I believe that any group activity that emphasizes self-other interaction can contribute to increasing social-emotional capacities, such as empathy, but that musical group interaction may be substantially more effective in doing so.
This may be due to the many mental, social, and emotional skills specifically required for playing music together, and which appear to also be necessary for empathic behavior. It is almost as if the purpose of music making is to train us to become more empathic.
by Tal-Chen Rabinowitch is a doctoral student at the Centre for Music and Science at the University of Cambridge.
