does not like the term "medicine man")whose sweats I've been to in the past. I explained to her about playing for someone as they were transitioning and she immediately said she'd want me there to play her on to the next place. With a brother like him around for such support, too, I was honoured by her saying this. She just was entranced, almost, by the sounds of a lap dulcimer and loved it.

I wish they would certify for life experience and intuitive ability.

Thanks,

kat

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 03:13 AM

Here's a link to the website of the American Music Therapy Association. It should tell you everything you want to know. I once heard a presentation by a wonderful woman (whose name I've of course forgotten!) who I believe started the music therapy program at National Children's Medical Center in Washington. She was absolutely brilliant. This is a rapidly growing field, and it's especially helpful in pediatrics. I wish we had one at our hospital. (If anybody out there is a certified MT and wants to come to Hawaii, give me a call!)

Aloha,
Mark

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Hrothgar
Date: 22 Feb 02 - 12:12 AM

If you don't get well, we're going to play this accordeon at you until you do.

And if that doesn't work - banjos!

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From:
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 11:24 PM

I would rather have an accordian speeding me on but I have heard mostly of harps but there is no reason it would have to be that way as long as the music was appropriate to the occasion...mg

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 09:48 PM

In looking over these links it looks like the harp is the only instrument used. Is that correct?

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 09:14 PM

Thanks This is a great line of work

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 08:40 PM

Sorry I didn't see this, earlier. Charcloth, I've sent you a PM with these, too.

Here are some links which might be of interest. Thanks for asking...this is a subject close to my heart:

Music Thanatology

Music for Healing & Transition program

Interesting article on Music Practitioners

Harp Therapist Directory

Healing Music Terms/Glossary

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 07:59 PM

I thought it might be some new rule they were bringing in, making it an offence to play a musical instrument in public unless you had a licence.

Don't laugh, I wouldn't put it past them. Here is an extract from a letter Hamish Birchall sent out today about the latest development in respect of the Public Entertainment Licence nonsense in England:

From today only the same two performers will be allowed during the course of an evening's entertainment in bars and restaurants that don't hold a public entertainment licence (PEL).

In a judgement at the High Court this afternoon it was decided that the two-in-a-bar rule, which applies in over 111,000 liquor-licensed premises in England and Wales, must be interpreted as strictly as possible. This means that if a pianist and a singer are playing, it becomes a criminal offence for licensees to allow another singer (or indeed any other musician) to do a turn. Unless, of course, a PEL is first obtained from the local authority.

MIDI also implicated...

The High Court judgement also ruled that MIDI files constitute 'recorded sound'. Under the two-in-a-bar rule (s 182.1 of the Licensing Act 1964) no combination of 'recorded sound' and live performer is allowed without a PEL being in force. The implication is that use of MIDI files during a live performance, even if only one live performer is involved, will be illegal unless the premises is covered by a PEL.

The case (London Borough of Southwark v Sean Toye) arose when Southwark successfully prosecuted former landlord Sean Toye for allowing karaoke without a PEL in September 1999. The karaoke manufacturer funded the landlord's defence because, he argued, the MIDI files in use did not count as 'recorded sound' as usually understood, and therefore the s 182 exemption should apply.

This frustrating judgement may, in the end, speed up reform. I hope that David Heath MP will be able to raise it in the House of Commons during his adjournment debate on reform of PELs next week (Wed 27 February).

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: JedMarum
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 06:07 PM

I know a lot of musicians who are "certifiable" - but then maybe you are asking about musicians who play certified music?

;-)

Subject: RE: Certified music practitioners
From: wysiwyg
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 06:03 PM

I think Katlaughing knows about this-- there were some old threads... ask her to help you find them?

~S~

Subject: Certified music practitioners
From: Charcloth
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 05:37 PM

Any body know anything about this line of work. It is some sort of medical therapy utilizing music is all I know. Something about music for healing & transition on to death. I'd appreciate your input. Thanks
Charcloth