Music & the Brain
- Music and the Brain - PodcastsPodcasts on the psychology of listening to music from a series of short lectures sponsored by the Library of Congress.
- "Music as Medicine" article summary (American Psychological Association)Consult your college library to obtain the full-text of any magazine or journal article free. We may be able to help! :-)
Books Available from Libraries
This is your brain on music : the science of a human obsession by Call Number: SFCC 781.11 LEVITIN or Request Your LibraryISBN: 9780452288522 0452288525Publication Date: 2006How the brain processes all aspects of music is the subject of this book rooted in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and the evolution of the brain. Levitin starts with how the ear perceives sound vibrations--signals are processed in the brain's audio cortex--and proceeds to the perception of frequencies, scales, and timbre, coupled with rhythm and tempo, exploring them within cultural context. Music triggers emotional responses, which, in interaction with the perceptions, are transmitted throughout the brain, eliciting responses colored by the personal likes and dislikes that have developed as the brain has grown. Levitin, first a musician and recording producer, is now a neuroscientist teaching the psychology of electronic communications at McGill University, and he draws many examples of how the brain receives and processes various inputs, including visual and aural, from art and classical and popular music. His book introduces the inner workings of the brain insofar as scientists understand it and affords a good first look at the subject for armchair psychologists and neuroscientists. --Alan Hirsch Copyright 2006 Booklist
Mozart effect for children : awakening your child's mind, health, and creativity with music by Call Number: SFCC 615.8515 CAMPBEL or Request from a libraryISBN: 0380977826Publication Date: 2000In the influential "The Mozart Effect for Children," author Don Campbell shows that music is the perfect tool to improve children's language, movement, and emotional skills at home, school, and play. A groundbreaking study that was followed by the development of an industry offering a plethora of products to expose infants and children to music.
Aaron Copland - On Listening
Aaron Copland discusses three levels of listening to music: sensuous, expressive, and sheerly musical. The sensuous level, or plane, is the most basic, but pleasurable level of enjoyment. This level of listening requires the least amount of brain power; therefore we usually engage this level when we use music as background music-to fill the silence in the room. The expressive level requires some concentration, for we can feel some sort of emotion from the music. Copland stresses that we may not be able to specify what we feel, but we know it is there. Then there is the third level, the sheerly musical level. Most people do not reach this level, which consists of "the notes themselves and their manipulation" Inquiry Westminster College
Active Listening vs. Passive Listening:
· Remember Copland notes: most listeners engage on the Sensuous Plane, and he stresses that there is nothing wrong with this. Listening on the Sensuous Plane is passive listening. However, to fully understand/appreciate serious music you must engage the music actively.
· The Expressive Plane features music that is programmatic in nature. It uses music to tell a story, to create a picture if you will. The celebrated “Totentanz” of Franz Liszt is a good example. In this work he uses the Giotto frescos of Campo Santo in Pisa, Italy to tell the story of the Black Plague—The Dance of Death, as portrayed on the Church walls by the celebrated visual artist Giotto. In his “Symphonie Fantastique” Hector Berlioz uses his music to tell a story of unrequited love. The program is quite detailed.
· The Sheerly Musical Plane is considered the highest level of musical expression, and it is music in its absolute or abstract form. It is music with no reference to any visual or literary story—it is simply: music for music’s sake.