Years ago when I worked at one of several companies in the Telecoms industry, I used to remember those big corporate meetings; and it almost seemed like the bigger the meeting was; the easier it was to not really focus, to dis-engage. Ofcourse I’m not saying it was You or I who would dis-engage, not be focussed.
And the tried, trusted cliche was the answer that we all learned to give at one of these companies, whenever someone was in a meeitng and got asked a question – and if You’re a certain age You might recognise this…
The answer goes, ” Errr I’m not sure, I’ll have to take that away and get back to You” – and all too often that would get the person off the hook, (not You Nor I ofcourse) and all too easily that action point would get forgotten about. Now You might be thinking it’s completely different in small companies, which I have also worked in – where You pretty much have to be on the ball, completely focussed all the time – there’s no where to hide on your side- especially if there’s only 1 or 2 of you at that meeting – in that case it’s more likely that You get caught up in different kinds of stress – something I call the Carry Over Effect – which i’m not going to go through here – that’s a topic for another time.
But this did get me thinking about Music Making – because we all know we’re not really in the information age – we’re drowning in the stuff – and it’s all too easy to get dis-engaged, and maybe even not know about it.
So what About Rock N Roll – or whatever Meaningfull Music Making happens to be for You
What If Music Making were a meeting… well I thought if it were like a big company meeting it might look like that picture above.
And then I remembered a quote from a Dr Thaut – a researcher into Neurologic Music Therapy (NMT) which said ” The Brain which engages with Music is changed by engaging with Music”.
I thought about research from John Sloboda getting people from Sussex University to passively listen to meaningfull music from the soundtrack that shaped their lives – and how it was 50% that believed they had a massive transformation in the emotions they felt.
Is it Possible as the Dr Thaut quote suggests, that perhaps the other 50%, weren’t engaged. And to me that makes sense because it is much easier to be distracted when listening to music and not even notice, compared to actually your hands your eyes on your instrument, with You actually Playing isn’t it?
And this is why it is Meaningfull Music Making that is far more powerfull, way more effective for You than just Passive Music Listening – which is not YET widely known.
And then I started to think, well what about the exact opposite of Dr Thaut’s quote ? What about the Brain that continually dis-engages – whether that’s in big meetings, or elsewhere – does that change the brain,and likely in a different way, that might perhaps be not so usefull ?
I believe the answer is Yes that is possible – the same way we understand that a sedentary lifestyle, where You physically dis-engage from moving around is perhaps not the best thing for what i call our “neck down” health – I believe it follows that dis-engaging the mind, and not taking the time to be fully present, fully sensory aware is likely a part of the problem.
One of the things I have discovered, for example in teaching, training and coaching on Guitar, that getting the mind focus right is the most fundamental thing, even more so than actual playing – whether that’s guitar or any other instrument – and here is one of the reasons why?
One of the things that makes Music Making challenging and at the same time rewarding is that it happens in real time – this means there is no where to hide in Music, whereas You can in a meeting, or perhaps if You’re sat in an office staring at a computer screen, or on your iphone or similar – You can either engage or disengage and You or other people may or may not notice.
And this points to one of the reasons why Menaingfull Music Making, which challenges You and engages You is so very good for You – exactly because it does keep you present and fully engaged.
But here’s the challenge – You have to as Dr Thaut says ” really engage”, or learn and discern how to quickly become aware that You are dis-engaged so that You can quickly get re-engaged; another benefit of that is developing this skill means You can easily recover from any mistake you might make if You perform live, perhaps as part of a band – so that You can still end well, instead of trying to start again from the beginning.
And this going from dis-engaged to engaged, This is what I sometimes call getting out of life mode, into focussed Music Making Mode, where You are fully present as best as You can be – so that You do get the most out of all of Your music making – whatever that happens to be, whether its guitar oriented Rock,Blues, Indie styles from the 1960s to the Noughties- or whatever Meaningfull Music Making happens to be for You.
Because Yes You can hide in meetings, perhaps at your office desk even, but You can’t hide in Rock N Roll, or whatever Menaingfull Music Making happens to be for You.
You’ve probably noticed a few posts over the last few days, and Yes I do have a specific point of view regarding the importance of Meaningfull Music making.
But I want to be clear, that Yes I do have opinions – though I don’t claim to have all the answers – yes I may have some ideas pointing to answer, I believe I do – but ultimately I probably have more questions than answers – hopefully some different questions that might point to new, options, new answers, and eventually to a new, deeper, broader perspective about Music Making that goes even beyond the health challenge of Dementia/Alzheimers.
Yes You might want to play a little bit of Led Zeppelin, a bit of a blues solo, or perhaps You are happiest playing along to some Hendrix, or maybe even Your own solos, your own music, on Guitar, or whatever Your preferred instrument happens to be, but it’s more important than that.
I define Meaningfull Music Making as that which has a huge impact on You, when You fully engage as best as You can, in the right way – that You can sense.
I believe we can see this clearly with advanced Alzheimer sufferers who, are able to temporarily re-animate, regain the ability to speak, for a time and even sometimes other capabilities as well. If there is one positive thing to come out of the current Alzheimers Challenge – I believe it is that we are starting to get a deeper understanding of the Power of Meaningfull Music Making, something I call the Meaningfull Music Making Effect (Not the Mozart Effect) -, NeuroScience has made great strides, though we are still at an early stage – compared to what I call neck down health – around diet and exercise. Everyone has heard about diet and exercise – apart from a few hardly anyone knows about the power of Meaningfull Music Making – most people get stuck thinking either about Music Making as therapy, or caught up in the idea of passively listening to Music.
Yes I do have opinions, however I want to point out I’m more observational, and never judgmental – People are entitled to hold whatever opinions they have about Music.
That said – I’m now going to make the link between Chewing Gum and Cheesecake… and later on Monkey Nuts, which I’ll come back to.
Ofcourse You wouldn’t think of trying to eat Chewing Gum and Cheese Cake at the same time would You ? If you had a piece of gum in your mouth you would at least get rid of it before chomping through that chesse cake right.
And yet I do remember someone once saying …. ” After all we all know that Music is Chewing Gum for the Brain ” – By the Way if You’re interested, my answer to that is errr no actually No Music, especially meaningfull Music Making is lubrication for life.
But this mindset I believe is the predominant world view.
The same with Cheese cake – I remember over 20 years ago reading something that said, (and I’m paraphrasing) Music is to the Brain what cheesecake is to food – and if cheesecake disappeared tomorrow, that would be no big deal.
Well try telling that to the Alzheimer sufferers, and to one of the most high profile Glen Campbell’s family – because Country star Glen, once diagnosed with Alzheimers was advised not to go on tour – he did, and the film documentary I’ll Be Me – suggests that it was his Playing Guitar, on tour – that actually helped him past an advanced stage of the disease for a time – this will be a more detailed topic for another time – I believe raises perhaps two questions.
Again remember I’m not being judgemental at all about the chewing gum, nor the cheesecake analogy – these are my opinions that these are in some way the majority view, about Music, and I believe that they are massively mistaken – though I believe right now this is the mindset of most people; this is what represents most peoples beliefs about Music – though as people get to discover how powerfull Music Making actually is, this will change.
But right now, I believe it is these beliefs that Music isn’t really that important, is at least partly why I believe there is a huge challenge with mid scale Live Music venues closing across the country, because people don;t go out and watch and immerse in the experience of live music – with 40% shut over the last 10 years in London alone – which I covered yesterday.
I do believe that this view will change, I do believe that Meaningfull Music Making will Play a bigger role in more people’s lives although that will only be only a small minority of people to start with.
Okay – So You get That, I hear You thinking – what About The Monkey Nuts Then
So Back to the Nuts….
Well this is one of the old Fables of Aesop (remember Hare & Tortoise – that was his really famous one).
But in this story the monkey gdets his hand caught in the nuts jar and can’t take it out – until he drops a few of the nuts.
So what has this got to do with anything – well I have been posting a lot recently – just to say, sometimes the posts will be long, other times they may be quite short – sometimes I’ll be trying to make what seems like a lot of points, with lots of examples – other times I may drop a few of the points I’m trying to make – this post was really all about two points Cheesecake and Chewing gum – examples of the beliefs most people I believe wrongly, yet unwittingly hold about Meaningfull Music Making.
I do believe that overtime, and it will take quite some time, the majority will come to know about ? the Power of Meaningfull Music Making – most people will at least know of Music being for the Brain what we all know that diet and exercise is for the Body.
Hi There – so a few weeks ago a coach load of people went up to Liverpool Cavern Club, to see a Beatles tribute band. Yes it was a fun day, though long day didn’t get back until midnight.
And here’s a picture of a few of us outside, thanks to Mark for the pics.
Though this isn’t the actual Cavern from the 1960s – it’s actually next door to the real Cavern Club which the Beatles, and The MerseyBeats, Gerry and The PaceMakers – all those bands would have played at.
After Watching It’s The Beatles At (The New) Cavern Club –
Because sadly the original Cavern was shut down, for safety reasons – a leaking roof I believe – though at least the Cavern keeps going on and on.
And this got me thinking about a story I heard from around September last year about the state of Live Music in the UK – especially midsize venues – where just in London alone, over the last 10 years or so – around 40% of venues have actually shut down – and this is a huge problem across the whole country.
There is a danger that if this continues – then there will be no midsize venues for up and coming bands to play – it will either be pubs or Arenas – which means as the older established artists pass onto the great gig in the sky – this is going to cause a huge problem to what right now is a $1.6 Billion industry for live entertainment in the UK.
Here’s a BBc news link to one of the many stories You can check out
Now Imagine (and warning this is going to be a stretch… but hang on in) what if… The London Shard became a Live Music venue – not all 72 floors of this architectural marvel … but let’s say (just for fun) the top 20 floors were used for Live Music Making, and other Arts… and they sorted out the sound proofing, put in the stages, everything else they needed to put on a wide variety of Live music; music that is currently being lost at an alarming rate… remember 40% of London live venues have shut.
Even the legendary 100 Club in oxford street was/ could still be at risk.
The London Shard is an architectural marvel – with 72 floors going up which looks something like this..
The London Shard with 72 Floors
So how are the floors split out in my analogy- well….
The top 20 floors, a first set of 10, and a second set of 10, are devoted to Music and Art of different kinds – seems kind of fair – after all 40% of london venues have shut in the last 10 years ?
The third set of 10 floors – that is devoted to Spoken Word Arts perhaps some theatre, some poetry, some plays – You get the idea
The next set of 10 floors – going down – that’s for Business, office use
The next two sets of 10 floors – that’s for lIving quarters, apartments
The final set of 12 floors (because it’s 72 floors in total NOT 70) – that’s for restuarants and bars.
Yes – I know my idea is more than a bit unusual, and the owners of the Shard Complex, who are Sellar Property Group alongside the state of Qatar will not go with my idea… but hang on in, okay -Great!
Now Imagine YOU standing at the base of the London Shard, looking up,
it’s night time, and all the lights are on … all 72 floors.
What if…
If the top ten floors suddenly went dark… As You look up would you notice The Music floors all gone dark?… I’m going to say You won’t after all its 307 m or 310 metres to the top. So You or I, or anybody else wouldn’t notice – unless You have a telescope.
And what if the lights went out on the next 10 floors …The Arts floors… again I’m going to say You still wouldn’t notice standing at the bottom, on the ground looking up – as far as You could see all would be good with the Shard.
Now what about if the THIRD set of 10 lights went out ? I’m going to say You and I we would definitely both notice, if You and I are standing at the base.
And as the fourth set of 10 lights went out, and the fifth set of 10 , and the sixth set of ten and the final, seventh set of 12 (not 10 – remember The Shard is 72 floors in total, not 70 if You happen to be doing the maths).
Yes so… first 20 floors you would not notice… the others You would…
And that I Believe is Part of the Problem – because these floors in my 7 set analogy correspond, as an analogy, as a metaphor, as a way of demonstrating the gradual shut down through the 7 Stages of Alzheimers – which is a heartbreaking condition where sufferers gradually lose their life skills
I shall spell some out for You
Right Now – Alzheimers can only really be detected at Level 3 – when missing out words becomes very noticeable. The spoken word arts category in my analogy.
It cannot be noticed at levels 1 or levels 2 as far as I am aware.
So the Question becomes, Is it Possible – that Alzheimers could be detected at levels 1 or 2 – and if so – that the detection would be by some means of Music/ Art Testing capability?
After all Art is the highest form of Human Expression – higher than words, higher than science, higher than sport.
If You agree with that, and if You’re not sure If You want read my post before this one.
Because if that is the case, then it follows that it is possible that there could be some test for Alzheimers developed based around Music, or some other Art (though I believe Music) capability; that gets the detection early enough.
I believe the Answer is Yes – But here’s the challenge – sadly right now we do not value Music as much as we used to, which is one of the reasons less people go out to see live music – which is why 40% of London Music venues have shut down. We have the phrase elevated to an Art form – which is why in my analogy the London shard top 20 floors are dedicated to Music and Art, and yet culturally, socially and even educationally we don’t believe that.
And yet using my London Shard analogy – You can see that it MIGHT be possible to provide early detection of what is ultimately a heartbreaking disease, which sadly leads to death – at the later stages – the Alzheimers’ Sufferer loses their ability to swallow – which is why in my Shard analogy the bottom 12 floors, the final lights to go out, if you will correspond to restaurants and bars.
Is It Possible that Music and/or Another Art capability, though I believe it would be Music provides early detection.
Is it Possible that earlier detection provides a basis for a cure
Is it Possible that out of the present Alzheimers worldwide challenge, levels set to treble by 2050, and the fact that Meaningfull Music Making seems to be the binding skill, the final capability to disappear – that this could get people thinking differently about Music, about getting involved in Music Making, even about going out and watching live Music, and not staying in and watching TV or with eyes glued to digital screen devices.
I believe the answer is Yes – this would go beyond therapy, and having a groundswell of people thinking about Meaningfull Music Making as a Lifestyle choice that helps You with preventative Wellness – after all Prevention is better than Cure – even if/when early detection becomes possible.
In my Mind, I believe this points to Meaningfull Music Making becoming known for the Brain during this 21st Century, what we all know Diet and Exercise is for the Body in the 20th Century.
In the 21st Century Music Making Will Become For The Brain What We All Know Diet & Exercise is For The Body
Hi There,
A Friend from Facebook Land shared a post – a Guitar Teaching friend which included this photo – Can You spot what is wrong ?
What’s Wrong with This Picture ?
The first eight points – exactly match the hierarchy of importance of subjects taught in schools – since the Industrial revolution – the 1800s – this was the findings of research done by Sir Ken Robinson, in his book In your element – where he looked at schools from countries across the world.
Because Sir Ken, education advisor (You can see his TedTalks very iintriguingly nformative, very dry sense of humour) discovered It doesn’t matter which country you go to – the hierarchy is always the same – Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths – first, then languages/Humanities, next sport and at the bottom the Arts – it just so happens that the first eight points of this, which is what I’m covering here exactly mirror the hierarchy and very likely your subconcious beliefs about Music – i’ll come back to that one in a moment.
Sir Ken actually talks about this hierarchy himself in his video response to a twitter question Here :
Even if You look at point viii in the picture above (which isn’t really a point – more an extension of point vii) – where it says
But Most of All, Music is Art …
Just consider this for a moment…
If Music is Art is the Most Important Point – which is what this picture argues, as the last point – then it should be the first point NOT the last point – EXCEPT if it was the first point then perhaps not so many people would be interested.
We have the phrase Elevated to An Art form and yet, it’s like You have kind of forgotten that –
It’s like somehow Art is for other people, music making is for other people not You, music making is AFTER You have completed your studies, Discovering the enjoyment of Music is AFTER You have raised a family, had the career – There is no time for Music – and yet ofcourse we know that’s not true – never about time poverty, more about time prioority.
Yes life can sometimes get in the way – but if we’re really honest all too often we allow life to get in the way.
And Viktor Frankl I believe clearly demonstrates this in his book Man’s search for Meaning – where he describes his experiences as a prisoner in a world war 2 Nazi Work Camp – where prisoners were worked really hard – became emaciated, very thin and weak, because they didn’t have much food or water – he talks about how it was people with a higher purpose that got through unbelievably harsh conditions of the work camp – it didn’t matter for example whether someone was religious, or maybe had passionate belief in an ideology , like Communism and yet the people that seemed to perish first were those whose lives were all about going to work, raising a family and paying the bills – because their whole identity was wrapped up in going to work, raising a family and nothing more – Viktor believed that when that was taken away from them – which it was going into a Prisoner Camp – then it was like their life lost meaning – there was definitely nothing inspiring about doing really hard manual labour in a work camp.
And yet Viktor discovered another category of people, who unexpectedly seemed to bear up way better than average under the hard conditions of a world war 2 Work Camp – and these were people who were actually willing to risk their lives stealing NOT food… NOT water, but instead bits of paper and charcoal… so that they could draw.. so that they could create Art.
Because at a very deep level these people knew, realised, experienced that Art is the highest form of Human Expression – it is what gives meaning to life – not just being a passive spectator, but actively involved – and it was under the harsh conditions of a world war 2 prison camp that they rediscovered that.
Ofcourse in a world war 2 camp, even if it were possible to get their hands on musical instruments – then that would not have been the wisest thing to do – drawing was less likely to get attention from the guards.
But it’s so easy today to get caught up in, I’ll get to play Guitar which happens to be what I train and coach people in, or I’ll get to drums, the bass, the bassoon or whatever Your instrument happens to be AFTER You’ve done Your other important things such as work, career, studies, raising a family – which Viktor’s Man’s Search For Meaning suggests, ofcourse they are important, just not so important to spend all of your time on.
It’s easy to pay lip service to Art as the highest form of human expression.
I do personally remember a couple of years ago,a minister on BBC Question Time , a political debate program after the ten oclock news, – saying two things one straight after the other – and I’m paraphrasing – the first was ” As we all know Art is the Highest Form of Human Expression ” and then in the next breath he said …. ” However…. Science Technology Engineering and Maths is…. ”
Because to me, this is just a reminder if You like of the cultural bias we live in today, and have lived in since the Industrial Revolution … this is another reminder of why My Guitar Teaching friend from Facebook land used the picture above .. he starts with Music is Science, and Yes NeuroScience
shows that nothing uses more of the brain than Meaningfull Music Making – this is what I refer to as The Meaningfull Music making effecrt and Not the Mozart effect.
But really most of all – as the Picture suggests Music is an Art Form – although today to get people’s attention to the importance of Music – there is this appeal to Science.
Okay so You’re at least a little curious about this reminder of what You probably already knew – which is that Yes Art is the Highest form of Human Expression – perhaps You’ve heard that phrase; maybe You’re not sure what something like “Elevated to An Art Form Means”.
My take on Elevated to an Art Form – in one word – all about subtlety.
Is it possible for someone, not involved in an Art – to raise what they do to an art form – the short answer is Yes – for example 1970s footballer Pele, star striker for Brazil – the way he flicked and kicked and effortlessly seemed to weave past the opposition to score goals – many called what he did an art form.
WE vdo not have the phrase elevated to a sports form – even though sports people can raise what they do – by being trained, getting focussed and applying subtle distinctions to what they do.
This reminds me years ago when I coached and trained a retired kickboxer – who used to see me after going to the gym – and believe me he was not short of effort – I could see every single muscle on his neck through to his arms going in – except with an art form, especially about music – it’s not about physical effort – in his case, and in many cases we work on getting him out of what I call life mode into music making mode. If anything, the physical effort is way way more subtle in Music making than probably any other activity – and yet the level of focus I would argue to make those subtle distinctions is way higher than any other activity – and this is one of the reasons NeuroScience is showing that nothing uses more of the brain than what I call Meaningfull Music Making – which is something that is not instantly easy to play, but something that is beyond your current skill ability, and more importantly something that You believe is achieveable.
And I’ll write about this another time.
Anyhows in case You’re thinking well so what ? Why is subtlety important, I’m all about the easy way, the instant way, give me the life hack any day –
Well one of today’s health crises is Alzheimers/Dementia – and one way to consider this disease is where the person starts to shut down – starting by losing subtle skills, until progressively they sadly do die – there is no cure – Music seems to play a part – which I believe will become even bigger.
So In Summary
1) Art is the highest form of Human Expression
2) And Music likely the highest form of Art (not that it’s a competiton) – NeuroScience shows nothing uses more of the brain than Meaningfull Music Making
3) Art is all about Subtlety, getting better informed and trained in making gradually more and more subtle distinctions – not just in Guitar Playing, or MusicMaking.
And you can see this for example in martial artists – the difference between a black belt and someone who has gone further, is not necessarily in being able to make new moves – rather it’s the increasingly subtle distinctions in the moves they already can do – and more subtle distinctions means more focus.
So what about your subconcious beliefs about Music, how might they be holding you back without you even knowing it.
Well the answer is pretty obvious – because even though I don;t know You personally, I do know that you went to school from the age of 5 or 7 until at least 16 ior maybe into your 20s.
If You are in work, or a career – then chances are you are somehow doing something around Science, Technology, Engineering or Maths – that’s what most of the people I see do anyway – so that when it comes time to pick up your guitar – because of the level of importance of subjects You learned at school (science at the top… and art at the bottom) You unwittingly, unconciously, unknowingly believe that Music Making is not very important.
But by shining a different light on this, if You will, which was the point of this post – I sincerely hope you are feeling a little more intrigued, curious, inspired even about Music making, Meaningfull Music Making – whether that happens to be Guitar Oriented Rcok, Blues, Indie styles which I happen to teach, train and coach in, or whatever Meaningfull Music Making, and whichever instrument resonates with you.
As You have read through to here, You perhaps have an idea that Music is more important than you realised.
I believe in my next post – I am going to give You a very different perspective which shows that actually Music Making is way more important than You ever did think, even if part or all of Your life centres around Music, as a performer, as a teacher,
And the pointer to all of this is in Alzheimers, the Link To The London Shard (yes that 72 storry building – that one) and Rock N Roll – or whatever happens to be Meaningfull Music Making for You.
If You have any thoughts, comments, questions – Please write them in below.
And keep a look out for London Shard, Alzheimers and Rock N Roll !
Hi There – Here I’m just going to share a small part of the story, on how MindMusicMentor – the guitar playing brain logo and all that stuff came about.
Because it’s not that I’m ” the Best Guitar Player” or anything like that – if I am a master of anything, I am more of a Master of Musical mistakes than I am of Music – and of building those bridges between Mistakes and Music – between musical challenges and problems.
I still sometimes remember the worst Guitar Player I ever knew – aged 7 – that was me – and based on that first year of guitar lessons – I am sure everyone, including my guitar instructor at the time had me down as the least likely to succeed.
And although a few years back I’d been blessed and fortunate to have some successes sharing what I have discovered over many years – We are now in the year of show number 11 – with over 600 Youtube videos showing performances from student shows – playing with a live band – and also Workshop practices – where there is no audiences, there are no lights..
I became fascinated with how I could better serve, and help people – especially those who seemed to be lacking in motivation, who somehow were not able to pick up their guitar at the end of a stressfull day.
Because the number one challenge most people who start on Guitar, or any other instrument have is;
they will say.. they have no time to practice.
Now we all know that is not true. It;s rarely a case of time poverty, more a case of time priority.
Yes ofcourse sometimes life gets in the way and there is nothing You or I can do about that, no question; but if we are honest, all too often we allow life to get in the way.
And so that led to the question of why wasn’t Music more of a priority for most people.
Now ofcourse not everyone is going to quit their careers, their schooling, their studies and play guitar all day – but surely everyone has some of the day available.
There’s 1440 minutes in a day – and everyone can find some time – a focussed 20 minutes can actually be way better than a 1 hour session – a topic for another time.
So what was missing ? And part of what I discovered is what I now call The ” AND” Reason.
And that led me on to NeuroScience, the study of how things impact the brain, specificaly the work of Professor Stefan Koelsch and Annirudh Patel – because since the time of the Greek Philosopher Plato – there has been a lot interest around Music and its relationship to language, how we speak and also the Brain.
And I found Neuroscience really complex, and as MindMusicMentor I have decided the best way I can serve is to make the connection between some of the more complicated ideas, and use analogies and metaphors to simplify them and make them more easily understandable.
Though I discovered in Stefan Koelsch and Annirudh Patel’s work that there didn’t seem to be, at least any distinction, any difference made between Passive Music Listening and Active Music Making; so whether it was their subjects listening to music or actually playing instruments didn’t seem to figure, though likely that was not important for them.
But this kept me on the quest, which ultimately led to MindMusicMentor because Intuitively I knew there had to be a distinction between passive music listening and active music making.
Because I knew That Active Music Making had to be far better for You than just listening on your ipod, iphone, CD or vinyl record (remember them ? – I love vinyl!)
And I can prove that easily now; because You and I we both know that playing a game of football is way better for you physically than just watching a game – even if You’re a football fan, and your team scores the winning goal in the 89th minute and you’re on your feet feeling euphoric – even then actually playing game of football is way better for You – provided you are in the right physical shape and condition to run up and down for 90 minutes – as I said for me the answer is no – beer and pizza is the reason!
But then Neuroscience is making the distinction and I have referenced a really good TedTalk, a short presentation that goes through all the areas of the brain impacted by Music Making – it talks about how Music Making is the equivalent of a full brain workout.
And the final clincher that got me really thinking about all this was the Plymouth experiment, when a G8 delegation from Japan stayed on in Plymouth – why ? Because they had seen what for them looked like a miracle – advanced alzheimer sufferers, regaining the ability to speak temporarily through the power of Music.
Here’s the BBc News link to the story how Plymouth Alzheimers singing inspired Japanese G8 Delegation to study (Japan has an advancing aging population) : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-25352878
Now ofcourse Music making has been used for enjoyment for centuries, and as a means of therapy since at least the early part of the 20th century – after world war 2.
But I believe now is a different time based on two core ideas
1) the fact that nothing uses more of the brain than Active Music Making
Here’s a really good short Ted Introduction to this idea :
2) The fact that it is meaningfull Music Making –
going back to and playing along to,
or singing along to,
Music that has deep resonant meaning – means that an advanced alzheimer sufferer can regain the ability to speak – albeit temporarily
In my mind points to the Possibility that Meaningfull Music Making will become known in the 21st Century, for the Brain, What we all know diet and exercise is for the body, from the neck down.
Right Now Alzheimers/Dementia is an evolving crisis
There is no actual understanding of the biological basis for the disease, as yet, and therefore there is no cure –
Alzheimers progresses through 7 stages – at stage 3 the patient missing out words becomes noticeable, at stage 7 your ability to swallow goes – until sadly the outcome is death.
There are as far as I am aware 4 drugs approved by NICE – the National Institute for Clicnical Excellence – which while slowing down Alzheimers but do not provide a cure.
I believe it is possible that ” as the AND Reason” – Meaningfull Music Making, for a growing number of people will become a lifestyle choice – part of preventative wellness. People will still have their unique reasons for wanting to play music, to deeply discover and enjoy music making – the AND reason will be that it is really good for your Brain – this will become more widely known.
Meaningfull Music Making – is whatever Musical instrument, whatever styles resonate with You – and if that happens to be rock, blues, indie styles on Guitar then I may be able to help.
For a majority of people – who are not pre-disposed to any instrument; but do get the concept of Music Making as feeling good, and preventative wellness – then I believe it will be either drums/percussion or singing for them.
I believe it is possible that the same way a program of increasing challenging diet and exercise can improve the physical body – this points to the possibility of icreasingly challenging Meaningfull Music Making being really good for the Brain – being the thing that keeps you felling fuly alert and fully alive.
Because in a real sense Meaningfull Music Making is life – whether that is Guitar oriented Rock N Roll, BLues and Indie – or whatever that happens to be for You.
Worldwide Alzheimers is projected to treble by 2050 – if there is anything positive that can come out of this heartbreaking illness – then maybe it is the fact that it gives us all a chance to, stop. To Think reconsider, to actually remind ourselves how important Meaningfull Music making is.
I believe that deep down many people already know this – and I believe the neuroscience and the experience of Alzheimer sufferers re-animating if You will – offers more proof, if more proof was what You really needed.
Remember the 1990s and Music – You probably remember Brit Pop, Oasis/ Blur, Grunge Nirvana, pearl Jam
And You might even remember the Mozart Effect – the idea that young children and babies would improve their intelligence by listening to the Music of Mozart.
Since then the only thing proven from the Mozart effect was a slight improvement in Spatial Temporal Reasoning.
And yet what was more overlooked by the mainstream at the time, and actually had more impact is what I have come to call The Meaningfull Music Effect – this was research done by John Sloboda at Sussex University – which showed that Listening to meaningfull music, from the soundtrack that helped shape and define your life, could have a dramatic impact.
And what defines the soundtrack – well for most people it’s whatever You would have listened to from around your early teens through to your late twenties and thirties.
Ofcourse if your Music thing happened to be Mozart, then it would be Mozart.
Yet for most people it would be the Music that they grew up with, which wasn’t Mozart.
John Sloboda’s research showed that 50%, half of the subjects emotions could be dramatically shifted, uplifted – simply by listening to Music, often a very specific song that had deep resonant meaning for them.
And that kind of makes sense – after all a lot of us have those go to tunes, those songs that define a certain time – and just listening to them can easily transport us back there.
But the question I came back to was – how come it was only 50% ?
If Music is that powerfull – then why was it not a majority of the people who were there listening in John Sloboda’s experiment.
I believe it is because it is not Passive Music Listening that has the dramatic impact, instead it is actual Meaningfull Music Making.
And this was a very powerfull finding at the Plymouth Experiments in Devon 2013 – where advanced Alzheimer Sufferers had regained the ability to speak, for a time – through the power of meaningfull music making – in this case singing.
Infact so dramatic were the results, that a G8 delegation from Japan stayed on to study this – because Japan has an elderly population.
However I believe this goes way beyond Alzheimers – I believe this demonstrates the absolute full power of Meaningfull Music Making, if it has the ability to re-animate, get someone speaking again – then that is powerfull.
A lot of people have heard that Passive Music Listening can be powerfull – and certainly it can have impact; but You can be easily distracted from Meaningfull Music Listening – and likely not notice. This is why I believe only 50% of John Sloboda’s research people showed a huge emotional shift – the other 50% were very likely distracted in some way.
However it is Meaningfull Music Making that is way more powerfull – yes Music Listening can process more of the brain but you could be distracted – in Meaningfull Music Making, You can’t be distracted it easily shows up.
In my experience the main sources of distraction are throughts – which is one of the reasons why when I train people on Guitar, I coach them to follow the music and not their thoughts in all their Music making related activites.
So a short snapshot view of Music from the 1990s through to right now – it’s about way more than the Passive Music Listening effect
– It is about the Meaningfull Music Making Effect. This is what shifts You, energises You – and one of the huge challenges that need to be overcome for many people is Focus – being able to quickly get out of what i call life mode into Music making mode – because of busy lives, not many people can have the luxury of sitting around all day and playing guitar, or wheatver Musical instrument resonates with You – so whatever time You do use, You want to get the most out of – and first and foremost that requires focus.
I do believe that during the 21st Century – Meaningfull Music Making will become known for the brain, what we all know Diet and Exercise is for the Body.
In my opinion – the most important part of this video – which is really easy to miss – is when Charles talks about
the medial pre-frontal cortex (of the brain) going way up in blood flow and
a broad area of the lateral pre-frontal cortex going way down. They use something called BOLD imaging to measure the blood flow to different brain areas during brain FMRI scans on Jazz Keyboard Improvisers
I cover this in the first 2 minutes in the video above before Surgeon and Jazz enthusiast Charles Limb does his TED presentation – because
Real easy to miss and
has wider implications in music making..and creativity in general
Why ? Well because this lateral pre-frontal cortex is thought to be involved in self-monitoring (eg critical/ negative thoughts – ” what am I doing, I’m not going to be able to do that, why did I play that arrrghh… You get the idea…
This is one of the reasons why in Immersion Lessons I talk about and also teach techniques and strategies for what I call Priming Your Musical Mind – getting You Out of Life Mode into Music Making Mode.
What I sometimes call Moving The Mind Dial Towards Music (and away from thoughts).
Enjoy the video – Charles does a rap and has jazz keyboard players playing on their backs with their heads inside FMRI scanners monitoring brain activity while they play..
But don’t miss the ” lateral Frontal Cortex Bit” … the most important part – with big implications for not only improvising, but also Music Making and any form of creativity in general.
A short TED Presentation showing all the different areas of the brain that are used when Musicians play a Musical Instrument.
As You watch, Please bear in mind
It’s only recently that Neuroscientists have (last few years) started making the distinction between Passive Music Listening – and Active Music Making
Most of the research so far is with Professional Musicians – do not make the mistake of thinking these benefits only apply to ” professional” musicians – THEY DO NOT!
Meaningfull Music Making Can give everyone’s brain a really good workout – provided you go all in – the same way a good diet and exercise can help people, at all levels ” from the neck down”
The Mind Music Mentor 