wwwbwedu Musical science scientific music http wwwbwedu Why are we all here Why is there a Bach Music as a SCIENCE Philip Ball Music as a SCIENCE Pythagoras 600 BC There are ID: 264329
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Slide1
http://
www.bw.eduSlide2
Musical science, scientific music
http://
www.bw.edu
Why are we all here?
Why is there a Bach?Slide3
Music as a
SCIENCE
Philip BallSlide4
Music as a
SCIENCE
Pythagoras, ~600 B.C.: There are
mathematical solutions
to natural phenomena. And they are
simple
.
b
ritannica.comSlide5
Greeks named consonant intervals
Diapason (octave)
‘
Some
-
where
… over the rainbow’
Diapente (fifth)‘twinkle
twinkle … little star’Diatessaron (fourth) = Diapente to Diapason
‘here
comes
… the bride’Slide6
Intervals => string fractions
Wavelength
Frequency
Note
A
A
220Hz
440Hz
880Hz
A
660Hz
E
Simple solution: consonant intervals are related by
small integers
!
Diapason
Diapente
DiatessaronSlide7
Frequency vs. Pitch
Frequency increases
Geometrically
with increasing pitch
Octaves = P
0
* 2
x
Pitch
X
2
x
Frequency
A
1
0
1
55
A
2
1
2
110
A
3
2
4
220
A
4
3
8
440
A
5
4
16
880
A
6
5
32
1760Slide8
Important
Intervals = small integers
Octave = 2/1
Fifth = 3/2
Fourth = 4/3
Third = 5/4
Sixth = 5/3Slide9
Natural Harmony of the World
X
2X
3X
4X
5X
6X
X
1/2 X
1/3 X
1/4 X
1/5 X
1/6 X
Wavelength
Octave
Fifth
Major Chord is built into Harmonic Series
Octave
Major Third
Fifth
Frequency
A
A
E
A
C#
ESlide10
Strings => Scales
Pentatonic Scale => worldwide
Diatonic Scale => BACH
The Well-Tempered ClavierSlide11
Music = Math of small numbersSlide12
Music is the
Universe’s way of being heard
.
Why are we all here?
But what is so special about music?Slide13
Music is everywhere
www.nasa.govSlide14
Music is everywhere
www.nasa.gov
Music is
Universal
Music is
old
>42,000 year old fluteSlide15
Music is everywhere
"[Music is] a gymnasium of the mind. No other activity seems to
use so many parts of the brain at once
, nor to promote their integration.”Slide16
Music is everywhere
IO
Pitch
:
T
onotopic
maps of auditory cortex
Timbre
:
Heschl’s
gyrus
, superior temporal
sulcus
Tempo/Rhythm
:
Cerebellum
, basal ganglia
Musical structure /
meaning:
Cerebral cortex
Emotional content /
reward:
Limbic systemSlide17
Music is innate
Newborn brains
r
espond to music &
changes in music
IO
Babies @ 2 months:
Turn toward consonant sounds, away from dissonance
Recognize differences in tempo, keySlide18
Music is human
Music is ‘
hardwired
’ into us
Suggests
genetic
control
Why
? What is adaptive benefit?Slide19
Darwin is perplexed . . .
"As neither the enjoyment nor the capacity of producing musical notes are faculties of the
least direct use to man
in reference to his ordinary habits of life, they must be ranked amongst the
most mysterious
with which he is
endowed.”
Descent of Man, 1877Slide20
So, let’s hypothesize . . .
" . . . it appears probable that the progenitors of man, either the males or females or both sexes, before acquiring the power of expressing their mutual love in articulate language, endeavored to
charm each other with musical notes and rhythm
.”
Descent of Man, 1877Slide21
Music = sexual selection?
“Musical tones and rhythm were used by the half-human progenitors of man, during the
season of courtship
, when animals of all kinds are excited by the
strongest passions.”
Descent of Man, 1877Slide22
Darwin considered music to be equivalent
to mating displays of animals: coordination, determination, good hearing, stamina,
mental agility, sufficient
time
& resources
needed to develop expertise
Music = sexual selection?
= good genes
“honest signal”
of mental
and
emotional
flexibility and
fitnessSlide23
Music = Auditory Cheesecake?
"What benefit could there be to diverting time and energy to the making of
plinking noises
, or to feeling sad when no one has died
?”
“As far as biological cause and effect are concerned,
music is useless
.”“
music could vanish from our species and the rest of our lifestyle would be virtually unchanged”Slide24
Music = pleasure technology?
"Music appears to be a pure pleasure technology, a
cocktail of recreational drugs that we ingest through the ear
to stimulate a mass of pleasure circuits at once"
Steven Pinker
http://
learn.genetics.utah.edu
/content/addiction/mouse/Slide25
Music = a spandrel?
Functional bit =
arch
Artistic
b
y-product =
spandrel
Stephen Jay Gould
Language?
Creativity?
Imagination?Slide26
What
does
music do
to
/
for
us?
Short-term changes to physiology
Long-term changes to our brainSocial cohesionSlide27
Music influences
physiology
Music affects physiological arousal: blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, perspiration
Music reduces anxiety, alleviates pain
AND
increases endurance, motivation, anaerobic power
Music (especially in a group) associated with
increased immune system functionSlide28
Music reduces
stress
Relaxing music =>
reduction in
cortisol
(a stress-associated hormone) Slide29
Music increases mental abilities?
Mozart > silence, relaxation for a specific task of spatial reasoning
1993Slide30
But Mozart is not necessary
Specific ‘Mozart Effect’ findings
were
replicated
… but similar findings for pretty much anything but silence =>
arousal
(Stephen King, Art, Birdsong, Screensaver!)
Conclusion: sitting around & doing nothing makes you perform worse at the task Slide31
Music is
RewardingSlide32
Reward
systems in the brain
Hey I’m Hungry
Go Find Food
Wow I just ate
Good job!
Reinforce
and
motivate
behaviors that increase survivalSlide33
Reward
and the ‘reptilian’ brain
So nice and scaly!
Worth a shot!
Hey I just tried to reproduce!!
50000 points!!Slide34
Basic
Reward Circuit
Hey I just tried to reproduce!!
1000 points!!
Nucleus
Accumbens
Ventral
Tegmental
Area
http://
thebrain.mcgill.ca
/Slide35
Self stimulation of
nucleus accumbens
Olds & Milner 1954
=>
Reward
. Rat will not stop.Slide36
Reward
in the brain
http://
thebrain.mcgill.ca
/
Dopamine
from
Ventral
Tegmental Area to Nucleus
Accumbens
Nucleus
Accumbens
Ventral
Tegmental
Area
Activated by food, sex, drugs … and
MUSICSlide37
Musical
Reward
Flood brain with
Labeled, but non-active
DOPAMINE
Play music known to induce ‘chills’
Image brain at peak emotion
Nucleus
Accumbens
1000 points!!Slide38
What
does
music do
to
/
for
us?
Short-term changes to physiology
Long-term changes to our brain
Social cohesionSlide39
Einstein’s brain!Slide40
Einstein’s brain!
enlarged
motor cortex
, region controlling
left hand
= a consistent finding in string players
Correlated with number of years of studySlide41
Brain changes =
plasticity
Motor Cortex
Auditory Regions
Corpus
CallosumSlide42
Musicians are generally better at:*
Detecting subtle differences in pitch, rhythm
Avoiding age-related hearing decline
Language acquisition
Deciphering speech in noisy backgrounds
Auditory attention and listening skills
Verbal memory, auditory memory
Spatial cognition (e.g. 3-D mental rotation)Slide43
Maladaptive
plasticity
Focal
dystonia
… ‘YIPS’
Inappropriate recruitment of brain regions
Robert Schumann
Münte
et al. 2002
Robert SchumannSlide44
What
does
music do
to
/
for
us?
Short-term changes to physiology
Long-term changes to our brain
Social cohesionSlide45
Community, Belonging, Togetherness
‘
Motherese
’ in all cultures
Ritual
Dance => unity
Social cohesion
Increase in Oxytocin?Slide46
Musical science, scientific music
http://
www.bw.edu
Why are we all here?
Why is there a Bach?Slide47
What does this mean?
> 50 musicians,
several composers
http://
en.wikipedia.orgSlide48
Music
as a Model of Nature vs. Nurture
What is the musical
Genotype
?
What is the musical
Phenotype
?Slide49
What is
musicality?
Technical facility
Creativity / imagination
Memory
Emotional awareness
Motivation & Drive
Focus & CommitmentSocial ability & LeadershipEmpathy & Receptivity
phenotype
Difficult to encapsulate talent without oversimplification
Absolute Pitch
= genes + environment
Genetics requires
categories
Individual excellence is
uncommon
Universal excellence
RARESlide50
Brain regions => aspects of expertise
Technical facility
Creativity / imagination
Memory
Emotional awareness
Motivation & Drive
Focus & Commitment
Social ability, LeadershipEmpathy
Individual excellence is uncommonUniversal excellence RARE
Differences in brain =
differences in abilitySlide51
Genetics of musicality:
Social behaviors?Slide52
AVPR1A & Social
Bonding
Serotonin
&
TranscendenceSlide53
Talent
is not sufficient
10,000 hour ‘rule’
Best = also more napping & more sleep!Slide54
Practice
is not sufficient
Deliberate
practice is key
Still not a guarantee . . .
16 years old!Slide55
Bach’s are rareSlide56
Musical Training =
Training to be better people
Technical facility
Creativity / imagination
Memory
Emotional awareness
• Motivation & Drive
• Focus & Commitment
• Social ability
• Leadership
• EmpathySlide57
Support your musicians, and do music!
• Educators, performers, subscriptions …
BACH DOUBLE!Slide58
Thanks & Readings & QuestionsSlide59Slide60
Taking it all apart
http://
zenpencils.comSlide61Slide62
The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars.
We are made of
starstuff
.
www.nasa.gov