Online discussion #1 is open for comments August 29-September 4. Make sure that you email your WordPress user name to music.drjones@gmail.com so that I can give you credit for participating. The rubric I’ll be using to grade your comments is available here.
Welcome to Mu 101!
This semester, we’re going to be using this online forum to have deeper, ongoing conversations and dig into material we might not cover in class. The world of music—all the ideas, people, and ways of thinking that music opens up—is huge. There’s no way that we could possibly cover it all, but hopefully these online discussions will help enlarge your sense of just how big and fascinating the world is!
A very good place to start
We’re starting by thinking about thinking—how does music affect how people think?
Every activity, experience, and piece of information you come across in your life changes your brain. The brain is a system of neurons and synapses that constantly rewires itself to adapt to your life. The more often you do something (like recall a piece of information or perform an activity), the better your brain gets at accessing and doing it. This is why studying a little bit every day is effective: you’re reinforcing your brain’s ability to recall or associate bits of information. And, this is also why habits can be hard to break—you train your brain to do something by doing it over and over—and unlearning a habit requires both making totally new connections between different parts of your brain and also forgetting old ones.
There are a couple of good books on this subject if you want to keep reading:
- Gerald Edelman, Bright Air, Brilliant Fire: On the Matter of the Mind (1992) and Neural Darwinism (1987), which describe his theory of “neural Darwinism,” or the strengthening of different neural pathways in the brain over others through use and disuse
- Antonio Damasio, The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness (1999), which describes his theory of “core consciousness” and people’s (including musicians) ability to consciously enter special mental states by training their brains to do so
- Judith Becker, Deep Listeners: Music, Emotion, and Trancing (2004), which applies Damasio’s and Edelman’s research to people who actively and deeply listen to music and tap into their core consciousness, leaving their personalities behind (there’s also the text of a lecture she gave on this subject available here)
So, what does this have to do with music?
Making music changes your brain in ways that other activities don’t. Learning to play a musical instrument can be a great benefit to the brain: its development, improved long-term memory, language skills, faster reaction times. A lot of research in this field specifically studies the effect of musical study on young children (and here and here), but the effects are true at all stages of life—it’s never too late!
Below is a short (5′) TedTalk that scratches the surface of this idea by showing the many mental processes and parts of the brain that are engaged when someone plays a musical instrument.
Listening—the task of Mu 101
Special things happen to our brains—and our bodies!—when we listen to music, too.
“Physiology” (pronounced fizzy-all-oh-gee) is the study of how our bodies normally function: how our cells, biochemicals, and bodily systems all work together, react to the world around us, and keep us alive.
Physiology comes into play with music when we start thinking about how our bodies react to music: things happen when we like the sounds we’re hearing (our eyes dilate, our pulse changes, our body releases dopamine)—we have a physiological reaction to the music that’s involuntary, exciting, sometimes unexpected, and often enjoyable. Our bodies’ reactions help us understand if we want to hear something again (even if we don’t directly say to ourselves, “Wow, my cerebellum became quite active during that song; I’d better listen to it again!”) because we enjoy the way they feel, and we know that listening to music might be one of the only ways to feel those particular (enjoyable) feelings again.
Below is a link to a short (19′) video presentation given by musician/researcher Deanna Choi at TEDxQueensU in 2012 (Canada) that explains what happens to our bodies when we listen to music. You might be a person that learns more easily from reading than listening, or if you may be interested in reading another short, accessible introduction to the study of music and physiology, so I’m including a link to one here. There are hundreds of similar articles out there—this has been a popular topic of research for the last several decades.
Final thoughts
Engaging with the materials of this class (and every class you take!) will change who you are—by changing how you think and listen, reinforcing new neural pathways in your brain, and helping you acquire new skills that will give you something to build upon, a bundle of neurons ready to link to whatever skills and information you encounter in the future. What a way to start the semester!
-Dr. J.
Some questions to get the conversation started:
- What’s an activity that you can do easily, without having to consciously think about it, and how much practice did it take for you to able to do it easily? What can you infer about people who seem to make music effortlessly?
- What are some physiological reactions you’ve experienced while listening to music?
- If physiological reactions are involuntary, why don’t we all enjoy the same music to the same degree?
Dr. Jones' Music Classes 
When I learned Anatomy and Physiology, I felt difficult that every human’s bones’ name memorizing (terminology). Then, I read about relationship between practice playing piano and memories. According to the “Fundamentals of Piano Practice”, writer said that “Memorizing piano music will not only improve your memory in daily life but will also slow down memory loss with age….” I tried to practice playing piano one hour every day. I distinguished working my left and right side brain whenever my both sides fingers touched piano keyboard alternately. Eventually, I could memory all human bones anatomically. Also, I believe that synapse nervous system develops so that brain works through interaction between music and brain.
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I am taking Anatomy & Physiology now, and I can agree that when learning all of the information about the human body, it can be difficult to remember everything. Music can be a extremely helpful to train our minds to retain all that information. Thus, creating an easier way to store memories in our brains for “play back” of that information.
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Are you sleeping well in the night? In my case, I try to listen that sounds of raining through YouTube. I think that the raining sound through my subconscious make me sleep well. Probably, the sound seems like baby lullaby’s beat so that lead sleep well by involuntary. However, when I ask about it to my friend, she said the raining sound bothers her. So, I figure out that same music ( like rain) we do not enjoy with same degree. How about you?
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There’s a lot of studies about this and it’s definitely something to give some thought about. Everyone reacts to frequencies differently like your example with your friend and some react similarly and find ease in falling asleep. Rain fall is very calm in my opinion and some people may listen to brooks as well which is a stream of water and some birds in the back round to simulate a natural environment. Some people even meditate with these sounds and it helps them throughout the process. There’s something called binaural beats on youtube and I think it’s pretty cool that the purpose of them is to affect our brain waves in positive ways. I do believe sounds play a major role in life. I don’t think we’d be able to live without sound/music.
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Its funny you say that because I know alot of people that can study with music but I am one who can not. When I am studying I find music very distracting because I start to focus on other things like singing and movement and I am reading what ever piece of material in front of me but when I go back to reflect on what Ive learned I have retained no information. Does this happen to anyone else? I know in many cases its the opposite but Ive tried listening to everything while studying.
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I have taken an anatomy and physiology course and agree with your opinion entirely, and support your input on this subject because music has a variety of factors that contribute to the brain. Also instruments, lyrics, beats, sounds, and other levels of magnitude in music corresponds with our thinking, and reminiscing processing. Out of curiosity how long exactly did it take you to be able to play piano as a second nature.
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I took it exactly 2 years and 6 months. The practice piano stimulates our brain, so, I want to suggest that.
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This is so interesting because after watching the short video I thought to myself if I would be able to retain information easier if I decide to take the time and workout my brain a little more by learning to play an instrument. I might give it a try since it was such a success for you.
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The common thing i will do while i listen to music is sing. I believe not only myself, most people will sing with the song if they really enjoy it. And if the lyrics is too hard to catch or the pitch is too high, I would lip-synching the song or make some dance movements. By read this blog, I learn this is called physiological reactions of the brain which are involuntary. Moreover, one thing I noticed related to “music changes our brains in way” is that listen to rap music will make a person’s brain stay in a very excited condition. For example, I tried to listen to rap music before I go to sleep once, of course, the result is my brain is too active so I was awake whole night. Even though I got up next morning, those lyrics still dance in my head. The involuntary physiological reaction can be a trouble for some group of people. However, for the other group of people, it might be very helpful. For example, music is the “backbone” of dancing. Without music, dancers seem like a bird without wings. Therefore, for different people, music has different meaning. It’s all depend on what does music bring to us. Also, the life experience will affect a person’s opinion to a song. As we discussed in the class, age will change our thoughts to Justin Bieber’s song. We may still listen to Justin Bieber’s song, but we could never like him as much as we were 14. Another example, a guy who left his hometown would cry for ”Country road, take me home”, but a person who stay in his city in his whole life might not feel the same way. Music bring us memories.
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I can relate to this because I also enjoy singing and dancing when listening to music. Also I agree with you when you say that music brings us memories because one song can make you think about your childhood and growing up and it can also bring back some of those special moments of your life that you may have forgotten about.
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Right. You remind me my childhood, i was in sunday school when i was little, and every Christmas we would prepare song with dance. So, everytime I hear a Catholic song, i will think of my childhood.
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An activity that I can do easily, without having to consciously think about it, is to make breakfast. I have spent a lot of time making breakfast, mostly eggs, it took me a couple of times before I was good at it. What I can infer about people who seem to make music effortlessly is that they have practiced for years and still practice even if they make it seem effortless, nothing is effortless.
Some physiological reactions I’ve experienced while listening to music is the need to sing along or dance. Some songs even with no lyrics can make me remember things or make me feel sad, happy or relaxed.
The reason why we don’t all enjoy the same music to the same degree even if physiological reactions are involuntary is that music gives different physiological reactions to different people. For example where a song can make me happy someone else can make him or her sad. Just because physiological reactions are involuntary it doesn’t mean that everyone reacts the same.
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An activity that I can do easily without having to consciously think about it is tying a shoelace. I feel like a lot of people can relate to that. I remember when I was little and learning how to tie my shoe, and remembering the rhyme which was “Over, under, pull it tight, Make a bow, Pull it through to do it right”. I consistently repeated that rhyme while I was doing to learn, Now I just do it quick and easy with no need for rhymes or anything. what I can infer about People who seem to make music effortlessly is that they have a gift and a passion for it. And they take years of practice to hone that gift to share with everybody. Talent like that doesn’t come naturally. It only comes through hard work and dedication through your craft.
Some physiological reactions I’ve experienced while listening to music is the need to bob my head. The interesting part about it is that it can be any type of music, even those I don’t like. Also when different music have different beats and rhythm I unconscioulsy bob my head to follow and keep that same rhythm.
We don’t enjoy the same music to the same degree because we are all different people with different likes and dislikes. Our bodies take that into a fact and gives a lot of people different physiological reaction. For example, some people reacts my singing and even humming. Some tap their feet or even their fingers. Everyone is different in some types of ways and that aspects of difference creates our own sort of personal reaction to different kinds of stuff.
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The physiological reactions that I have to music are very slight but they are an important reason why I like the music to begin with. Depending on the type of music I’m listening to, I get different feelings. For example when listening to calming music, I can feel my heart rate slow down and my breathing slow. I picture calming things in my head and my body feels heavy. When I listen to a song that I like very much, I can feel this indescribable feeling, much like a tingling feeling that makes me happy. I feel it from head to toe, I basically zone out.
To me its so interesting to think about how our bodies have all these responses in order to keep us safe and alive. And with music, our body changes how its functioning based off of what we hear. It makes me think about how this could have benefited us biologically, before humans were developed enough to create music. I wonder if there were actual evolutionary benefits to us feeling music in this way.
Having different musical tastes I think its similar to having different clothing tastes, food tastes and even tastes in people romantically. It begins biologically, we crave things that compliment our biological make up.
Its a complex thing to think about but interesting just the same.
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One activity that I can do without having to think about it would be “driving”. When I am driving i don’t have to relearn how to do it, the memories in my brain are there to remind me how to do this activity. Some Physiological reactions that i have when listening to music would be to sing or dance. In some degree when listening to music we all might have different reactions and memories when listening to different types of music. But we all can relate to music in some way or another.
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Driving is also an activity I could do without thinking about it. Once you learned how to do it and have plenty of experience it comes naturally. Just like learning to play an instrument or sing or even dance, it correlates to your statement that memories in your brain are there to remind you of how to do certain activity.
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I can relate to that, because I used to be very nervous driving, but practice makes perfect. Our brains just remember how to do certain things if you do something on a regular.
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I agree with your opinion that we all can relate to music in some way or another. For instance, we empathize with similar emotion by melody without lyrics as when we listen to sad music, tears fall.
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After watched the video and read those articles, I have a strong sense of approval. Music can help people active their brain and let their brain work faster. As a student major relate to math, I often do countless questions. Some questions I can do it without thinking, but some are a little bit challenged. When I get to that time, I need highly focus on the question. I found out music can really help block the notice from outside, and really active my brain to do the work. Oftentimes, I can finish faster when music nearby.
I also play guitar and sing song, that help me lot with my life.Every time when I feel nervous, I will sing music in my head that can help me claim down. When I feel tired for the day, music always helps me relax and settle down whole day study and work. I feel the most important thing that gives from singing and playing music is entertainment myself. People make music for entertainment but first is because of music entertainment ourselves. We write music, sing a song, is for express our feeling and our expectation. When I playing or singing music, I often immersion my own world. At some time, I express myself to other, to the world how I feel.
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When listening to music, you can notice when someone doesn’t enjoy a particular piece just by looking at their facial expressions alone, thus if asked to change the song the person will normally go for an immediate yes and move on. If you look at it from a non scientific point of view you can see that normally people go by a standard, a standard of pleasure or pain. When the pleasure of doing something outweighs the pain then humans are more likely to do whatever it is that is currently present, such as listening to a certain song, but when the pain starts to outweigh the pleasure then we tend to stray very far away from it because we rather not deal with any negative emotions, especially if they start to pile up. Our involuntary physiological actions are not all the same because we all connect tend to connect emotions to past experiences. Everyone draws certain feelings from what they remember doing something similar at that time. I can be happy enjoying an upbeat sort of song because it may remind me of a certain time where a similar sounding song played and something wonderful happened to me at that time. But to another those types of songs can remind them of past love interests that ended on a bad note, or simply bad timing. It all comes down to how we feel and choose to remember things whenever we do something.
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I dont know what relevance this has but from what the TedEd show has talked about music, I think that video games also create a similar stimulation for the brain. I have picked up piano in high school and it was fun, but it also felt like i was playing a game in a sense where i need to press the right keys at the right time with the right rhythm to please my ears and everyone around me. I always thought that video games is the visual form of music. Games are a form of art that create situations where you need to make decisions, understand the characters and environments, comprehend the lessons, and make your own conclusion about what you have just been through. In a way it is music, it is not heard with only your ears, it is also understood with your eyes, and changed with your touch.
I just wanted to share my experience with how i feel music is like a game to me (not in a bad way…..)
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Jump roping is an activity that I can easily do, without having consciously think about. It was hard at first because I will jump to high or consistently mess up.With practice it became easier and the less I focus on how I jump. People who make music effortlessly have been practicing everyday and its incredible because it gets less harder for them and perform with having to think about it. Even if they practice a song in a certain way they might do the same with other songs and it becomes easier for them. When I listen to music I tend to tap my feet and pretend I’m a conductor when listening to music. I even dance when I am alone of course, because the song makes you move physically. I even use music to motivate me when I’m working out. Music affects people in multiple ways and affects the person mentally and physically in different aspects. For example I might use rap for motivate while another person listen to Hard Rock. Everybody has a different reaction to music.
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Usually when i listen to music i find myself humming or tapping my feet without even realizing and its rather embarrassing, but i think its really interesting that our body responds to music we like without us even knowing. We all probably dont like the same type of music because we grew up around different cultures which maybe surrounds us with just a certain genre. The beautiful thing about music is that it can lift our mood or even make us sadder with just a single song.
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I agree with that and that’s why I chose a major based in music. It’s incredible how a 3 minute piece of music can be so moving and so powerful and influential. Everyone who’s human can relate one way or the other. There’s musical history in every part of the world. Especially when a song you listen to depicts the same or similar things happening to you in the present moment it’s an incomparable feeling. Music is timeless as well. A song from the 1800s can still be played in 2017 and song from 2017 can be played in 2050.
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Pysiological reactions maybe involuntary but because each brain is wired differently there is no way for two individual people to have the exact same experience with a song. There may be similar emotions connected to it but because our life experiences, morals, and culture affect our brain make up there will always be room for slight or vast differences in how we view a piece of music.
When listening to music that moves me I love to lip sing, that’s how I know I’ve really connected with a song to want to sing it. Either that or dancing and even though I’m bad at both I enjoying do it when listening to what I deem is good music.
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Its so amazing how our brain works! When listening to music especially Hip-Hop, I am always a fan of the beat and how the artists express themselves through their music. But sometimes my brain just stays focus on the verses and I really dont realize the transitions of the beat, or the loop in the instrumentals. But the type of music that has me wanting to get up and break a quick sweat is Bachata music. Growing up in a Hispanic house hold, I would never understand what they(the artists) were saying on their songs, but I just had a quick trigger to get up and move my feet. I would always hum the chorus and especially scream the ad libs because it was funny to me. But in general,our physiological reactions can be different and the same. Some of us enjoy up tempo music because it gets you pumped up. There are other times when we hear songs that relate to us. Maybe through past experiences or things we are going through today. But our brains give us the signal to what we like. So when we go on apple music or tidal and the albums we download represent our taste in music, and how it connects to us in our everyday lives.
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An activity that i can easily do without having to consciously think about is drawing. I started drawing since i was in pre-school, got the hang of it in middle school and became more successful with my drawings throughout high school. Now i just draw my heart out, don’t stop to think much and i find it really easy for me. People who seem to make music effortlessly are the ones who have been practicing all their lives or most of it. Almost the same process as drawing, practice makes perfect overtime. Some physiological reactions i’ve experienced while listening to music are singing, lip-syncing, and dancing. Different types of music bring out different types of movement/feelings while listening to it. For example, when the music is rap i get a serious face while rapping along and making hand gestures. When the music is sad i sing as if i’m Adele. Even though physiological reactions are involuntary, we don’t all enjoy the same type of music because everybody is different. We don’t all like the same music, some people don’t even like to dance along to a song whether they like it or not.
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That’s interesting that you’re able to sit and draw without music. I feel like I’m the opposite but that may be because I’m easily distracted. When you do listen to music while drawing though, does it affect how you draw or what you decide to draw that day?
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When listening to music and drawing does your mind make you think about other things or does it help you focus on what you’re drawing ?
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It is quite intriguing how each section of our brain functions or operates. Music can be effective physically, mentally, emotionally and socially. However, these are only a few factors that intertwine and contribute to this subject. We are a product of our environment, which indicates that music reflects our past, present, and even future experiences. After reading this article, I was given a stronger perspective of the development musicology, and the variety of aspect that create music as a whole. One of the activities that I can do without having to consciously think about it , would have to be riding a bicycle. The first method I used was riding with training wheels at the age of 8 so I would get the hang of it. Two years later, in order to push myself further I had my training wheels removed by my father. My friend would help me by holding on to the bike and pushing me without assistance. The first few tries within the week were difficult because I wasn’t steering as well, but I starting becoming confident giving myself pep talks and figuring out how to control myself by the end of the week. I believe those who claim that music can be done effortlessly is an ideal statement. On the contrary everyone claims various of passions or similar are portrayed differently. Everyone has a different pace or approach depending on the scenario. Everyone shares different trait of interest and will analyze and observe that particular field just as much. You must being compassionate, dedicated and, committed in order for something to have spark your interest.
Some psychological reactions that I have experienced while listening to music was chills, and a movement of either an experience of my past, or fantasy of somewhere away from reality. Music has affected my emotional state as well making me sad, happy or angry. Music can be uplifting, and motivational or cause sorrow and sadness to an individual. Honestly depending on the genre and environment that I am exposed to I have felt differently. Psychological reactions are involuntary due to the fact that its out of our control. To elaborate on this conflict of interest, everyone doesn’t think alike. its inevitable to have these particular reactions. We all function differently according to out mental state. Music can be either look in depth at an angle of magnitude or of slight interest. Overall to my understanding music can be expressed differently for every individual. An example that I would like to take the time out to acknowledge is one of my favorite artist named Jermaine Cole and his recent album, “4 Your Eyez Only”. This link ,https://www.vibe.com/2016/12/fan-theory-j-cole-4-your-eyez-only/, provides an interesting controversial theory portraying the life J. Cole has lived. It can bring strong emotions, and be found engaging in the sense that this platform expressing how deep an artists music can affect someone.
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I found your response to the article super interesting and I love everything about it. First off we share the same favorite artist in J.Cole because I feel J.Cole is a artist who reminds me of me as well as speak real life in music. Also with your post I see similarities with my post as you was talking about how music makes you feel and effects your life no matter what emotional state you are in. Just like you I’ve learned things from this post and how the brain reacts to music.
– Chris Young
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Reading and watching the video really made me want to learn how to read, write and eventually create my own music. I’ve taken a psychology class before and all this information is brand new to me. Even though I like to think of myself as a pretty creative person, I’m definitely stronger with the right side of my brain. Like the video said, being a musician helps connect both sides of the brain which makes them better problem solvers which is always helpful in all situations.
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After reading this post I have learned so many things about my brain when it comes to listening to music and reacting to music. I’ve often wondered what about certain sounds makes the body react or feel something on the inside. The physiological reactions I’ve experienced while listening to music been happening since I was born. Growing up the sounds of Michael Jackson and New Edition was the first things my memory remembers loving and getting me to dance or sing my emotions out even when I was too young to understand the actual lyrics I was singing. In the mid 90’s started loving Hip-Hop sounds and I was still just a young boy. So watching and listening to Kid n Play, or the whole new jack swing movement, or even listening to anything that I had bass and smooth melodies always triggered good feelings in me. Now I don’t understand how everyone have different opinions about music but I do know that’s what separates us as individuals. What I like another person might not understand or embrace and vice versa with someone else but in some degree I feel we all can take away something from music and that is the initial reaction. Sometimes it takes more than one listen to warm up to a song and sometimes you can intially love it. Not everyone shares the same love and passion for music and I don’t have the correct answer why but I do know as a human being we are all different and unique. Growing up and even now I always respected people who can play instruments because that takes dedication and focus. A lot of practice has to go into becoming a flawless musician who plays instruments. What I feel about people who make playing instruments look so effortlessly is that undying patience and determination to be great at it. Something that I do effortlessly is write because I have been doing it since I was young. It takes a lot of repetition to just feel comfort and ease with doing it. Been writing music since 10 years old and now everything comes from the heart and is more pure. My brain learns on the daily and it constantly wants me to write so I continue to write. Writing music is my form of expression and I love the art of that.
-Chris Young
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I can do easily cooking without having to consciously think about it. That recalls my first cooking, that was not easy without conscious. Cut material by recipe and measure cooking hours. However, I cook everyday, that made to used me without recipe and conscious. I think that although a famous musician needs so many times practice so that play good as well. For example, YooJin Park, electric violinist, practice to play violin for so many hours. He is genius to violin in the world. I can infer that even genius needs effort.
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A few, years back when i was a senior in High School I could remember the classes i have taken. It’s strange because one of my classes was Anatomy and Physiology. So, I thought to myself i learned about the human brain in high school and how it functions. The brain is the strongest organ in the human body. I notice the image on the brain on this article and it’s accurate your brain memorize so much it is the best machinery a human person can have in there entire existence. I learned how to play the guitar and memorize how to read music because my brain has a really good function (memory). At, night when i can’t sleep i go on youtube and listen to storms as in heavy rains or anything that has bad weather so i can sleep. These music sounds helped my brain and body rest so the next day i can move on and have the best day i can have.
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I really interest in savant syndrome. According to the google search, there are approximately 1 out of 1400 people with mental retardation or CNS deficits other than autism do have the syndrome. Their brain works special parts like music, painting and etc. The people who have savant syndrome can play music or answer code of music instantly. I can infer the people, having the savant syndrome who, seem to make music effortlessly.
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The biggest question that I can think of come from after watching the Ted talks 5 minute video and that’s does all of the parts of our brain really function that way when listening to music and playing a musical instrument. I’m not experienced in playing instruments so I would like to know from someone that does play an instrument how does it feel when you are reading music and playing the instrument?
– Chris Young
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One activity that I can do without having to consciously think about it would be dancing. Ever since I was a little girl I loved dancing at special occasions. I did not need much practice because my mom loves to dance also and we always dance together and share our moves with each other. The types of music that I dance to mostly is Indian, Dancehall, and Soca. The thing I love most about these types of music is the rhythm and beat that it has. It makes me really excited to get up and dance. The thing that I can infer about people who seem to make music effortlessly is that they have a desire for it and they most likely grew up learning to make music and loved it ever since. Many musicians are dedicated to making music and the reason being is because it makes them happy and life is all about doing what makes you happy and sharing what you love to do with others.
Some physiological reactions I’ve experienced while listening to music is that I tend to tap my feet and go along with the beat of the song. At other times I would sing the song while dancing. The reason why we all enjoy music differently is because we each have different genres of music that we listen to and may not react to them the same way when listening to music that were not familiar with. It also depends on the type of music that you grew up listening to since you became comfortable with it.
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To be honest, the most common places where I find myself listening to music is either in the gym of my car! I love listening to music in the car because it makes me feel good and sometimes I start dancing in the car as well. But in the gym, its a rather whole different feeling because I get pumped up and start wobbling my head to what im listening to. I do have a question though for some people that play instruments because I have no experience with any, is do you start tapping your foot, or wobble your head to what your playing with the instrument??
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The type of music I mainly play is jazz and it is crucial that you’re counting beats 2 and 4. So whenever I am playing, I sometimes tap my foot on the second and forth beat, that is if the song is in four/four time. And in rare cases, I move my shoulders when I’m really into the song.
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One thing I can do effortlessly is apply my makeup literally anywhere . This has taken years of practice which has resulted in me being able to do it on the train a car in 5 mins when I am running late. It been such a routine I’ve done that I no longer have to think about it. I can infer that musicians can make music so effortlessly because they have practiced so much for years it comes naturally to them. I think that a musician being able to engage so many parts of their brain while in their creative process allows them to work even better. They are playing and listening and giving their brain a complete workout which in the long run can only benefit the creative process.
Some physiological reactions I’ve experienced while listening to music are goosebumps, movement, singing. These are all involuntary, I don’t even realize I am doing it most of the time. A reason I believe we don’t all enjoy the same music to the same degree is because we all have different triggers. Our minds engage differently to different things. I think its the same with food and sex we all enjoy different things we don’t all eat and enjoy the same foods. Neurotransmitters like Dopamine are released when we hear pleasurable music which varies with each individual .
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I can break in song without thinking. This might sound crazy but it happens. When I hear any words or phrase that can remind me of a song or they are the same words used in a particular song, I will sing the some I’m reminded of. It took some time, about 3 months or so for me to be able to think of songs at the top of my head. However, over the years I guess I have been working on this ‘skill’ to connect words and songs unconsciously. I think people who can make music effortlessly are gifted. They have an amazing ability to be able to write something that can move people emotionally. I also appreciate that there is learning and effort that’s required until its like a person’s second nature to come up with a new, unique melody, rhythm and lyrics. If I listen to a good song, I get Goosebumps, chills and sometimes the hairs on my back stand. I have been moved to cry by several music renditions as well as moved to dance, smile and have deep thoughts triggered. I think we enjoy music differently because we are different people. We can identify with different things because of different backgrounds, cultures and inclinations. Music affects us all, but its what we identify with in a song that will make us like certain music and not so much liking for other genres of music. An example I can give to further explain this point is that the same sun that melts the butter, hardens the clay.
npchiyangwa
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An activity I can do without thinking are push-ups. Every morning after I wake up and every night before I go to sleep I do push-ups. At first, doing it was very annoying. The first week my arms were sore and sometimes I cheated myself by not doing them. More weeks went by and they became easier. I started off with twenty push-ups a day, ten in the morning and 10 at night, and now it’s way more. Now, it seems like doing push-ups are almost involuntary. Sometimes its seems like people making music are doing it effortlessly and in most some cases it’s true, but it most likely wasn’t like that when they first started playing music, unless you’re Mozart.
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Something that I can do easily without having to consciously think about it is make a beat. I see colors when I make music so whatever the vibe is in the moment I use where I’m at as a point to generate a color and make an instrumental. I wrote music ever since I was young and I always wanted the right beat to fit so after a few months of hanging around producers and working hard to make beats, now they just come so simple to me. I get from other artists who I’ve worked with and some that are currently mainstream/underground is that as time passes… The areas visited and the experiences they’ve had painted a picture and all they do is use the pen and pad to paint that and bring it to life.
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