A music teacher focuses on teaching the elements of music. The elements of music are pitch (high and low), rhythm (the beat), timbre (the instrument), expression (loud and soft), etc.
A music therapist focuses on using music to help people with their emotional, physical, social and cognitive (thinking) needs. Thus a music therapist focuses on therapy goals rather than teaching goals.
Often the activity being done by a music therapist or music teacher can look the same. For example, both can appear to teach a person to play 3 Little Birds by Bob Marley on the guitar. The music teacher will focus on teaching the person to may a song properly – with a steady beat, the right chords, the right riff etc. However, the music therapist will focus on using the song to enable the person to play it and get a sense of satisfaction (emotional goal) or being able to play it for a group of people (social goal). The music therapist will use techniques such as simplifying chords and strumming patterns, if needed, as the main aim is to have the person play a basic version of the song rather than learn proper musical techniques.
So, same song but different approaches!
Should I get a music therapist or a music teacher for neurodiverse children?
Music therapy is a Masters degree in Australia. Therefore, music therapists have a Bachelor’s degree level of musical skills. Thus, for neurodiverse children and young people, it can be helpful to work with a music therapist rather than a music teacher as the music therapist can use their musical and therapeutic skills to assist the child or young person develop both musically and therapeutically.
Feel Better Music Therapy 