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research
Music and the Brain
The performance of music is one of the most complex cognitive processes that exists. Musicians process symbols that we see on a page - symbols that are basically a second language. Our brains translate these symbols into motor commands at the same time as we aurally monitor what we are actually playing or singing. Simultaneously, we must deal with conveying emotion, with memory, bimanual coordination, and sometimes, with performance anxiety.
Because of this complex processing, neuroscientists have found music and musicians to be rich areas for study. Over the past three decades, the brain basis of almost every aspect of music has been researched, from basic elements such as pitch, rhythm, and melody, to more complex issues such as sight-reading, emotion, and memory. Some recent brain research not related to the field of music also has the potential to impact significantly our teaching and performance.
These discoveries about how the brain processes music are tremendously exciting because they add another dimension to how we think about pedagogy. My research is concerned with the exploration of how we can apply some of this knowledge to our work in the teaching studio, the practice room, and on the concert stage.
Presentations
- Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), March 2010, Albuquerque, NM
- Society for Music Perception and Cognition (SMPC), August 2009, Indianapolis, IN
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, June 2007, Tübingen, Germany
- Music Educators National Conference (MENC), March 2007, Hartford, CT
- Pennsylvania Music Teachers Association (PMTA), November 2006, New Wilmington, PA
- Neuroscience 2006, October 2006, Atlanta, GA
- Music Teachers National Association (MTNA), March 2006, Austin, TX
Publications
- MTNA e-journal, "The Musician's Guide to the Brain," February 2010, April 2010 http://mtnaejournal.org