Interesting article about musicians

Mike Perlowin · From: Los Angeles CA

Wednesday November 14 9:51 PM ET
Musicians' Brains Wired Differently
By SETH HETTENA, Associated Press Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) - The brain waves of professional musicians respond to music in a way that suggests they have an intuitive sense of the notes that amateurs lack, researchers said Wednesday.

Neuroscientists, using brain-scanning MRI machines to peer inside the minds of professional German violinists, found they could hear the music simply by thinking about it, a skill amateurs in the study were unable to match.

The research offers insight into the inner workings of the brain and shows that musicians' brains are uniquely wired for sound, researchers said at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Neuroscientists often study how we hear and play music because it is one of the few activities that use many functions of the brain, including memory, learning, motor control, emotion, hearing and creativity, said Dr. Robert Zatorre of the Montreal Neurological Institute.

``It offers a window onto the highest levels of human cognition,'' Zatorre said.

In a study by researchers at the University of Tuebingen, the brains of eight violinists with German orchestras and eight amateurs were analyzed as they silently tapped out the first 16 bars of Mozart's violin concerto in G major.

Brain scans showed professionals had significant activity in the part of their brains that controlled hearing, said Dr. Gabriela Scheler of the University of Tuebingen.

``When the professionals move their fingers, they are also hearing the music in their heads,'' Scheler said.

Amateurs, by contrast, showed more activity in the motor cortex, the region that controls finger movements, suggesting they were more preoccupied with hitting the correct notes, she said.

Scheler, a former violinist with the Nuremberg Philharmonic Orchestra, said the findings suggest that professionals have ``liberated'' their minds from worrying about hitting the right notes. As a result, they are able to listen, judge and control their play, Scheler said.

``Presumably, this enhances the musical performance,'' she said.

In a second experiment, the violinists were asked to imagine playing the concerto without moving their fingers. Brain scans showed again that the professionals were hearing the music in their heads.

Zatorre, who has studied the brain's response to music for two decades, said it was the first time anyone had studied music and its relationship to motor control and imagery.

Bobby Lee · From: Cloverdale, California, USA

This belongs in the Music forum, so I'll move it after I reply.

It always baffles me to see people listening to a portable music player while they walk or jog. As soon as I get a rhythm going, there's music in my head. I guess some people don't have it, but I've always had music between my ears. I couldn't stop it if I tried.

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Pat Burns · From: Branchville, N.J. USA

..I just figured everybody had music in their heads and could hear music just by thinking about it...I figured even people who were tone deaf and couldn't sing or hum on the correct pitch were certainly able to hear music in their heads, they just weren't able to accurately express it...I still think that's the case...

..on the other hand, I thought everyone had dreams where they were flying (with no mechanical conveyance), just them floating and skimming over the treetops, because I've had this liberating dream many times ...I've found that a lot of people have never had this dream, and I only hope that they have the opportunity one of these days...

...guess I shouldn't even broach the subject of UFO's!...

Chip Fossa · From: Monson, MA, USA (deceased)

That distinction between "Pro" and "Amat" is quite revealing. I'm impressed by this
finding.

ChipsAhoy

[This message was edited by CHIP FOSSA on 25 November 2001 at 07:31 PM.]

chas smith R.I.P. · From: Encino, CA, USA

quote:
I've always had music between my
ears. I couldn't stop it if I tried.

Yes Yes Yes

Antolina · From: Dunkirk NY

I have a difficult time imagining why this revelation is so mind boggling. Like the old man used to say......I knew that!

Antolina · From: Dunkirk NY

Seriously, when I went to Jeff Newman's place for a week long seminar back in the 80's, his consistent message was practice until you can hear all the sounds in your head. I guess it's a learned skill even though some folks seem to come by it more naturally. Music is no longer taken seriously enough in primary and/or secondary schooling. 'nuff said..rc

kyle reid · From: Butte,Mt.usa

I wonder if they found that Ban*% players have no brains at all? could very well be!

Dave Horch · From: Frederick, Maryland, USA

Hard to explain to non-musicians I guess. Most of us can't get "hearing" music out of our heads! Good thing too! Do you think it's a learned thing, or a genetic thing?

When I'm envisioning in my mind a new song, as an artist, producer, or (just) a player in the band, I "hear" the final product, or "target" that I'm going for. I think you have to have that gift (if that's what it is) in order to know what you want to do.

Best as always, -Dave

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Bill Llewellyn · From: San Jose, CA

Having music inside one's head is one thing.... but beware of those folks who talk about having voices inside their heads.

I can play entire original tunes of various genres inside my head which I could never score or even hope to play. I also imagine assorted steel licks mixed in to our music at church a lot.... which I'll never have the proficiency to be able to play.

I kind of look at all this as being "musical daydreams". Fun, but nobody else will ever be able to hear them. (Well... I've been able to turn a few into music; see my link below.)

Hey b0b, I jog with music a lot--be it CDs or a local country station. I find the listening to be envigorating, which helps keep my energy level up for the "long run". The CD length also helps set my running time. I get to know the CDs by heart that way. Once, when I found my player's batteries were dead, I just played the whole CD in my head instead. Worked great.

Oops... I've been talking about myself too much again.

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Bill (steel not out of the woodshed) | MSA Classic U12 | Email | My music | Steeler birthdays | Over 50?

Ray Jenkins · From: Gold Canyon Az. U.S.A.

Bob Hoffnar · From: Austin, Tx

I think that the study is involved with a very different level of cognative ability as it relates to music than what we are discussing here. Everybody can hear music in there head.

To be able to actually know what you are hearing and be able to experience it is a skill that takes a lifetime of constant application. Spend a little time with some of the real deal jazz guys or classical concert level performers and you will see that there is a real big difference between what they hear in there minds and what most of us do.

Bob

Bill Llewellyn · From: San Jose, CA

Bob H., you popped my balloon....

ajm · From: Los Angeles

On a somewhat related note, it always blows my mind when I go to an audition or rehearsal and you name a popular simple country (or whatever) song and they either don't know it or they play the wrong arrangement.

I'm not talking obscure album cuts or oldies from the 1940s here. These "musicians" probably listen to the radio, at the very least, in the car to and from work every day. They've heard some of these songs 10,000 times. They're only 3 or 4 chords. They've seen the song done by other bands and on TV. They know the song by name. Yet they still have absolutely no clue about how to play or sing it.

I can't help it, but when I hear things on the radio a lot of times I'm already up on stage, in my mind anyway, playing along with the band and trying to figure it out. By the time I actually play the song with a band I've already done it a hundred times in a virtual sense.

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