Aesthetics—When you "feel" it. When you "feel" the power of the art. When it all comes together in perfect harmony—song, performance, message, connection—there is a physical reaction to the art. You experience the art on a level that is beyond words. It’s almost spiritual. This could be music: a live performance (Norah Jones at the Apollo Theater in Harlem) or a recording (Ella & Louis’s Porgy and Bess…on vinyl, of course). This could be seeing a piece of art in a museum, or on a wall in downtown Baltimore. A ballet dancer’s "lines," or a street drummer in the subway. A piece of theater. A poem. A book. A story. Architecture in Europe…or on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. A comic book. When you see art that touches you…you "feel" it. You feel it deeply. You feel it internally. You feel it in a way that you cannot explain. And it’s for this reason that the creative arts work as therapy. Because of—not in spite of—the aesthetics. The art.
Music therapy, like all creative arts therapies (art therapy, drama therapy, dance therapy, and so on), is a combination of science and art. It’s quantitatively and qualitatively measured. Research statistics........