THE GIFT OF DAILY MUSIC PRACTICE The work of a musician is to orchestrate coordinated movements of one’s body into fluid artful communication. This requires a combination of control and of embracing the moment. Not unlike athletes, professional musicians must maintain peak physical conditioning and high level skill at their instrument on a consistent basis. …
Did you know that performance anxiety and excitement are linked in our neurology? The Sympathetic Nervous System and the Para-Sympathetic Nervous System are two modes of human functioning involving different brain chemicals that produce different psycho-neurological responses. Panic and excitement are both results of the Sympathetic Nervous System, the amygdala, the “small” brain, the “fight …
Did you know that in learning music, boys tend to use the brain’s left hemisphere more and girls tend to use bilateral brain function? So in choosing a music teacher for your child, choose one who is sensitive to subtle differences in the disparate functions of each child. A good teacher will be curious and …
“…and all knowledge is vain save when there is work; and all work is empty save when there is love; and when you WORK WITH LOVE you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to the universe…” Kahlil Gibran’s
Holidays are a great way to stimulate our creative juices. By spending relaxing time with friends and family, eating special comfort foods, traveling to different places we open a crack in our habitual routines and give ourselves a chance to re-wire and re-set. So enjoy the holidays thoroughly and arrive in a new year with …
Research has shown that music and the practice of music “embeds itself deeply into the nervous system” as psychologist Dr. Oliver Sacks writes. Research in cognitive neuroscience has supported this statement by finding that music training causes the following structural and functional changes in the brain: significantly more developed left planum temporales larger anterior corpus …
