The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music and Their Implications for Music Therapy

Abstract

This article uses as its foundation contemporary research in the area of religious studies which claims that significant numbers of people in the Western world have a relationship to certain forms of rhythmically-based popular music that has acquired a religious dimension. This can be seen as a consequence both of the decline of formal religious involvement and of the fact that most forms of contemporary popular music derive from music that had as its primary function the inducement of trance states used for religious purposes. After reviewing the historical, theoretical, and developmental foundations of this argument, the author draws implications for contemporary music therapy practice.