An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the lived musical experiences of three Williams syndrome individuals

Abstract

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is to understand the lived musical experiences of three individuals living with Williams syndrome (WS). We are interested in their lived musical experiences because the musical abilities of WS individuals are similar to those of normal control groups despite their severe cognitive impairments. Although there is literature on the medical manifestations of the syndrome, there is no research on their lived musical experiences. Their musical experiences need to be explored as a possible way to help them to cope with their unique challenges. In this IPA we used semi-structured interviews and the six steps of data analysis for IPA suggested by Smith et al. (2009). Four superordinate themes emerged from data analysis, namely, that: a) the participants have a passion for performance; b) music allows the participants to foster friendships; c) music allows them to cope with challenging situations; and d) they display musical dependency. The findings of this study can be used to advocate the importance of music in the everyday lives of individuals with WS.

Keywords

interpretative phenomenological analysis lived musical experiences wellbeing Williams syndrome

This study investigates the meaning and significance of music in the everyday lives of individuals living with Williams syndrome (WS). WS is defined as a rare genetic disorder which presents when approximately 20 genes are deleted on chromosome 7 at conception (Bellugi et al., 2007). This study was informed by emergent themes from a previous study (van der Merwe, 2012), which indicated that the participant living with WS has an intense need for and love of music. The child also presented a rare grasp of, and attentiveness to, music.

The problem shaping this study can be demarcated with reference to five aspects. First, individuals with WS face medical, cognitive and social challenges (Levitin & Bellugi, 1998; Martínez-Castilla, Rodríguez, & Campos, 2016) and music could possibly make these challenges easier to deal with. Second, people with WS cannot fully adapt to their social surroundings (Bellugi, Wang, & Jernigan, 1994). Third, South African families of WS individuals have insufficient access to educational facilities equipped to work with those diagnosed with WS. They are forced to homeschool their children, often without the capacity to educate them optimally, especially if music is to be central to the children’s education (van der Merwe, 2012). Fourth, researchers have not yet addressed the issue of heightening awareness of the musical experiences of individuals with WS. Lastly, researchers have not yet conducted in-depth qualitative studies that focus on the meaning of musical experience for individuals diagnosed with WS.

According to Reynolds and Prior (2003), the arts have the ability to help chronically ill patients maintain a healthy self-image and enable patients to foster friendships. Although their study is not directly related to WS, it does have relevance for the present study, since most individuals with WS have to deal with medical problems. Reynolds and Prior (2003) found that art allowed chronically ill patients to experience stress relief; it diminished their levels of anxiety and depression and provided a means for patients to experience fewer limitations and feel normal, even if only momentarily. A study conducted by Heah, Case, McGuire, and Law (2006) revealed that children with disabilities experienced social fulfilment and success when they engaged in extramural activities, enabling them to create friendships and enhance positive self-esteem, thereby allowing them to experience fun, success and self-growth.

Studies focusing on the features of WS could provide insight into the condition, which is important for understanding the meaning of musical experiences for those diagnosed. The majority of research on WS presents findings on cognitive manifestations (Dunning, Martens, & Jungers, 2015), medical conditions and sociability associated with the syndrome (Bellugi et al., 2007; Bellugi, Lichtenberger, Jones, & Lai, 2000; Chin, 2003; Levitin, 2005; Levitin & Bellugi, 1998). Individuals living with WS have impaired reasoning and spatial abilities, IQs ranging from 40 to 100, a short attention span, poor hand–eye coordination (Chin, 2003; Levitin, 2005) and an unusual neuropsychological profile that affects their behaviour (Bellugi et al., 2007). However, individuals diagnosed with WS do tend to understand grammar and structure in language and music (Chin, 2003; Levitin & Menon, 2003). Furthermore, Dunning et al. (2015) found that music enhances the verbal memory of individuals with WS.

Despite the lack of research on the musical experiences of individuals with WS, there is literature closely related to the study at hand. Levitin and Bellugi (1998) reported that the sociability present in those diagnosed with WS seems to be supported by their exceptional language abilities (Bellugi et al., 2007). This could be an important factor to consider when studying the musical experiences (often a social activity) of individuals with WS, as they perform optimally in social settings and present higher sociability levels than similarly aged typically developing (TD) children (Chin, 2003; Levitin et al., 2004). Levitin et al. (2004) established this when they found that children with WS exhibited fewer competences in rhythmic tasks when recorded music was used compared to other children. Their scores improved significantly, however, when the material was presented by someone playing an instrument while administering the test. This study provides evidence of the importance of social interaction for children with WS, seeing that they perform better when taking tests in social settings (Levitin et al., 2004).

Martínez-Castilla et al. (2016) found that children with WS, compared to TD children, do not present significantly different relationships between the development of cognitive and pitch-related music skills, but that they do have atypical cognitive profiles. This possibly accounts for the unique links found between the socio-emotional sensitivity and musicality exhibited by children with WS. While those with WS do not necessarily present exceptional musical abilities compared to TD individuals, they show higher levels of interest in and responsiveness to music as well as heightened musicality (Martínez-Castilla et al., 2016), which could influence their perception of musical experiences.

People with WS are prone to frequent music making and listening; they display a powerful emotional engagement with music and they often display an astonishing musical memory (Levitin, 2005). Levitin et al. (2004) argue that those with WS are “consumed by their affective reactions to music” (p. 238). This statement is supported by the comment of a girl with WS after attending a Mozart concert: “There are two kinds of Mozart, the kind that hurts and the kind that doesn’t hurt” (p. 238). The intensity with which individuals with WS engage with music emotionally possibly influences the meaning that musical experiences have for them and could therefore be a significant factor for this study.

This study is unique as it focuses on the musical experiences of individuals with WS and not on the diagnosis of the syndrome. It is also the first of its kind, providing insights for therapists and teachers working with individuals with WS as well as for the parents of those diagnosed. The information provided by this study could provide researchers with material for further research in this field.

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) is to understand the lived musical experiences of three individuals living with WS in Southern Africa.

The main research question that guided this study is: How do three individuals living with WS understand their lived musical experiences? Two sub-questions supported the textural and structural¹ exploration of the main research question:

– What do three individuals living with WS experience when engaging in music?

– How do three individuals living with WS experience music?

Methods

Procedures

A qualitative research design, namely, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), is an appropriate approach for this study as: a) the primary interest of IPA research is to understand how participants interpret their experiences (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009; Willig, 2010); and b) studying the musical experiences of individuals with WS is uncharted territory (Reid, Flowers & Larkin, 2005; Smith & Osborn, 2008).

IPA draws on three “key areas of the philosophy of knowledge: phenomenology, hermeneutics and idiography” (Smith et al., 2009, p. 11). First, this study was phenomenological as we were interested in the meaning of musical experiences for WS individuals as explained in their own words. Second, it was hermeneutic as we interpreted the “texts of life” (Van Manen, 1990), specifically the transcribed semi-structured interviews. Third, it was idiographic, as the open-ended interviews were analysed individually before similarities and differences between the cases were highlighted during cross-case analysis.

Participants

The IPA participants for this study were purposefully selected (Chapman & Smith, 2002; Reid et al., 2005; Smith & Osborn, 2008) according to their diagnosis and their individually meaningful musical experiences. Due to the idiographic nature of IPA, the sample sizes are usually small (Brocki & Wearden, 2006; Clarke, 2010; Smith et al., 2009; Smith & Osborn, 2008). We therefore identified three individuals living with WS as participants. According to Smith and Osborn (2008), it is possible and sufficient to carry out a successful IPA study with this small number of participants because of “the intensity of activity for each case” (Smith, 2011, p. 10) and the richness of the data collected from the in-depth, semi-structured interviews.

Role of the researchers

The data collection and initial coding of the data were conducted by the first author. Due to the first author’s interest in and dedication to individuals with WS, and from previous experiences and research, the author has developed a bias towards the positive role music plays in these individuals’ lives, which possibly shaped the interpretation in this study. However, trustworthiness has been ensured by “sufficient sampling from the corpus to show density of evidence for each theme” (Smith, 2011, p. 17). The first author was furthermore responsible for the write-up of the article and is therefore referred to as “I” throughout the article.

The second author assisted in conceptualizing the study, worked through the initial analysis and was involved in the second- and third-level coding; the second author also evaluated the coding process and contributed to the conceptualization of the final themes.

Data collection

In-depth, semi-structured interviews are the primary data-collection strategy for IPA studies (Chapman & Smith, 2002; Clarke, 2010; Reid et al., 2005; Willig, 2010). Since participant observation in IPA is only appropriate when discussion of participants’ experience occurs, observation is not a suitable means of data collection (Smith et al., 2009, p. 62). The interviews conducted for this study aimed to provide an understanding of the meaning of musical experiences for the three WS participants (Larkin, Watts, & Clifton., 2006; Reid et al., 2005).

Semi-structured interviews

Individuals with WS understand the world through language, exhibit strengths in language development (Bellugi et al., 2000; Levitin & Bellugi, 2006) and enjoy engaging in conversation because of their hyper-sociability (Bellugi et al., 2007; Levitin et al., 2004). Therefore, semi-structured interviews were a suitable data-collection strategy.

Each of the interviews was conducted in the participant’s home or at a familiar venue near their homes in which they felt comfortable. The interviews were conducted after two days were spent with each of the participants and their families; they were conducted in a manner that resembled casual conversation and each interview lasted between 35 and 60 minutes. The data-collection events were designed to evoke thoughts, descriptive feelings and stories from the participants (Smith et al., 2009).

The interview schedule ( Table S1, available online) focused on gaining insight into the lived musical experiences of the three WS participants by exploring sensory knowledge. When developing the interview schedule, we included the four life-world existentials – “lived body, lived time, lived space and lived relations” – mentioned by Van Manen (1990, p. 101), as well as the relevant question types defined by Merriam (2009, p. 96), which focus on “experience and behaviour, feelings, sensory knowledge, opinions and values”.

Data analysis

For the data-analysis process, the first author included the three interview transcripts in one hermeneutic unit in ATLAS.ti 7. Each interview was coded separately by working in stages before conducting the cross-case analysis in order to remain true to the idiographic nature of IPA.

Ethics

Ethical clearance was obtained from an ethics committee at North-West University, South Africa, at the onset of this study (Ethics Number: NWU 00180-13-A7). Before data were collected, adolescent consent and parental permission were obtained through informed consent forms that all the participants who chose to participate in the study signed. The consent forms informed the participants and their parents:

– of the purpose of the study (Greene & Hogan, 2011; Smith et al., 2009);

– that they may withdraw at any stage;

– that they participate voluntarily; and

– that they would not experience more discomfort or inconvenience than they do in their everyday lives.

When conducting research with vulnerable individuals, one of the main concerns is the power relations between the participant and the interviewer (Greene & Hogan, 2011). The researcher thus emphasised that the adolescent participant was the focus during the interview and had the power to lead the interview.

Validation strategies

The clarification of the research bias from the outset of the study contributed to the validity of the study (Creswell, 2013, p. 251). Validation was also ensured by the unique IPA validation strategy of providing sufficient quotes from each participant as evidence for each theme. We also employed member checking for validation, whereby the participants confirmed that the interpretations made about their experiences were accurate (Colaizzi, 1978). Finally, feedback from three external critical readers was considered and contributed towards the conceptualisation of the final themes.

Results

The insight that this study provides into the meaning that musical experiences have in the lives of the three participants corroborate my personal experiences that music is a means of survival for individuals living with WS. The names Peter, Matthew and Jonathan used in the study are pseudonyms to ensure the anonymity of the participants. Each participant will be introduced with a brief vignette.

Peter

I did not know what to expect when I first met Peter as I had previously only seen pictures of him in ICU. Tubes, machines, dark eyes, skeleton-like silhouette. These were the only images that came to mind. What a pleasant surprise to meet a healthy, friendly teenager. The following day, after a few hours of rehearsing for a music video shoot, I noticed that Peter had lost his enthusiasm and confidence in playing the drums. What was wrong? Did I play a wrong note? That was when I realised that it was his arthritis. Playing the drums was tiring, uncomfortable and agonising.

The emergent themes that were revealed through the analysis of Peter’s interview include: music is Peter’s life, it regulates his emotions, he experiences anxiety brought on by musical experience, he is passionate about performing, he makes friends through music and music builds positive self-esteem (Table S2, available online).

Matthew

I was waiting outside the penguin rescue centre where Matthew volunteers. I was barely given a chance to properly introduce myself before this bright-eyed teenage boy started to share stories about the Cape Minstrel band he was a part of. We watched numerous videos of the Cape Minstrel band on YouTube, some featuring Matthew as part of the Carnival the year that they won. Bright colours and face paint. That’s what he loved. After lunch, it was time for Cirque du Soleil with Matthew as the running commentator, fascinated and perfectly focused on the smallest of detail, highlighting key moments in the performances in case I missed something. The only acceptable reason for interrupting the performance was for the rugby game later that evening. The whole family joined us. Matthew later took his African drum out of the closet and subtly played simple improvised, expressive rhythmic patterns clearly based on the tension levels of the game. I was in awe of this strong-willed boy, who loves nothing more than attending the annual Cape Minstrel Carnival fully dressed (and painted) and spending time with his family … seemingly not having a care in the world.

The analysis of Matthew’s interview revealed the following emergent themes: music is a positive experience, Matthew loves performing, music helps him to connect with others and he believes that everybody depends on music (Table S3, available online).

Jonathan

Jonathan was not at all what I had expected. He was tall and healthy, but at age 17 not able to write his own surname. We were in the pizzeria his parents were building for him when he, standing in the area which would soon be the stage, explained how the karaoke bar will allow him and their future customers to have fun and bond through music every evening. He often interrupted conversations during the day to share some of the songs with me, which he wanted to perform with his soon-to-be friends, leaving me fascinated by his vast knowledge of music.

The emergent themes that were revealed through the analysis of Jonathan’s interview include: Jonathan loves to perform, music is his key to sensory learning, music helps him to make friends, people depend on music (Table S4, available online).

Superordinate themes

The four superordinate themes that emerged from the cross-case analysis (Table 1) and shed light on the lived musical experiences of the three participants are:

passion for performing;

fostering friendships;

coping with challenging situations; and

musical dependency (Figure 1).

Table 1.

Development of superordinate themes during cross-case analysis.

Superordinate theme	Corresponding emergent themes	Raw data
A passion for performing	I am passionate about performing I love performing I love to perform	Peter: I performed for a school once and it was a lot of fun. Matthew: It [singing in church] was a lot of fun. Jonathan: Wow, then I see the crowd going mad. It makes me even feel more passionate about singing then.
Fostering friendships	I make friends through music Music helps me to connect to others Music helps me to make friends	Peter: Every time that you do a performance you make some jokes because you kind of become a joker-like person. You remember this, it may be old things, but you remember it and then you laugh at it. Matthew: When I rehearsed with the D6 band one evening. Not during the day, but at night when we arrived. … They are my troupe. Jonathan: Whenever we want to have a good time [with others], we listen to music.
Coping with challenging situations	Music helps me to control my emotions Music is a positive experience Key to sensory learning	Peter: It always makes me feel better, because it allows me to not feel crushed by anything. Matthew: A lot better. Sometimes when I’m very upset about something, then I go and listen to music and it makes me feel a lot better afterwards. Jonathan: Say for instance my parents want to teach me. I am busy learning to read and write. When I use music that says “A” or “B” it helps me to learn better. It makes it a lot better, I can already write a few words.
Musical dependency	Music is my life Music builds positive self-esteem Everybody depends on music People depend on music	Peter: It lets you feel comfortable much easier. Matthew: There aren’t any. Because it’s music. It isn’t a waste of time. Jonathan: Not having music will take away people’s good times and happiness.

Figure 1.

Superordinate themes reflecting the musical experiences of three WS individuals.

Superordinate theme 1: A passion for performing

Musical performance is an important aspect in the lives of Peter, Matthew and Jonathan, as it promotes their self-image and self-confidence, while providing them with exciting experiences. Musical performance allows Peter to experience personal growth as became evident when he said: “Every performance that you have makes you a better person and contributes to a better personality” (65:133).² The analysis of the interviews with Matthew and Jonathan revealed that they tend to focus on the crowd’s responses while performing in church or for family and friends.

The cross-case analysis revealed that the participants would probably experience significantly less happiness without music. Through musical performance Peter, Matthew and Jonathan share their love of music with others through social interaction, thus having opportunities to interact with people from the wider community.

Superordinate theme 2: Fostering friendships

Peter, Matthew and Jonathan are typical WS individuals as they are hyper-social and want to make new friends as often as possible. Music allows them to connect with others, thus playing a vital role in helping them to create new friendships. The socialisation stemming from musical performance helps Peter to maintain his wellbeing as it reduces his feelings of depression.

I often play drums on my own and then I get upset. If I don’t have someone to play with, then I cannot play comfortably. When someone does play with me, I enjoy it a lot. (65:100)

Matthew is very proud of his musical achievements and is honoured to be part of the D6 Cape Minstrel band as it provides him with joyful musical memories, exciting stories to tell and lifelong friendships. This is supported by Matthew’s statement that “It was fun! I rehearsed with the D6 band one evening. Not during the day, but at night. They gave me their gear to put on and then the band began playing. I had to play with them” (66:21).

Music making is Jonathan’s means of showing others what he is capable of and he loves when people admire his musical skills, as this allows him to feel accepted as a commendable musician and friend. When speaking about musical performance and friendships, Jonathan said:

I also love having karaoke nights where I can perform and people can sing with me. When they hear that I can sing, they ask me to sing for them. When I perform, they clap and cheer and go crazy. (67:17–18)

Music not only provides the participants with opportunities to foster friendships, but it gives their lives meaning through social acceptance, allowing them to be accepted as part of the community. Music permits the participants to make new friends, lift their moods and to feel valued, therefore helping them cope with their daily challenges.

Superordinate theme 3: Coping with challenging situations

During cross-case analysis it became evident that music provides the participants with the means to cope with negative emotions and challenging situations. Peter’s emerging themes revealed that music helps him to regulate his mood (56:79) and deal with anxiety (65:102, 103, 130) and medical issues (65:54, 64) in everyday life. Peter explained that “music helps me to not feel crushed by anything” (65:90).

Matthew also emphasised that music is essential for helping him cope by saying: “Uhm, when I … When things at work, where you were, are not working right or I did something wrong, then I get mad. Then I need to listen to music in order to not feel so mad anymore” (66:14).

Music enables Peter, Matthew and Jonathan to deal with bad situations, moods and everyday hardships. Music thus fulfils a therapeutic role in their lives which perhaps explains why they are dependent on music.

Superordinate theme 4: Musical dependency

The fourth, and possibly most prominent, superordinate theme of musical dependency revealed that none of the three participants could imagine that some people regard music as a waste of time. Matthew’s statement that “there aren’t any” (66:3) people who don’t like music emphasises that music is such an integral part of his life that he cannot imagine it to be different for others. Peter explained how “not being able to listen to music can be frustrating” (65:82). When asked about a world without music, Peter said “the world would have been totally different. There would not be anything interesting that happens” (65:82).

Matthew was shocked by the idea of a world without music and explained that “people wouldn’t be very happy. They would be mad all the time. They would never … They would just be mad – forever” (66:13). Matthew would therefore possibly experience much less happiness without music in his life. No more smiles or jokes. Without music, he would not have anything to feel passionate about, suggesting that music is possibly the most significant aspect in his life.

Music also brings fun into Jonathan’s life and, in his opinion, into the world. Jonathan said that people “wouldn’t even be able to have happy weddings without music” (67:26) and that not having music would literally hurt (67:22–23).

Music helps the participants to experience happiness and create meaning in their lives. It was interesting to find that Peter, Matthew and Jonathan transfer their love of music to others, as they cannot comprehend that not all people necessarily enjoy music. From the data one can conclude that the participants’ love of music shapes their identities and ensures their wellbeing.

Unique emerging themes and categories

Four unique emerging themes and categories came to the fore during the cross-case analysis (Table 2). First, Peter experiences anxiety related to musical performance as a result of insufficient rehearsal time (62:26) and of the struggles stemming from medical issues (62:32) with specific reference to his arthritis. Regardless of these experiences of stress and anxiety, music helps Peter to cope. Second, Peter associates high-pitched sounds with happiness (65:31) and low-pitched sounds with sadness or depression (65:30). The third unique theme was that Peter is sometimes overcome by emotion and even overwhelmed when engaging in musical activities. He refers to feeling funny or weird when describing these overwhelming musical experiences (62:39), which could be indicative of his inability to accurately identify or articulate his emotions. This could be a contributing factor to Peter not only associating music with positive emotions but also with anxiety. Finally, Jonathan’s interview revealed that music is his key to learning (64:28) as it helps him to overcome his struggles with reading and writing in a fun, comfortable way, thus contributing to his sense of accomplishment and wellbeing. Jonathan is a teenage boy who still cannot write his name and surname fluently. These unique themes are important as they draw attention to individual lived experiences, therefore remaining true to the idiographic nature of this IPA study.

Table 2.

Differences between the cases.

Unique emerging themes and categories	Participant/s	Quote in the data
Anxiety related to musical experience	Peter	Oh well, frustration and, and nervousness. That always bothers me. I get on my nerves when I begin to play drums in church or so. (65:6). But other times I struggle with it and try to get things right before anything happens, so … (65:60).
Pitches imply emotion	Peter	When the guy sings with a deep voice, then you sort of laugh at him, because you know he is getting depressed from his voice. Then other times they won’t get depressed and then they go into a higher voice (65:30–31).
Music makes me feel overcome with emotion	Peter	As soon as you listen to music, then you sort of feel – WOW – you know, you get an overwhelming feeling. This kind of lets you relax and, on the other hand, it overwhelms you when you listen to music. But it is the same feeling that I have with any music. When I listen to guitar music or drumming music then it kind of gets … you know, you kind of feel funny (65:67).
Key to sensory learning	Jonathan	Say, for instance, my parents want to teach me. I am busy learning to read and write. When I use music that says “A” or “B” it helps me to learn better. It makes it a lot better, I can already write a few words. I can also write my name, but I am still learning to write my surname (67:28).

Discussion

Passion for performing

Reis, Schnader, Schute, and Milne (2000) argue that high musicality is a key characteristic of WS. They further state that music has been said to be the “truest love” of those diagnosed with WS. This also seems to be true for Peter, Matthew and Jonathan, as musical performance is one of the few things at which they excel. The fact that all three participants are good performers despite their visual-spatial and cognitive impairments is an important factor when considering the uniqueness of the musical experiences of individuals with WS. It seems that the passion for performance as presented by the participants is driven by the fact that music provides them with the opportunity to overcome their impairments.

Wills (2011) states that musical performance provides children with opportunities to experience high-quality relationships, thus contributing to their wellbeing. She argues that individuals can escape their day-to-day lives through musical performance in a way that transcends time and space (Wills, 2011). This possibly explains the love of music exhibited by Peter, Matthew and Jonathan as it provides opportunities for them to create meaningful friendships, express themselves in ways they might otherwise not be able to and enhance their self-esteem.

Fostering friendships

According to Tsiris (2012), music helps to promote wellbeing; he goes on to argue that love and music are not necessarily mutually exclusive. This is consistent with the findings for Peter, Matthew and Jonathan who, without their love for music and the love from others, would not be able to foster friendships through music and would therefore not be able to experience the acceptance of others. Wills (2011) found that children experience connectedness when they engage in musical activities, which allows children the opportunity of “being at one” (Wills, 2011: 40) with those who take part in musical activities with them. Gold and Clare (2012) found that patients who suffer from chronic pain tend to feel less lonely when they engage in music listening activities. Dingle, Bander, Ballantyne, and Baker (2012) argue that musical activities help individuals with mental disabilities to experience a sense of connectedness when engaging in activities such as choir singing. The value that musical experience has for Peter, Matthew and Jonathan is also highlighted by the connectedness that they search for when taking part in musical activities. Music allows these three WS participants to deal with their medical conditions and escape the label they carry because of their diagnosis in order to co-exist with others as equals and friends.

Coping with challenging situations

Music provides people with a means through which to cope with illness, lighten their mood and reduce feelings of anxiety, stress, tension and nervousness (DeNora, 2013; Morinville, Miranda, & Gaudreau, 2013) in the same sense that it helps Peter, Matthew and Jonathan cope during difficult times. The finding that music helps the participants to cope with everyday struggles is further supported by the findings of Morinville et al. (2013), who argue that music enhances adolescents’ wellbeing and emotional states, thus providing them with lifelong satisfaction. McFerran and Saarikallio (2014) found that music is an important means of self-expression for adolescents with mental impairments and that this in turn improves their mood. This is consistent with the current study as Peter, Matthew and Jonathan rely on music for personal expression during tough times in order to experience emotional relief and liberation.

Tsiris (2010) states that music therapy affords people who have had traumatic experiences the opportunity to be normal. Music plays a similar part in the lives of our participants as it provides them with experiences of normalcy regardless of their WS diagnosis, thus affording them “asylum” (DeNora, 2013) from their daily struggles. It therefore becomes clear that music does not merely help Peter, Matthew and Jonathan to cope with challenging situations, but that it directly influences their quality of life, strengthening the notion that these three participants depend on music.

Musical dependency

Music helps Peter, Matthew and Jonathan to make sense of the world and provides them with opportunities to develop their sense of self. This is in line with Ruud’s (1998) argument that music allows us to find our place in the world, as well as acknowledge significance in life. According to Huron (2001), music is an integral part of human culture and some even believe musical talent to be innate rather than purely learned. This is an interesting notion, as Jonathan specifically speaks of music as a part of human nature. Peter and Matthew seemingly also cannot envisage their lives without music and believe that everyone without exception must love music to some extent.

Croom (2012) found that music influences a person’s wellbeing and that it allows them to flourish by providing opportunities through which to discover meaning in their lives. DeNora (2013) supports this argument by asserting that music provides people with a means to flourish despite daily hardships, therefore providing them with asylum. This also holds true for our study as the participants depend on music to make their lives bearable during the tough times because of their diagnosis, enabling them to cope and ultimately flourish.

Conclusion

Music plays an essential role in the lives of Peter, Matthew and Jonathan as it helps maintain their wellbeing. Music assists them in coping with their diagnosis by helping them to cope with physical and emotional struggles. The findings of this study are unique as they draw attention to the meaning that musical experiences have in the lives of three individuals with WS. The meanings of these experiences are worth understanding as music plays a vital part in helping these individuals to understand the world and to find their place in life despite their severe cognitive impairments. Through music, Peter, Matthew and Jonathan can escape the WS label which will burden them for their entire lives, creating situations where they can be regarded as normal and foster the friendships they ultimately long for – even if only momentarily. The findings of this study revealed that music is their best friend and that Peter, Matthew and Jonathan are, despite not knowing each other, connected through music. Music is not only the love of these three WS individuals’ lives, but also their means of survival.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was funded by the NRF with Grant UID: 89804.

Notes

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