Neuroscience of music

Subject: Neuroscience of music
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 02:09 PM

To Tug Hearts, Music First Must Tickle the Neurons: a long (4-screen) article in the NY Times on research into the relationship between the structure of music (such as variation in the length of notes as performed, as opposed to written) and emotional response to music.

"The results [of such research] are contributing to a greater understanding of how the brain works and of the importance of music in human development, communication and cognition, and even as a potential therapeutic tool."

Accompanied by an online quiz (based on research by Daniel Levitin, director of the laboratory for music perception, cognition and expertise at McGill University), and research-related videos.

Paul Simon, Roseanne Cash, and Yo Yo Ma are key interviewees.

Interesting reading.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Neuroscience of music
From: michaelr
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 02:17 PM

This is a fascinating area. Here's a link to an article about Mickey Hart's foray into the healing power of music. There's a movie out now, "The Music Never Stopped", based on an essay by Oliver Sacks, that deals with this.

Subject: RE: Neuroscience of music
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 07:05 PM

Wonderful program on CBC last month featured the work of Levitin, Petr Janata and Laura Trainor. A vast and fascinating field of study.

Subject: RE: Neuroscience of music
From: Edain
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 07:52 PM

Here is another neat little trick with regards to music and the brain. This time based on the pentatonic scale.

Subject: RE: Neuroscience of music
From: GUEST,aimhrialta
Date: 18 Apr 11 - 11:02 PM

Daniel Levetin has a book out called "This is your brain on music". Is quite interesting

Subject: RE: Neuroscience of music
From: GUEST,highlandman at work
Date: 19 Apr 11 - 03:21 PM

There was a book published in the late sixties, I think, by Dr. Carl Seashore. Called "The Psychology of Music." It was the defining work in the field for a long time.
Seashore also created a sort of musical aptitude test. It was popular to administer this test to elementary school students back in my day. The band director came around and gave us the test as a class. I really thought it would be cool to learn an instrument. Trumpet would have been nice. I was pretty well demolished when they told me the only instrument I would ever play would be, maybe, drums.
I went on to ignore both the organized school band and the test results, and never gave the test another thought, until many years after leaving school I dug up some old papers: there in black and white was the official assessment of my musical potential.
In the meantime I had gone on to learn not only voice, but various guitars, piano, organ, a wind instrument or two (later adding bagpipes), plus directing and composing. The only instrument I've tried, repeatedly, to play with but dismal results?
Drums.
Thank you Dr. Seashore.
-Glenn