©Arlene R. Taylor PhD
Prioritizing Division | Envisioning Division |
This division is sometimes referred to as the mathematical division, although both frontal modes are involved with math (e.g., the left frontal division with algebra, arithmetic, statistics, and part of calculus; the right frontal division with geometry, trigonometry, and parts of calculus). Individuals with an energy advantage in this division may prefer mathematical music (e.g., counterpoint, music of the classical masters). Functions of this division help one to:
| This division is musically artistic and innovative, enjoys the big picture in music and is willing to adapt to changes in musical liturgy, innovate, and embrace new musical forms. Individuals with an energy advantage in this division may enjoy music that departs from traditional rules (e.g., dissonance, irregular rhythms). Functions of this division help one to:
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Maintaining Division | Harmonizing Division |
This division is both developed and called upon during the formal study of music, assisting individuals to understand the building blocks of music (e.g., the form of music including chord structure and time signatures). Individuals with an energy advantage in this division may prefer music that is traditional and familiar. Functions of this division help one to:
| This division is thought to be the home of native musical ability, so-called. Individuals with an energy advantage in this division may prefer relational, emotional, and spiritual music such as gospel songs, romantic music, and music that tells a story (e.g., country and western, blues); may enjoy rhythm, liking to tap a foot or finger to rhythmic music. Functions of this division help one to:
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Growing up, you may have heard that if something wasn’t difficult to accomplish it probably wasn’t worth doing. That belief is not holding up under the scrutiny of current brain-function information. In fact, the opposite may be true. There is a huge difference between having learned to do something well and doing it energy efficiently. It is the difference between the perception that you’re working energy-efficiently versus working very hard to accomplish a given task. This means that some musical activities will require a great deal of energy to accomplish. Others may be accomplished with minimum expenditures of energy. Understanding the key characteristics of each division in relation to music may help to reduce tension and misunderstanding as well as enhance relationships both personal and professional.
Following are examples of potential musical contributions of each cerebral division.
Prioritizing Division
| Envisioning Division
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Maintaining Division
| Envisioning Division
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Sound requires the expenditure of energy. Energy only comes out of a musical instrument when energy goes into it. When you listen to a violin being played, you are hearing energy in the violinist’s muscles transformed into sound. Only about 1% of the energy put into an instrument comes out as sound.
Acoustic power is measured in watts and every instrument has a maximum power output. For example, a violin, flute or clarinet puts out about 1/20 of a watt at its loudest; a tuba puts out 1/5 of a watt; a trumpet, 1/3 of a watt; and a typical piano, almost ½ of a watt. Other instruments put out more such as the trombone at 6 watts, cymbals at 10 watts, and a bass drum at 25 watts.
Based on your brain’s innate energy advantage you may find specific musical activities easier or more challenging to master, and more energy-efficient or energy-intensive. While the undamaged brain can probably learn to do most musical activities at some level, it is prudent to capitalize on those aspects that are energy-efficient for your brain.
It is also important to recognize that it generally requires the development of skills in a given musical activity for one’s potential abilities to be realized and demonstrated. Individuals with a similar brain lead may still have varying potential abilities within those functions. This may be due to Genetics or Epigenetics. Some individuals possess and express an especial giftedness that is sometimes referred to as virtuosity.
Your brain is the most complex structure in the universe with potentially as many interconnections as there are atoms in the universe. The way in which it works largely determines your quality of life including your level of health, accomplishments, and long-term success. As unique as your individual thumbprint, your brain creates your world, perceptions, beliefs, reactions, responses, and behaviors.
The brain, along with the body, makes up what is commonly referred to as the mind; that vast electrical-chemical-psychosomatic network that may be one of the last great frontiers for exploration. There is a subconscious mind and a conscious mind. This is really another way of saying that while you are paying attention to one idea or event in our conscious awareness, a great many other things are going on simultaneously outside your conscious awareness.
In all aspects of music perception, several portions of the brain come into play. In adulthood, the brain weights 3-4 pounds and contains 100 billion neurons, each of which functions as a sophisticated computer. Ounce for ounce, it is the 3rd most consumptive of energy in the body after the heart and lungs. Approximately 20% of the blood flow and oxygen go to the brain, and the brain consumes 22% of one’s total caloric intake.
Development
The human brain begins to develop very soon after conception. Studies by Dr. Tomatis of France have shown that a great deal of learning can take place during gestation. By the 5th month of gestation the fetus can recognize melodies it has heard before, can recognize voices, and experience emotions. Neonates (birth to 30 days) turn toward musical sounds. Following are examples correlated with age.
Multiple Brain Layers
The human brain actually consists of several interconnecting brains, sometimes described with differing labels. Michael Gurian, author of Boys and Girls Learn Differently, refers to these brains as layers, as do some others. Each layer is known for distinct functions, though all functional systems constantly interact. These brain layers can be compared to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears in a vehicle.
Living life in its fullness requires the ability to integrate the functions of these brains smoothly, accurately, and efficiently. It also requires integration of the four natural divisions of the cerebrum (e.g., a lack of integration has been associated with Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID).
NOTE: Music is thought to enter the body through the hypothalamus, a portion of the emotional brain layer that receives stimuli related to emotions, sensations, and feelings. Music can bypass the thinking brain layer, the portion of the brain that involves reason, decision-making, and conscious thought. Human beings apparently do not decide or choose consciously the effects that music has on the brain and body. This occurs involuntarily.
Musically, the reptilian layer contributes functions to accomplish a variety of musical activities, such as:
Musically, functions in the neocortex:
Left Hemisphere
Typically, the left hemisphere is concerned with modeling relations between events across time. In its role as a temporal sequencer, the left hemisphere specializes in not just the grammatical transformations of language, but also trains of analytical thinking, successions of complex physical movements, and the perception and generation of rhythmic patterns. It decodes rhythmic patterns more easily than does the right.
The left hemisphere seems particularly important for so-called fast acoustic processing, which would tell a listener whether, for example, a note was being bowed on a violin, or plucked on a guitar, struck on a keyboard, or blown on a woodwind.
Right Hemisphere
The right hemisphere favors relations between simultaneously occurring events. It is expert at modeling spatial relations, body position, and the relations among concurrent sounds, including musical chords. These right-brained skills focus on assembling pieces into an instantaneous whole. The right hemisphere takes over in slow acoustic processing, appreciating the notes following the initial attack note.
Analytical functions that subserve language and that are housed in the left hemisphere are utilized in performing and writing music. Studies show that professional musicians have acquired additional left-hemisphere skills for analyzing melody as compared to amateurs or nonmusicians. The right hemisphere of the brain is still active, but the left hemisphere is bolstered almost to the point of analytical dominance. Professional musicians also tend to have superior memory for melody recognition due to an increased mental library. They don’t do any better than nonmusician listeners, however, when presented with melodies from unfamiliar musical traditions.
Cognition
Has science identified a music center in the brain devoted strictly to music cognition? According to Dr. Mark Jude Tramo, a neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School, the answer is no. His studies have led him to believe that all neural structures that participate in the musical experience are players in other forms of cognition as well. For example, a region called the left planum temporale, which is critical for perfect pitch, is also involved in language processing. And though the right hemisphere of the brain traditionally has been considered the music hemisphere, recent neuroimaging studies from his and other laboratories reveal a more subtle interplay between the left and right halves of the brain in the course of a musical experience.
A study by researchers at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, has suggested that recalling that melody is accomplished through the rostromedial prefrontal cortex. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, which detects the part of the brain active in response to specific stimuli, they found that the ability to recognize music is contained in a centrally located area just behind the forehead. However, the brains of each of the subjects tracked the sounds in a slightly different way each time the music was played. This may be the reason the same music, in different times, may prompt different emotions.
Downshifting and Music
Metaphorically compare the three functional brain layers to a vehicle with an automatic transmission. When the going gets tough the transmission automatically moves to a lower gear to help you get through. A similar situation can occur in the brain. This helps to explain why children who experience chronic or severe short-term stress can regress and begin to exhibit survival behaviors related to the action brain. This phenomenon is not limited to children. It can happen to humans of any age.
In situations of threat, trauma, crisis, or any type of fear (e.g., death of a family member, severe illness/hospitalization, excessive adapting) the brain tends to downshift and access responses/reactions that are perceived to be safer. Frequent or prolonged downshifting of the brain may accelerate the aging process. When downshifted you may:
Learn to recognize symptoms of downshifting quickly and when it occurs, get back up to 3rd gear as quickly as possible. A brain that has downshifted may exhibit diminished capability temporarily for some of the functions related to music that reside in the thinking brain layer. This can interfere with creativity, innovation, decision-making, composition, arranging, performing, learning, and management of stress/emotions/feelings, to name just a few
Knowing this you can try to minimize stress whenever possible during musical lessons, in practice sessions, as well as performance situations. For example, try to avoid the use of why questions that tend to be perceived as stressful and that can trigger downshifting. Instead, try asking:
PET Scan studies have shown the positive benefits to the brain that can accrue through the study of music. In one such study, an individual without any special musical training had his neuronal activity recorded while he listened to a selection of symphonic music. Increased activity was shown in the right temporal lobe (see #1).
Then the procedure was repeated with a trained musician. There was increased activity in the right temporal lobe (involved in the processing of nonspeech sounds), but increased activity was noted throughout the cerebrum, as well (see #2).
Increased activity showed in the left temporal lobe, involved with processing the form of music (e.g., chord structure, recognizing signs that represent sounds, time signatures, measures). The left frontal lobe showed increased activity in which the musical experience was being analyzed. And there was increased activity in the right frontal lobe as the musician mentally pictured instruments he identified by their sound.
More than 300 years ago Francois Couperin, the French composer, declared that by the age of six or seven children should begin studying instruments. No wonder! Taking music lessons may be one of the best strategies for building competencies throughout the cerebrum. In the process, you may age-proof your brain, as well!
Differences have been identified between musicians and nonmusicians, between amateurs and virtuosi. Sometimes superior musical neurology shows itself as an excruciating sensitivity to sound (e.g., Mozart, Mendelssohn, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Handel).
Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), neuroscientists studied violinists and found that they could hear the music simply by thinking about it, a skill amateurs in the study were unable to match.
The brains of eight violinists with German orchestras and eight amateurs were analyzed as they silently tapped out the first sixteen bars of Mozart’s violin concerto in G major. The professionals showed significant activity in the part of their brains that controlled hearing. In a second experiment, the violinists were asked to imagine playing the concerto without moving their fingers. Brain scans showed that the professionals were hearing the music in their heads.
In his book entitled Music, the Brain, and Ecstasy, author Jourdain provides an interesting profile of musicians as compared to nonmusicians. Characteristics of the classical musician include a strong superego that pushes them toward and through required practice. Other characteristics include:
There are also marked differences between amateur musicians and virtuosi in terms of approach to musical activities, including practice and memorization. Refer to summary table that follows.
Virtuosi • Tend to concentrate on fragments, seldom playing the entire piece. They correct wrong notes by playing them in the context of a larger phrase. • Lean toward utilizing auditory imagery to help them nurture deeper relations (as opposed to note-perfect playing). • Understand the strong correlation between quality of performance and amount of practice, and tend to practice more and in the “right way.” • Tend to perceive large patterns, complex themes, musical contours, and subtle nuances. • May memorize complicated works quickly by abstracting a small number of intertwined patterns, reducing passages from many notes to only a few musical devices. | Amateurs • Tend to play long passages straight through. They stop to repeat faulty notes several times when they encounter them in the passage. • Lean toward a “typist mentality” and direct attention to correctness of individual notes. • Tend to practice less (although additional practice may have little effect on overall virtuosity based on other factors) and overemphasize certain aspects of playing and neglect others. • Tend to listen more “simply,” and miss some of the depth. • May have difficulty memorizing complicated works quickly because of a lack of the structural understanding of the music. |
Much of what we now know about the brain and gender differences is the result of a collective body of data that derive from a variety of research modalities. These include surveys, questionnaires, direct observations, physical measurements, autopsies, double-blind studies, and electronic testing devices that permit researchers to study brain function while the individual is alive.
In general, the left cerebral hemisphere is more developed at birth in females. This gives girls an advantage in preschool, kindergarten, and elementary grades for subjects that primarily utilize the left side of the brain.
The right cerebral hemisphere is more developed at birth in males. This means that boys typically find subjects that require use of the left hemisphere more of a challenge in a typical elementary-school curriculum, but they tend to excel later on when subjects are added that utilize the right side of the brain (unless they’ve already dropped out of school).
The two cerebral hemispheres are connected by several neuronal-axon bridges. The largest and most well-studied is the Corpus Callosum (e.g., 80-250 million axons). Another is the Anterior Commissure. These connecting bridges allow the right and left hemispheres to share information with each other and support each other’s functions as needed. The two cerebral hemispheres keep up a continuous conversation, if you will, via these bridges.
Based on gender, studies have shown differences in the size of the Anterior Commissure (e.g., consistently larger in the female brain) and the Corpus Callosum (e.g., typically larger in the female brain but controversy exists about the magnitude of those differences).
More connectors between the hemispheres in the female brain contribute to a generalized and empathizing style of functioning whereby both cerebral hemispheres continually work in together. Fewer connectors in the male brain give rise to a more lateralized and systemizing style of thinking.
Female brains are somewhat smaller and lighter. They are more generalized in processing style and require more energy to run (e.g., second for second they utilize more oxygen, glucose, and micronutrients). Female brains tend to be more collegial and relational.
Male brains tend to be somewhat larger and heavier. They are more lateralized in processing style. That is, part of the brain can be more energy-efficient for selected tasks (e.g., one part is working while others are idling). Because their brains tend to be more lateralized they are more energy efficient second for second. In addition, they tend to be more goal-oriented and hierarchical. Each cerebral hemisphere operates more independently. The disadvantage is that the male brain is at higher risk for conditions that are exacerbated by reduced hemispheric coordination such as dyslexia and hyperactivity.
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Males and females may approach the study of music and/or performance differently based on gender uniqueness in terms of brain function. For example, in general the male brain is more lateralized, goal-oriented, instrumental, and compartmentalized. Males may be more single-minded about pursuing the study of music, setting goals for musical accomplishments, and preparing for one specific performance. With a more lateralized and goal-oriented brain, males may find it easier to focus for longer periods of time (e.g., a 90-minute lesson, a 2-hour practice session, several hours consecutively devoted to composing or arranging, preparing one specific performance).
Typically the female brain is more generalized, expressive, collegial, and at least equally concerned about the quality of the experience on the way to the goal as compared to pursuing the actual goal. With a more generalized and collegial brain, females may find it more of a challenge to focus in the way that is expected of and that works for the male brain. Females tend to be more concerned about the quality of the journey on the way to the goal. They may want more variety and may find it more of a challenge to prepare for one specific performance.
Females • Female musicians may have more hesitancy about leaving family and friends behind to “go on the road” and may try to take everyone along. They may also take more breaks from their career path to devote time to family. • Females tend to concentrate better and practice or perform more easily in an environment with fewer distractions. This could mean, for example, that can find it more of a challenge to focus in on the goal and concentrate during practice or performance situations when the environment contains distractions (e.g., extraneous sounds). | Males • Male musicians may have less hesitancy about leaving family and friends behind to “go on the road” and follow their dreams, leaving partner/children at home. • Typically, the male brain is able to focus in on the goal and concentrate more easily during practice or performance situations when the environment contains some distractions (e.g., extraneous sounds). |
These differences can be challenging in cross-gender situations (e.g., male teacher with female student or female teacher with male student). The way in which the teacher structures the lesson time and interacts with the student’s brain (based on male or female brain) can have a huge impact on the student’s musical success. A male student may be able to goal-orientedly plow solidly on during a two-hour lesson with minimal breaks. A female student may need more breaks in which to chat about the impact of the music on her life and/or connect personally with the teacher.
A difference in terms of appreciation of humor can impact situations involving cross-gender or mixed-group activities, such as practice sessions or performance situations. For example:
Females • Females tend to find jokes less funny overall and may chuckle rather than laugh outright. They tend to be less amused by what they perceive as poor jokes but tend to rate jokes defined as very funny even higher than their male counterparts do. • Females tend to accept teasing more playfully. • Extroverted females are more likely to appreciate orectic humor (e.g., slapstick, laughing as the expense of other people’s misfortune such as someone slipping on a banana peel, racial/cultural/smutty jokes). | Males • Males to find jokes funnier, generally give most jokes a higher rating, and are more likely to laugh harder at them. Males tend to try harder to be funny and actually may be five times funnier (as compared to females). • Males are more likely to respond to teasing with aggression. • Males are more likely to appreciate orectic humor (e.g., slapstick, laughing as the expense of other people’s misfortune such as someone slipping on a banana peel, racial/cultural/smutty jokes). |
Researchers at the Dartmouth’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience studied the brains of musicians as they listened to original music. The research subjects had studied music for at least 12 years. The functional MRI tracked which parts of the brain were active as the subjects listened to music and tried to pick out specific tones and detect notes played by a flute-like instrument (as separate from a clarinet).
A portion of the brain known as the rostromedial prefrontal cortex in the cerebrum appears to be involved in one’s ability to remember music and recall a melody. This part of the brain can even identify a wrong note in the midst of a familiar tune.
Interestingly enough, the researchers reported that the brains of each of the subjects tracked the sounds in a slightly different way each time the music was played. This may be the reason the same music, at different times or in differing situations, may trigger different emotions.
Each cerebral division manages functions that have application to musical activities, although specific functions may be developed and/or located somewhat differently in individual brains. You can develop and utilize functions from all four cerebral modes by choice, although the way in which you approach music and the amount of energy you expend will differ based on your innate giftedness (brain lead). Following are examples of functional characteristics of each cerebral division and their potential application to music.
Left Frontal Lobe The Left Frontal Lobe is sometimes called the mathematical mode, although both frontal modes are involved with math (e.g., the Left Frontal Lobe with algebra, arithmetic, statistics, and part of calculus; the Right Frontal Lobe with geometry, trigonometry, and parts of calculus). Individuals with a preference for using this mode may prefer mathematical music (e.g., counterpoint, music of the classical masters). Functions of the Left Frontal Lobe help one to:
| Right Frontal Lobe The Right Frontal Lobe is the musically artistic mode. It enjoys the big picture in music and is willing to adapt to changes in musical liturgy, to innovate, and embrace new musical forms. Individuals with a preference for using this mode may enjoy music that departs from traditional rules (e.g., dissonance, irregular rhythms). Functions of the Right Frontal Lobe help one to:
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Left Posterior Lobes These lobes are both developed and called upon during the formal study of music. This mode helps us to understand the building blocks of music (e.g., the form of music including chord structure and time signatures). Individuals with a preference for using the left posterior loves may prefer music that is traditional and familiar. Functions of this mode help one to:
| Right Posterior Lobes These lobes are the home of nativemusical ability, so-called. This mode loves rhythm (motivates one to tap a foot or finger to rhythmic music). Individuals with a preference for using the right posterior lobes may prefer relational, emotional, and spiritual music such as gospel songs, romantic music, and music that tells a story (e.g., country and western, blues). Functions of this mode help one to:
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Growing up, you may have heard that if something wasn’t difficult to accomplish it probably wasn’t worth doing. That belief is not holding up under the scrutiny of current brain-function research. In fact, the opposite may be true. There is a huge difference between having learned to do something well and doing it energy efficiently. It is the difference between the perception that you’re playing versus working very hard to accomplish a given task. This means that some musical tasks/activities will take more energy to accomplish. Others may be accomplished with minimum expenditures of energy.
Understanding the key characteristics of each thinking style, and the way each interacts with the environment, can help to reduce tension and misunderstanding as well as enhance all your relationships both personal and professional. Indeed, many arguments simply reflect a difference in perspective based on brain lead and thinking style. These differing perspectives are often further complicated or exaggerated by differences in gender, sensory system preference, E:I ratio, self-esteem levels, education, experience, and expectations just to name a few.
Left Frontal Lobe
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It requires energy expenditures to generate sound. Energy only comes out of a musical instrument when energy goes into it. When you listen to a violin being played, you are hearing energy in the violinist’s muscles transformed into sound. Only about 1% of the energy put into an instrument comes out as sound.
Acoustic power is measured in watts and every instrument has a maximum power output. For example, a violin, flute or clarinet puts out about 1/20 of a watt at its loudest; a tuba puts out 1/5 of a watt; a trumpet, 1/3 of a watt; and a typical piano, almost ½ of a watt. Other instruments put out more such as the trombone at 6 watts, cymbals at 10 watts, and a bass drum at 25 watts.
Based on your giftedness you may find specific musical activities easier or more challenging to master, and more energy-efficient or energy-intensive. While the undamaged brain can probably learn to do most musical activities at some level, it is prudent to capitalize on those aspects that are energy-efficient for one’s brain.
It is also important to recognize that it generally requires the development of skills in a given musical activity for one’s potential abilities to be realized and demonstrated. Individuals with a similar brain lead may still have varying potential abilities within those functions. Some possess and express an especial giftedness that is sometimes referred to as virtuosity.
Extroverts 16% * | 68% A 70% | Introverts 16% |
| Extraverts tend to be able to perform in situations that could overwhelm or that would be difficult (if not impossible) for more introverted brains. They are often able to perform better under pressure (e.g., exams, conflict, negotiations, performance). | Introverts may perform less well under pressure (e.g., exams, conflict, performance) or even shut down to some degree. | |
| Metaphoric calluses, as it were, protect the brain from being readily hurt or bested in highly stimulating, competitive, or combative situations. | Brain has no protective metaphoric callus. May try to shut out additional input in order to process the huge amount of data already inputted. | |
| Tend to be outer-directed. Constantly interact with the environment to obtain the stimulation the brain craves in order to feel alive/alert. | Tend to be inner-directed. Can retreat inward almost automatically to evaluate, ponder, and reflect on the data to gain new understanding. | |
| • Tend to have an external focus and become energized by doing something in their outer world. Energy can be drained in an unstimulating environment. May have difficulty setting aside time to rest/reflect/relax. | • Tend to have an internal focus and are energized by their internal world. Energy can be drained in large groups, noisy situations, or highly stimulating or competitive environments. It may take longer to recharge energy levels. | |
| Tend to be less responsive to punishment. They are likely to continue acting in the face of frustration, and may take longer to form conditioned reflexes. | Tend to be more sensitive to punishment and negativity. They form conditioned reflexes more easily (e.g., are easier to train). | |
| Because of their constant search for stimulation and variety, extroverts may be at higher risk for delinquency. | Because introversion is less rewarded in our society, introverts may be at higher risk for depression. |
Extroverts tend to hear sounds as softer than they really are (the action brain reduces the volume as sound data enter the brain) so are more likely to want to crank up the volume. They tend to want variety and can become quickly bored with routine and sameness as in practice and rehearsal. They may prefer performing with or touring with a musical group to obtain additional stimulation.
Being more outer-directed, extroverts may experience lower levels of anxiety prior to or during an actual performance. In addition, if the performance doesn’t meet their expectations they may look to the environment to identify contributing factors rather than focus on what they could do differently in the future.
Males who are extroverted may find it easier to concentrate in both practice and performance situations when the environment contains some distraction.
Females may find it more difficult to concentrate unless the practice and/or performance environment is very quiet.
At the opposite end of the continuum, introverts tend to hear sounds louder than they really are (the action brain amplifies the volume as sound data enter the brain). Consequently, they are more likely to want to turn down the volume or wear earplugs to reduce the intensity of the sound.
Being more inner-directed, introverts may experience higher levels of anxiety prior to and/or during an actual performance, finding the event somewhat more stressful. They may over process their performance, pondering the musical nuances, applications, and outcomes. If the performance doesn’t meet their expectations they are more likely to blame themselves, assuming personal responsibility for everything whether or not that is the case. They may fail to look for a balance in identifying contributing factors outside their immediate control or that might be adjusted for in the future. This can lead to discouragement or even depression.
Ambiverts tend to hear sounds at a relatively unaltered level (e.g., the brain neither significantly reduces nor amplifies sensory data as they enter the brain). They typically exhibit milder characteristics of compared to those seen at the extremes of extroversion and Introversion.
It should come as no surprise that mastering one instrument, as opposed to another, may require varying lengths of time based on the student. It may also vary depending on the relative ease or difficulty of the specific instrument itself. Learning to play a keyboard or the piano may be easier for adults (than some other instruments) because they find it less difficult to create a single “tone,” as compared with woodwind or stringed instruments.
According to the American Music Conference, the range of difficulty in instruments for an adult to pick up can be ranked from easiest to most difficult. Examples follow.
| Easiest | Fairly Easy | Average | Difficult | Most Difficult |
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Testing modalities such as PET Scans and MRI/fMRI have shown the general distribution of selected functions within a given brain. Brain scans are expensive and utilized primarily for research and for diagnosis of injury/disease. This makes it somewhat difficult to generalize about the location of musical capacities within any given brain. There appears to be a wide variation among individuals, especially since each brain is as unique as the person’s thumbprint. The precise location of a function within a cerebral division may depend on one’s innate giftedness, the age of the individual when the study of music was initiated, and other factors, such as:
Your perception of music, as well as the way in which you approach its study, performance, and appreciation is impacted by nature and nurture, along with your thoughts, choices, experiences, beliefs, maturity, and acquired wisdom. Nature refers to your innate giftedness. Nurture refers to the environmental actions, expectations, and socialization that have shaped nature. Musical perception is not relegated to the hearing, only.
In a 2001 study, researchers from the University of Washington found that people who were hearing impaired had brain activity in the auditory cortex, suggesting their brains rewire themselves to process sound vibrations. According to Dean Shibata, these individuals enjoyed music and were able to sense melody and rhythm, often holding a balloon in their fingers to amplify the vibrations. “It’s not clear what they can perceive, but it’s clear that they enjoy it,” Shibata explained.
The normal human brain is a musical brain. According to Dr. Norman Weinberger (University of California at Irvine), studies show that the brain is calculating complex musical relationships, setting up musical expectations, and detecting evaluations of these expectations even if the brain’s owner doesn’t know it, has done nothing consciously, has put forth no effort, and isn’t aware that this is going on inside his/her head. This implies that most human beings are musical and posses the brain function to “do” music at some level, although not everyone has developed the skills that permit one’s potential musical abilities to be realized and demonstrated, and not everyone is or can become a virtuoso.
Certainly, both listening to and performing music impact the brain. Knowing this, it behooves everyone to explore the study of music. It can be more important than you might think! It’s rarely too late to begin studying music, either, although the earlier in life one starts the better. It will take work.
Beethoven reportedly said, “People make a mistake who think that my art comes easily to me.” And Stravinsky commented, “The force (of inspiration) is brought into action by an effort and that effort is work.” Musical skills can only be developed through decision, choice, and exercise. Many who have studied music however, believe that it was more than worth the work.
More than 300 years ago Francois Couperin (the French composer) declared that by the age of 6 or 7, children should begin studying instruments. He was perhaps ahead of his time! Research has shown that the study of music can be advantageous to us as human beings. Following are six positive-impact reasons to study music:
Ursula Le Guin put it this way, Music and thinking are so much alike. In fact you could say that music is another way of thinking, or maybe thinking is another kind of music. Research shows that the study of music can help to develop the brain, and the earlier we begin, the better (although it is rarely too late to begin)! Music can make our minds more capable, temporarily as well as long-term. Here are some examples.
• Subjects who have just listened to Mozart tend to do better on some types of reasoning tests when compared to those who heard no music at all, or who listened to unchallenging popular music.
• One study found absolute pitch in 95% of those who started music study at age 4 or younger, but in only 5% of those who began between ages 12-14. The key to absolute pitch (versus relative pitch) appears to be very early training. According to Jourdain, true absolute pitch is probably unattainable after childhood.
• Brain scans show that the corpus callosum, the nerve highway connecting the two cerebral hemispheres, is 15% larger in adults who started playing the piano before the age of 8, as compared with those who started after age 8. This can impact the transfer of information between hemispheres.
• Musicians have been found to have an average of 25% more of the auditory cortex devoted to musical processing than other individuals. The largest amount of extra music area is found in the brains of those who started to play at the youngest age. A Harvard study found that professional musicians who began studying music as young children have more gray matter in certain areas of the brain than nonmusicians. This suggests that the difference is due, at least in part, to experience.
• The rigors of musical training, during a period of immense growth and development of the brain, may help to form new neural connections within the sensory motor regions that are important in the acquisition of motor skills. Playing a musical instrument alters the brain’s ability to distinguish touch input from fingers on the same hand. It stimulates the brain to create a series of topographic maps of the body’s surface, including individual and separate fingers, in the cerebral cortex. The brain can also recruit neighboring cells to become more closely connected, and thus larger areas can be devoted to specific musical tasks. Practice helps the brain cells learn to work more efficiently together, up to a point.
Note: A condition known as “focal hand dystonia” has been identified and is being studied in the brains of musicians who play the guitar, piano, oboe, flute, and clarinet, and who suffer from this syndrome. In some cases, estimated to be about 15%, long-term repetitive practice can lead to the loss of control of individual finger movements, to a greater or lesser degree. The cells that once responded mainly to input from one finger begin to respond equally to input from adjacent fingers, those that were used together over extended practice sessions. Therapies, based on the brain findings, are being developed to deal with dystonia.
• Children who received music lessons were found to do better in arithmetic than a control group without music education. Students in 7th and 8th grade classes, whose social studies curriculum involved music and other arts, showed significant increases in positive social behaviors, increases in empathy of others, higher achievement grades in history, and reduced aggressiveness. Children aged 6-9 years, who were experiencing reading difficulties showed improvements in learning new works after participating in a program involving listening to music.
• Research has shown that early musical training has a beneficial effect on intelligence. In a 1998 study, 66 children, ages 4-6, were given a Stanford-Binet intelligence test. Afterward, half the children were given a year of music instruction, while half had none. The musically trained children performed significantly better on a subsequent intelligence test than those who had no instruction.
It’s difficult to measure more than analytical musical intelligence using traditional IQ testing, however. Musical talent can more globally be assessed only as groups of skills. Laboratory tests show that skills tend toward two groupings, somewhat mimicking the general division of skills between the left and right hemispheres of the cerebrum:
• Studies by Dr. Tomatis of France have shown that by the 5th month of gestation the fetus can recognize familiar sounds including songs and melodies it has heard repeatedly (see comments below about Mozart). Babies who participate in a regular musical-stimulation program (e.g., Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Vivaldi) showed IQ increases of 27-30 points over infants not in such programs.
• Experiments have shown that music stimulates movement in the fetus, as well as in the newborn.
• There is some evidence that music can exercise basic inborn neural connections related to abstract reasoning. In one study, neurobiologist Frances Rauscher tested the reasoning ability of three-year-olds and found them sorely lacking. After three months of music lessons, they were snapping together puzzles and blocks quite adeptly. Listening to music is believed to sharpen spatial skills throughout life.
• PET Scans (Positron Emission Tomography) have shown that the study of music promotes the development of skills in all four cerebral modes. For example, in one PET Scan study, a nonmusician was asked to listen to a selection of symphonic music and the glucose metabolism in his brain was evaluated.
Increased activity was shown in the right posterior lobes of the cerebrum, the portion of the brain that is thought to be the native music center and associated with the enjoyment of music (see Scan simulation #1).
Subsequently, the experiment was repeated with a trained musician who was a performer, composer, and conductor (see Scan simulation #2)
There was increased activity in the right posterior lobes but also in the Left posterior lobes where the building blocks of music are analyzed (chord structure, meter, etc.). Increased activity showed in the Frontal Right lobe where the subject said he was mentally picturing a sheet of music along with the instruments being played, and also in the Frontal Left lobe that helps to coordinate the analytical perception of music.
The music teacher watched the child and his mother. The boy wanted music lessons. The mother was unsure. Taking the plunge the music teacher said, “Current wisdom suggests that the formal study of music is one of the fastest ways to become whole-brained, to build skills throughout the cerebrum or thinking brain” There was a pause and then he continued. “Piano lessons with an emphasis on theory, composition, and harmony are a most effective type of study. Consequently, I encourage everyone to take piano lessons for a minimum of two years.”
“But he’s only seven,” the mother said slowly. “Although he’s been begging for piano lessons since he was five!”
“The earlier in life one begins this study, the better,” the teacher responded. “I’m sure you want to give your son every advantage.”
The boy walked over to the concert grand, commanding the entire corner of the studio. Gently he caressed the keys, a look of longing on his face. “Gramps left me his piano.” The words were so soft as to be almost inaudible. “I want to play like Gramps.”
When his mother nodded her approval, the little boy ran across the room and threw himself into her arms crying, “Can I start today?” His enthusiasm was infectious. His mother nodded again and this time everyone smiled!
Some studies show that learning is enhanced when individuals listen to slow movements of baroque music while studying. There may be some differences by gender, however. Other studies have shown that males tended to score higher on IQ tests when there was some distraction (environmental sounds) during the test; females tended to score higher when there was no distraction in the environment.
• In one study, participants were asked to perform a motor task, hitting targets with a hammer, without listening to musical rhythms. When an even musical rhythm was played, the participants hammered in an even and more efficient pattern. When an uneven rhythm was played, they hammered in an irregular pattern similar to that of a person unskilled at a motor task. The researchers concluded that an even rhythm helped the individuals move more skillfully and efficiently while performing the motor tasks. Can you imagine dancing, or marching without musical accompaniment?
Note: Because of these and other studies, I encourage everyone to study music regardless of age. Piano lessons with an emphasis on theory, composition, and harmony has been shown to be a very effective type of study (e.g., piano lessons for a minimum of two years even if the students move to other instruments later on). Even if they didn’t continue with formal music study, just imagine how they would have increased their potential to transfer whole-brained skills to another area of study (refer to PET Scan simulations).
Thirty minutes of challenging mental stimulation (e.g., the study of music) is one of the two proven strategies for age-proofing the brain, and can actually retard the onset of symptoms of aging. This challenging mental stimulation can not only increase the number of dendrites (connecting fibers) on each neuron, but can also reduce the space across the synaptic gap by keeping the neuronal projections (axon and dendrites) stretched out.
Dr. Christo Pantev and colleagues (Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto) are using techniques such as EEG and MRI to observe how brain structure and function respond to musical training. If their research documents, as expected, that musical training has beneficial effects on brain function beyond that involved in musical performance, this may have implications for the education of children, for life-long strategies to preserve the fitness of the aging brain, and for rehabilitation and retraining strategies after the brain has been damaged by disease, stroke, or other injury.
The inner rhythm of our mind and body can be altered by outer rhythm. That is, our bodies will adjust to an external rhythm, whether it is the loud ticking of a clock in the same room or the beating of a drum in a parade. Faster rhythms tend to excite us and slower rhythms tend to calm us. A group of individuals can be influenced when they are all exposed to the same rhythm. A fast rhythm will energize them and move them to action; a slow rhythm can decrease their excitement and diminish their will to take action.
When individuals march in a group (e.g., a parade), there is usually some music or rhythm-sound that helps them to stay together. Cadets on a parade ground follow the auditory cadences of the drill sergeant who admonishes them, “left, right. Left, left, left. Left, right” et cetera. It can help people to “stay in step” as they pay attention and their inner rhythms come to match the external rhythms.
Certain musical forms can cause the body to change its tempo. For example, music played at 80 bpm can increase the body tempo to 80 if the body tempo was slower and decrease the body tempo if it was faster. If the music is heavily syncopated (with accents placed on the second and fourth beats) the body will increase its tempo to 160 (regular tempo of 80 plus the syncopated tempo of 80 = 160). This can cause exhaustion over time. Some individuals were found to temporarily lose a third of their muscle strength after being exposed to music that contained certain types of tempo-accent switching.
Clinical studies show that the effects of music on the human organism are profound. Music has been found to stimulate nerves within the brain (stereo music stimulates more nerves than does monaural) as well as to synchronize vibration patterns within the brain and body (e.g., neuronal fields, body rhythms). These vibration effects may actually free up or unstick tissue, thus easing the flow of information. Music can stimulate receptor molecules (metaphorical keyholes located on the surface of cells) into a dynamic state of vibration, making them more receptive to specific information substances (metaphorical keys).
• Music is able to bypass the portions of the brain where conscious thought and judgment reside, and directly influence the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) that controls breathing, heart rate, and some of the glands that secrete hormones. In fact, it is impossible to listen to music and consciously override its effects on the ANS.
• Music therapy is being used extensively in the treatment of a whole host of diseases, including migraine headaches, digestive problems, cancer, respiratory problems, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, depression, and the fear/discomfort of hospitalization (especially singing with and to patients). It is also used to counteract unpleasant side effects of treatments such as injections of medication, chemotherapy, radiation, and kidney dialysis. Studies have shown that music can:
More than 2500 years ago, the Greek philosopher Pythagoras advocated daily singing and playing of an instrument to help cleanse one from worry, sorrow, fear, and anger. He was ahead of the game! Although one person’s stressor can be another’s pleasure, music has been shown to reduce stress, and appears to help control high levels of stress hormones that can suppress immune system function.
• Experiments at St. Luke’s Hospital in Cleveland have shown that music reduces staff tension in the operating room.
• A study at Stanford University found that music can release endorphins, the brain’s own morphine. Endorphins are powerful substances that not only relieve pain, but also can induce a level of euphoria.
• When played for patients before, during or after surgery, music has been found to reduce anxiety, lessen pain, reduce the need for medication, and speed recovery. It actually reduced the level of stress hormones in the blood of patients. Selections from Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, as well as music from Mozart and Brahms were used effectively.
• Music therapy is proving especially effective in the areas of pain management, anxiety, depression, mental/emotional/physical handicaps, and neurological disorders. It is being used to reduce anxiety, stress, and depression in patients who must spend long periods of time in otherwise sterile environments (e.g., burn patients, patients who undergo organ transplants, patients with contagious diseases that require isolation). It has also been used successfully with autistic children.
In general, slow music sedates more often than fast music, strings/woodwinds are more soothing than trumpets/trombones, and music lacking the percussion of rock or the syncopation of jazz is more relaxing than music with an intrusive beat.
Pleasure resides deep in our being, but it is difficult to put a finger on exactly what it is. Some say it is the opposite of pain, although writers have spoken of pleasure so keen that it is akin to pain. Pleasure is not an absolute. It is a relative concept, and a subjective evaluation, depending on the context and the individual, because each brain is as unique as one’s thumbprint. Perhaps the sum total of who we are as individuals determines what each defines as pleasure.
• Anecdotally, individuals report that they achieve pleasure through studying music, performing, listening, or by utilizing music to enhance another activity such as exercise/dance. Some also indicate that they receive pleasure from knowing that the music they create gives pleasure to others.
• Subjective or not, pleasure begets pleasure, which enhances mood, which benefits health and well being. The key, of course, is getting on what Ornstein and Sobel refer to as the pleasure cycle, taking advantage of the many attainable pleasures when and where we can. There are many different venues to choose from. Music is one of them.
• The support of the music industry through attendance at concerts and the purchase of recordings is a type of evidence that music provides pleasure. For many, life would not be as enjoyable and fulfilling without music. Just imagine watching figure skating competitions without musical accompaniment!
Oscar Wilde, the Irish writer, was both listener and a performer. When he sat down at the piano with Chopin, Wilde reportedly said, “something happens to my mind.” After playing music by Chopin he always felt “as if I had been weeping over sins that I had never committed and mourning over tragedies that were not my own.”
As with all individuals who perform or listen to music, Oscar Wilde understood that something happens to people around music. It can touch us at deep levels and can trigger all manner of emotions. At some point in your life you may even have felt musical chills, a sensation similar to goose bumps. Some scientists speculate that musical chills may be related to the release of specific neurochemicals in the brain when it is exposed to emotions through music.
Studies have shown that happy music tends to produce a more relaxed brain, whereas sad music tends to produce a more aroused brain. Eventually, researchers hope to discover how the brain distills emotions or feelings from a melody.
Mike Ventarola, who works for a health care facility and is an online music critic, has shared an incredible story of the power of music. He wrote:
“In the health care facility where I work, there is a patient who is severely mentally challenged and who has never uttered a word in all her 38 years of life. Because her mom was both schizophrenic and abusive, protective services had to intervene. The upshot was that the daughter, I’ll call her Miss May, had been placed in various facilities throughout most of her life.
Some months ago I noted Miss May’s penchant for music. Capitalizing on that I would play music from the likes of Amethystium, Pulsar Bleu, Falling You, Sintz and Tom Aragon whenever she became agitated. Miss May would immediately calm down and make some “woo-woo” sounds.
About the same time I began to wonder if Miss May might be able to be trained to feed herself. The experts had basically agreed that this wasn’t likely feasible due to her level of retardation and kept telling me that I was probably wasting my time. In a nutshell, they had pretty much given up on her. Disliking the word “no” I plunged ahead with the experiment anyway.
It was a messy, uphill battle trying to get the spoon coordinated in her hand, not to mention a barrage of spittle, dropped food, and other messy unmentionables. I tried every technique I could think of. For example, prior to sitting with her at mealtime, I would put on some vanilla scent on my clothing to stimulate her appetite and so Miss May would be able to recognize me by smell since she had poor vision and her eyes were crossed. Each time she picked up and used a spoon I would play a song for her on the boom box just behind us. After a couple of weeks she progressively used the spoon for longer periods of time and required less of my help. As a reward, she got to listen to more songs that played longer. If she didn’t take the spoon, the music stopped.
On this particular day, as with other days before, I prepped Miss May for her meal by putting a plastic bib on her. I wrapped myself in plastic as well, in anticipation of more food spillage and spittle. Placing a plate of food in front of her, I moved to the boom box and started to play a song from the HS dance and synthpop station that I burned earlier. The music would stay on as long as she used the spoon.
As I turned around from the boom box I saw to my amazement that Miss May had picked the spoon up by herself and was actually feeding herself. She only put the spoon down to swallow and, as soon that was done, picked it back up to take another bite. All while she was eating the music was playing, and Miss May was smiling from ear to ear.
Other staff members saw what was happening and dashed off to notify the doctors and nurses. The news spread like wildfire and folks came into the dining area to see it for themselves. They applauded Miss May and she seemed to really enjoy the attention.
After she finished eating, Miss May seemed to be rocking in her chair as if trying to dance. I took her out of her seat and held on to her and just let her feel the rhythm. She moved a bit spastically but you could see she was having the time of her life. I finally had to let her sit back down to attend my next meeting. As I eased her back in the chair Miss May threw her arms around me in one of the tightest hugs I have ever received from another human being.
Miss May’s wonderful little miracle was an early Christmas gift for me that year. I’m so glad that others at the facility had a chance to witness it, also. Music is powerful. It helped change life for Miss May! Where there is life there is hope, and where there is music there is healing.”
The following observations reflect input from conversations with a variety of musicians, including composer/performer David H. Hegarty, MS and PhD studies.
Prioritizing Division Left Frontal Lobe
Envisioning Division Right Frontal Lobe
Maintaining Division Left Posterior Lobes
Harmonizing Division Right Posterior Lobes
According to Plato, the kind of music to which humans are exposed to during growing-up years determines the balance of their souls. Aristotle evidently agreed saying, “If one listens to the wrong kind of music he will become the wrong kind of person; but conversely, if he listens to the right kind of music he will tend to become the right kind of person.”
If specific types of music have a beneficial effect to the mind and body, it stands to reason that effects from other types of music may be less desirable. There are many positive aspects to music and huge benefits that can accrue from its study. That’s the good news. On the bad news side, studies have shown that some types of music can result in deleterious effects to the mind and body.
Sound vibrations acting upon and through the nervous system give shocks in rhythmical sequence to the muscles, which cause them to contract and set arms and hands, legs and feet in motion. On account of their automatic muscular reaction, many people make some movement when hearing music; for them to remain motionless would require conscious muscular restraint.
Carol Torres reports that an artificial neurosis can ensue from consistent exposure to deleterious music, which can influence the autonomic nervous system and disregulate some of the body’s rhythms. One research project, conducted by a neurologist and a physicist, divided 36 mice into 3 groups (A, B, and C) and subjected them to music as follows:
• Group A = no music (control group) • Group B = harmonic music that followed the natural laws of music • Group C = disharmonic music that did not follow the natural laws of music |
The decibel levels of music played for Groups B and C were the same, and all three groups had identical laboratory conditions except for the music differences. At the end of two months, the study was concluded and the brains from four mice in each group were dissected. Researchers found that the neurons (brain thinking cells) of mice in Group C were damaged and tangled; the neurons of mice in groups A and B were normal.
The remaining 24 mice were then trained in a maze situation for three weeks. Then they were given three weeks rest, after which they were returned to the maze to see if they could recall how to run the maze. The mice from groups A and B scored equally well in memory retention; they could recall how to run the maze. The mice from group C could not recall how to run the maze. In addition, they exhibited hyperactive, aggressive, and even cannibalistic behaviors.
A study reported by the Scripps Howard News Service found that exposure to rock music causes abnormal neuron structures in the region of the brain associated with learning and memory. Exposure to hard rock / acid rock music, regardless of gender, has been shown to inhibit the ability of some people’s brains to store the studied information correctly in the brain. Rock music was found to increase adrenalin levels in a group of students, while a slow piano instrumental had a calming effect.
In his book, Closing of the American Mind, University of Chicago Professor Allan Bloom (in the chapter on music) includes observations based on 30 years of working with students. He says that classical music is essentially harmonic as compared with rock music that is rhythmic. Harmonic music appeals more to the mind and makes its listeners more contemplative. Rhythmic music appeals more to the emotions and makes its listeners more passionate. Bloom indicates that the effect on the brain of prolonged exposure to electrical amplification of rhythmic music is similar to that of drugs.
Joseph Crow, professor at the University of Seattle, reportedly conducted a research project on the impact of rock music on the human mind. He concluded that rock, a form of music based on mathematical formulae, could condition the mind through calculated frequencies (vibrations). It is able to modify the body chemistry and make the mind susceptible to modification and indoctrination.
Usually by the age of 5 or 6 (and sometimes much earlier, as often seems to be the case with kinesthetics), children begin to exhibit a preferred sensory system. That is, the type of sensory data that tends to register most quickly and intensely in one’s brain, often referred to as one’s sensory preference. The preference may be present at birth but in those early years the brain is learning at a fast pace, using all the sensory systems in an intense way that is rarely seen in adulthood. In some cases, the sensory preference may be exhibited by the child but not observed or picked up on by the parents and teachers.
Human beings tend to feel most comfortable, affirmed, understood, nurtured, and even loved when they receive sensory stimuli in their preferred sensory system. Naturally they tend to gravitate toward, and feel most comfortable in, environments that acknowledge and reward their sensory preference. The ideal is to know one’s sensory preference and to build sufficient skills in all three systems so one can access any or all by choice, as required by the situation at hand.
A few people, perhaps 1 of every 100,000 individuals exhibit a human neurological phenomenon where there is a blending/coordinating of the senses in an unusual manner. This phenomenon known as synesthesia is more heightened in highly creative people and is associated with incredible powers of memory (perhaps due to multiple associations within the brain). Sometimes referred to as color hearing, synesthesia results when the senses become crossed and musical sound is shadowed by a colorful, formless, visual imagery, where sounds are subjectively perceived as sight (e.g., an individual may hear colors and see or taste sounds).
The five main senses are often grouped into three categories and referred to as the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic sensory systems. Large sample studies suggest that perhaps 60% of the population has a visual preference. Approximately 20% has an auditory preference and 20% has a kinesthetic preference. There are also sensory differences based on gender.
| Visual Preference – 60% | Auditory Preference – 20% | Kinesthetic Preference – 20% |
More males than females when tallied by gender Who is best at taking data in through sight? | More females than males when tallied by gender Who is best at taking data in through sound? | Equal females and males when tallied by gender Who is best at taking data in via taste, touch, smell, and body position? |
Decoding of Sensory Data
Decoding centers for the sensory systems are located in six of the eight lobes of the cerebrum, three in each hemisphere. They can receive and process up to 10 million bits of data per second: • The two occipital lobes (related to sight) • The two temporal lobes (related to sound) • The two parietal lobes (related to kinesthesia) Based on individual sensory preference, you may approach the study of music quite differently from others, and may find specific musical activities easier or more challenging to accomplish. |
Visual Preference
The two occipital lobes interpret data related to sight. Approximately 60% of the population (more males than females) has a visual preference. This sensory system helps you recognize the signs and symbols that represent musical sounds (reading music).
The occipital lobes are active when decoding visual data and during visual imaging. In combination with the frontal cortex, it enables you to maintain the image of an instrument in consciousness. Individuals with a visual preference may be inclined to memorize music by mentally seeing the notes on the page or by noticing musical patterns on the keyboard. They may find it easier to notate music legibly.
Kinesthetic Preference
The two parietal lobes interpret data related to taste, touch, position sense, physical stimuli, and odors. In combination with the frontal cortex these portions of the brain enable you to hold onto position sense (e.g., the way in which you hold a musical instrument, maintain your position on the piano or organ bench). These neurons fire when decoding kinesthetic data and during movement imagery.
This sensory system also helps you to decode vibrations that beat against the skin and/or that are felt in the limbic system. Perhaps that was what Keats had in mind when he wrote, heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter. Incidentally, odors can trigger memories faster than any other type of sensory data. The nose is one synapse away from the amygdalae in the emotional brain that routes incoming sensory information to higher centers of association in the thinking brain.
Approximately 20% of the population has a kinesthetic preference. This system helps you manage your relative position to bounded shapes such as instruments, and to sense nuances of sound, including vibrations, and perhaps musical interpretation.
Individuals with a kinesthetic preference may gravitate toward tactile memorization (sensing positions of fingers, hands, and body, and how it feels to reproduce the music). They may use musculature to represent the music, modeling important features of musical patterns by means of physical memories (e.g., tap toes, “dance it out” from head to toe).
Auditory Preference
The two temporal lobes interpret data related to sounds that are heard. Approximately 20% of the population (more females than males) has an auditory preference. This system facilitates emphasis on tone color, pitch, and dynamics. It fires when decoding sounds and during auditory imaging. In combination with your frontal cortex it allows you to decode patterns of vibrations, and enables you to sustain musical anticipations for several seconds as you await their resolution.
Individuals with an auditory preference may tend to memorize by recalling the sound of the music, the intervals between notes, volume-of-sound differences, and the distinctive tones typical of the key signature(s). They may hum along with the music, or use the body as a resonator for the music, allowing himself/herself to be played as an instrument, as it were.
Having a good ear for music really means having a good brain for music. It requires the combined efforts of the ear and the triune brain for us to hear music (the simultaneous processing of melodies, rhythms, and harmonies plus the manipulating of complex patterns of sound).
The basic mechanisms for recognizing individual sounds are hard wired into the human nervous system. These mechanisms take the cacophony of sensory stimuli reaching our ears and stimulating our skin and group them into meaningful chunks that we experience as coherent music. The groups of sound are fused together according to place in space, which forms the basis for seating similar instruments together in an orchestra. Tones that are closer in pitch are grouped together so we perceive harmony. Other tones are grouped in a manner that helps us to experience tempo and timbre.
Sound waves result from the alternate compression and decompression of air molecules. Sounds that are heard most acutely by human ears are those from sources that vibrate at frequencies between 500 and 5000 hertz (one Hz equals one cycle per second) although the entire audible range extends from 20-20,000 Hz. Speech sounds contain frequencies mainly between 1000 and 3000 Hz. The high “C,” sung by a coloratura soprano, has a dominant frequency at 1048 Hz.
The frequency of the sound vibration is known as its pitch. One musical tone can consist of 20-30 different frequencies. The greater the frequency of vibration, the higher the pitch. The greater the size or intensity of vibration, the louder the sound.
The auditory cortex helps to simplify incoming auditory data, suppressing noise, and sharpening the edges of important components. We begin to detect pitch after 13 thousandths of a second, loudness after about 50 thousandths, and timbre at around 100 thousandths of a second.
Outer Ear
The outer ear or pinna (Latin for feather) amplifies sounds by funneling vibrations into the ear canal. The ear canal, approximately 1 inch in length, conducts the airwaves to the eardrum, which resonates to boost the frequencies. In response to the faintest sound the brain can decode, the eardrum moves only the width of one hydrogen atom.
Middle Ear
The middle ear contains three tiny bones called ossicles. They mechanically move in response to the trigger of the vibrating eardrum and transmit the sound wave data to fluid in the inner ear. The middle ear is fitted with a braking system to prevent as much as 2/3 of very loud sounds from reaching the inner ear.
The braking reflex begins within 1/100 of a second of the onset of the sound, but can require up to ½ a second to achieve full force so it’s not very helpful for sudden noises such as gunshot. In addition, the brake muscles can become exhausted by long exposure to very loud sounds (e.g., construction noises, factory sounds, rock concerts).
There is some decline in the upper limit of our hearing as we age (e.g., presbyacusis), connected with a slight shrinkage in the cochleae that form part of the inner ear. Outside of that, hearing loss usually involves some type of nerve malfunction in the processing of vibrations. Prolonged exposure to loud sound is a prime culprit.
Inner Ear
The inner ear, also called the labyrinth because of its complicated series of canals, converts sound vibrations into information that can be decoded by the brain. Think of it as the concert hall of the nervous system. Both the middle and inner portions of the ear are enclosed in the hardest bone in the body.
Although both temporal lobes of the thinking brain can decode sound, the tracks divide unequally once they leave the ear. The broader path connects the ear to the opposite hemisphere, the smaller path connects to the hemisphere on the same side as the ear. This means that sounds entering the right ear are more likely to be decoded in the left temporal lobe and vice versa. In addition, each hemisphere orchestrates different functions related to sound. The left deals primarily with the identification and naming of sounds while the right is more concerned with the musical quality of sound including rhythm and melody perception.
Music has been part of human civilization for eons. It has been referred to as the universal language and is found in every society known to anthropology. No known human culture has ever lived without music. For example, ancient bone flutes have been found in France and Slovenia and they still make a beautiful sound.
Music may even be older than speech according to some researchers. For many of us our mother’s lullaby is among the first of human experiences, while a familiar song may be one of the last. “The last memories that we keep in our minds are for music,” says Christo Pantev, a neuroscientist at the University of Toronto’s Rotman Research Institute. In fact, individuals with Alzheimer’s disease often recognize songs to the end of life.
More has probably been learned about the brain during the past 200 years, and especially during the decade of the brain (1990s), than during the entire previous history of our planet. Music has been found to be a rich source of information on how the brain works. It has also been found to be of great benefit to the brain. Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture alone reportedly have 20,000 musical notes. Talk about stimulation!
Not Just in Humans
Music is not relegated to the human species. Researchers have reported that numbers of nonhuman creatures produce music. According to Dr. Gray, a professional keyboardist and artistic director of the National Musical Arts at the National Academy of Sciences, humans hold no copyright on music. A number of nonhuman creature produce music. It can be considered an art form with virtuoso performers throughout the animal kingdom.
An in-depth analyses of the songs sung by birds and humpback whales show that, even when their vocal apparatus would allow them to do otherwise, the animals converge on the same acoustic and aesthetic choices and abide by the same laws of song composition as those preferred by human musicians, and human ears, everywhere. For example, the California marsh wren may sing as many as 120 themes in a given jam session. Humpback whales, capable of vocalizing over a range of at least seven octaves, have been found to use rhythms similar to those found in human music. Their musical phrases are of similar length (to those of humans), they can sing in key, and their songs contain refrains that rhyme.
Music can impact the animal kingdom, as well. With spirited songs, hens have been found to lay more eggs and cows to give more milk!
What is Music?
Music has been the stuff of poets and performers. Of all the arts, music has the closest link to the brain and body. Its rhythms are analogous to breathing, walking, and heartbeat. Music has enormous power to communicate specific emotions, an ability that appears to reflect a built-in process beyond cultural conditioning.
Music can prompt you to feel happy, aggressive, fearful, sad, or even sexual. It can hurry you along or put you to sleep. It can tell you stories, prompt you to dance, influence the type of products you purchase in the marketplace, and promote healing. It is, in a word, powerful! But what is it?
Webster’s Dictionary defines music as the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity; an agreeable sound. There really is no stable definition of music, however, and certainly no one definition that works for everyone or every situation because musical appreciation is very subjective. It reflects one’s own experience, thoughts, and wisdom. Here is a sampling of quotations.
Music Moment…
The story is told of an encounter between Pinchas Zukerman, the brilliant violinist and conductor of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, and his father, also a violinist. The older Zukerman had suffered a stroke that had impaired his right hand. Consequently, he had ceased playing his beloved violin.
One day while visiting his father in Israel, Pinchas held up a violin and asked whether his father would like to play a favorite concerto. Puzzled, the father reminded his son that “I don’t have the right hand.”
Smiling, Pinchas placed the violin in his father’s undamaged left hand and, standing behind the elder Zukerman, plied the bow. Imagine the picture: two generations, two brains, and one violin. One man using his right cerebral hemisphere, the other his left, playing in harmony.
Use of Music
Individual human beings approach and use music differently. They also have different expectations and perceptions around music. For example, music may be used to:
Music has power. Spirited songs can release new energy in the human body. Researchers have discovered that work rates and efficiency can increase up to 15% by the use of different kinds of music. For example:
