When I was in Istanbul, I downloaded an audio book called This Is Your Brain On Music, by Dr.Daniel J Levitin. I listened to most of it on the looooooooong flights home, first to London then to San Francisco.
Levitin was a musician and producer before he earned a PhD and immersed himself in the field of cognitive neuroscience. The book is a bestseller and has been translated into over 15 languages. A couple of years ago, Harvard added it to their list of required reading for freshmen.
The book discusses the components of music and their relation to your brain (to sum up).
He describes how the brain determines that sound is music and how people hear things differently. This was very interesting to me because music is such a big part of my life and something that has puzzled me for a while. I am completely aware that a lot of people would call me picky. I'm fine with that, especially after encountering this book. I'm fine with it because I know now that what I hear is actually different than what you hear. There are some voices that almost cause me physical pain. I only need to hear a few seconds of a something and I know if my ears are happy or yelling at me. Music that has too much base increases my heart rate and highly irritates me. I've never been high and I don't really have a point of reference, but there is music that sends me orbiting somewhere around Neptune.
I have a Completely Useless talent for hearing singers/bands before they are "found" and thinking Oooohhh, this could be good. Other people seem to be able to make millions off of this, but I can't.
(I can give a list of these singers/bands on request)
Dr.Levitin has done a lot of work with neuroimaging and music, finding a link between music, movement and emotional states. His research with musicians of various skill levels has shown that the higher the skill level, the great activity there is between both hemispheres of the brain.
I've also come across a researcher who works with Alzheimer's patients. There are patients who can't remember their spouse of 40 years visiting them the day before, but they remember music from half a century earlier and can even recognize when a note or two of a song is purposely changed. The musical memory of some Alzheimer's patients functions just as well as healthy seniors.
Babies recognize pieces of music that were played to them while they were still in the womb. Babies as young as four months recognize when a familiar piece of music is purposely changed during research.
When people sing together, their brains release oxytocin, which builds trust and bonds people.
I'm sure we all have certain music that reminds of particular people or memories.
I've recently been watching home movies of Marine World and I tell ya, the music from the whale and dolphin show brings tears to my eyes.
I listen to The Carpenters as an adult because I remember my dad playing them when I was little.
The Jeopardy Think music will always bring back memories of my grandparents' house: jars of baby pickles, the cold brown tile of the kitchen, Grandpa in his long white socks, the clutter on the table, the big vase full of coins.
I go to a church that has some wonderful voices and some of my earliest and most vivid memories are of those voices.
I definitely know what I don't like and what I like.
I hope you do and that you don't let anyone (such as myself, haha!) talk you out of what you enjoy. If you enjoy it, then it is good music.
But I will still try to talk you out of listening to that Michael Bolton arias album.
And just for fun, listen to this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYToP5ZfydE&feature=related
and then listen to this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJnjcX8skXk
No comments:
Post a Comment