Presenter: Dr. Lois Svard (Professor of Music Emerita, Bucknell University)
Neuroscientists have been studying musicians and the process of making music for the past 20 - 30 years. Since we musicians have been the subjects of so many studies, why don’t we know more about the results of some of this fascinating research? For example, are we hardwired for music? How do we learn music, and what is this process called “plasticity” that changes our brains as we learn? Are there ways to practice that produce more effective learning, helping to alleviate stress whether in performance or in test-taking? This session introduces a few basics about the brain and music that will help us in the teaching studio, the classroom, the rehearsal room, and on stage.