Music therapy education is unique in that it includes academic coursework, practicum, and internship. Due to the gap in the literature regarding students’ satisfaction, this is an important topic that must be assessed to improve future music therapy education. The purpose of this exploratory survey study was to investigate the educational satisfaction of final year undergraduate music therapy students, music therapy students who have finished undergraduate coursework but not started internship or are in a master’s equivalency music therapy program one or two semesters immediately before internship in the United States of America. The aspects of students’ satisfaction studied include academic experiences (e.g., coursework, practicum, internship), interactions with faculty/supervisors, and available resources (e.g., information, financial aid, availability of instruments). Findings showed that students were satisfied with their university experience, especially with the diverse client experiences and clinical work-related coursework. The largest concerns were excessive non-music therapy related courses, limited practicum supervision, and overabundance of outside work which led to students feeling overwhelmed. As the COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the level of participation and respondents’ responses, I will use this study as a baseline by which to compare the results of a future replication study. Educators may be able to use the findings when creating or making changes to educational policies, which may lead to higher students’ satisfaction.

Guitar is a primary clinical instrument for many music therapists; however, minimal research focuses on effective guitar teaching methods (GTMs) in music therapy education. The purpose of this integrative review was to synthesize and critically evaluate the existing literature on GTMs to develop recommendations for music therapy guitar education. The research questions included: (a) What are the characteristics (i.e. participants, study design, teaching method, course type, dosage) of studies using GTMs in music therapy education and training? (b) What are the measures, outcomes, and de/limitations from GTMs studies in music therapy education? Three studies met the criteria. These studies included GTMs of behavioral contracting, audio and video modeling, and learning music “by ear.” Studies indicated that (a) playing “by ear” may improve student musicianship, (b) experienced instructor modeling improves learning, (c) evaluation could include accuracy behavioral markers, and (d) experiential and social learning benefit students in introductory guitar courses. Implications for music therapy education and training and recommendations for further research are discussed.