The inclusive power of music: from the ESMUC classrooms to therapeutic neuroscience

It is Saturday, May 24, 2025. In a classroom at the Catalonia College of Music (ESMUC), about fifteen people sit on the floor. In front of them are glockenspiels, xylophones, and metallophones. They hold mallets in their hands and silently await instructions from the teacher, who has already entered the classroom. It is a very special activity: the students come from music schools and conservatories in Catalonia, Andorra, Aragon, and Navarre, and are blind or have severe visual impairments. Today, along with their families, they are participating in the 19th Music in Les Mans Encounter, organized jointly by ESMUC and the ONCE Barcelona Educational Resource Center.

"This is a day to recognize and support the work done by inclusive education centers, to bring together teachers, families, and students to continue their musical studies," said Isidre Vallès, music specialist at CRE ONCE Barcelona, during the event. "In this meeting, we move away from the musical score as the basis of language and focus more on developing our ear, which is something these students are more advanced in," added Carles Marigó, pianist and professor at ESMUC.

The meeting reflects an idea that the ESMUC administration often emphasizes. "The very nature of music, understood as a universal and profoundly experiential language, often becomes a particularly suitable path for students with special educational needs, as it allows for multiple forms of expression, participation, and communication beyond the verbal code," the center's administration explained to ARA. It is from this conviction that ESMUC works to make inclusion a daily practice: a framework where rhythm, proximity, and constant adaptation are naturally integrated into classes, instrumental ensembles, and the individual accompaniment of each student.

This inclusive approach goes beyond lesson plans; it's put into practice through projects that put students in direct contact with diversity. Workshops like "Music in Our Hands," collaborations with ONCE (the Spanish National Organization of the Blind), and shared programs with the SIFU Foundation allow students and teachers to learn new ways of making and engaging with music. Each experience provides resources, perspectives, and strategies that are then brought back into the classroom, reinforcing an educational model that understands inclusion as, above all, a way to grow the musical community through the diversity of abilities.

What is neurological music therapy?

Alongside the work carried out by ESMUC in the classroom, there is also a therapeutic approach. Anna G. Castells, a music therapist specializing in neurological music therapy (NMT), explains this to this newspaper. She works with children and adults with intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, or communication difficulties. According to Castells, music not only accompanies but transforms. "NMT is a scientifically based therapy that uses music to work on thought, movement, and language through twenty different techniques," she explains. It is a method of intervention that adapts each musical activity to the diagnosis and goals of each individual, and that allows for the observation of emotional, cognitive, and motor changes that would be difficult to achieve through other means.

One of the most visible changes is emotional. Castells explains the case of a child with cerebral palsy who can only move his eyes and mouth. "When he hears his name sung or the sound of percussion or guitar, his facial expression changes completely; his face breaks into a radiant smile." This seemingly simple response is, for families, confirmation that the child is engaged, attentive, and receptive.

In other cases, music helps reinforce essential motor skills. For example, another child uses a small ocarina to work on their orofacial muscles to improve eating and reduce salivation. The sound they produce from the instrument, which is like a small flute, acts as positive reinforcement, and the shared song transforms the exercise into a meaningful and motivating activity.

The basis for these changes is neurological. Castells emphasizes that rhythm is one of the most powerful tools: when a person hears a steady beat, their movements tend to synchronize naturally, even if they were previously irregular. The brain activates motor areas before the body moves, and rhythm acts as an internal clock that improves coordination. Melody can also open unexpected pathways. People with aphasia can often sing better than they can speak because singing activates networks in the right hemisphere that are usually intact. "The rhythm, melody, and repetitive pattern of music organize the brain in a way that facilitates movement, speech, and attention," Castells summarizes.