Voices (Jul 2023)
Level Up: Gaming to a Beat
Abstract
Video game culture is an ever-growing aspect of our current society that is virtually an untapped resource for engagement, connection, and inspiration in the current compendium of music education and music therapy practice. The COVID-19 pandemic presented a significant barrier to engaging children in enriching educational experiences when schools transitioned to a virtual format and brought to light the significant stressors impacting today’s youth. Neurodivergent and neurotypical children benefited greatly from engaging in a virtual music composition/education program designed to enrich their experience through a culturally relevant medium, video games. This article presents an in-depth examination of the creation, design, and implementation of the mainstream virtual music composition/education program, which integrated music therapy intervention and video game culture for neurodivergent and neurotypical children.
