DSTV show on how the brain processes music - in 42 minutes!

Riaan-Combrink

Hi guys.

Just saw that DSTV's National Geographic channel will feature 'My Musical Brain' on Channel 260 at noon today - probably with a repeat later. Neuro-scientists and musicians examine why music is so important to humans.

PS: On same channel at the moment is a feature on the Stone's free concert on Copacabana Beach to 1,5 million. Mostly featuring on the technical aspects of making such a huge concert work- good stuff.

Anyway, back to the box!

majestikc

Missed it, hopefully they repeat.

I did read a good book called "This is your brain on music" though, if you found the show interesting you should definitely read that book.

BMU

Is that the one where they stick Sting in an MRI and play him muzak? ? It was interesting but they didn't really get to any conclusions as I recall. I think the science of imaging and understanding the brain is still in its baby steps.

The one thing I remember is they found good muso's brains are more integrated, a lot more communication between the two brain hemispheres while playing/composing, compared to amateurs. Which makes a lot of sense to me. A pro can be creative while thinking about chord structure, what mode he's in and where he wants to go, all the while also playing perfectly in time... and stuff.

majestikc

Yes, in that book I read they discovered that when your seriously playing music, say a piano, if your reading the notation and playing etc so many areas of your brain are working separately but all together, such as the part of the brain that handles sight,the part that handles writing and language, the part that handles rhythm, the part that handles pitch and melody, the part that controls your arms and your legs, the part that handles memory and prediction etc etc. They discovered that musicians have over developed sections and connections in the brain to help handle all those inputs at once.

[deleted]

Anyone else an Oliver Sacks fan? Have any of you read his Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain? (On my To-Read list, but haven't got around to it yet, unfortunately...)

Riaan-Combrink

BMU wrote: Is that the one where they stick Sting in an MRI and play him muzak? ? It was interesting but they didn't really get to any conclusions as I recall. I think the science of imaging and understanding the brain is still in its baby steps.

The one thing I remember is they found good muso's brains are more integrated, a lot more communication between the two brain hemispheres while playing/composing, compared to amateurs. Which makes a lot of sense to me. A pro can be creative while thinking about chord structure, what mode he's in and where he wants to go, all the while also playing perfectly in time... and stuff.

Exactly that one. And I understood the main conclusion to be the one that you mentioned above.

But what was also interesting is that Sting's brain showed no different reaction to jazz, rock or his own songs; but only to all of those and muzak. Sting said that fit his own intuitive view that he does not distinguish between genres, but only 'good music and muzak'. What I found most interesting, was Sting then terminating the briefing they gave him on the findings prematurely. He suddenly became anxious at looking at it too scientifically. For him there is a major intuitive, mystical component to composition, and understanding it scientifically may have blocked him creatively (so he bailed)/

I also found it interesting that he hates composing (describing it as work), but that his passion was in the performance. I would have thought that for him it was the other way around.

All in all,l quite interesting.

The Sacks sounds interesting - will follow up.