Description

By (author) Helding, Lynn

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The Musician’s Mind translates the latest cognitive and neuroscience research into clear, compelling concepts that enlighten the central pursuits of musicians’ lives: teaching, learning, and performance. No matter your instrument or level of musical ability, this book will show you new ways to optimize your mind’s creative power and wellbeing.

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Where does learning begin and how is it sustained and stored in the brain? For musicians, these questions are at the very core of their creative lives. Cognitive and neuroscience have flung wide the doors of our understanding, but bridging the gap between research data and music-making requires a unique immersion in both worlds. Lynn Helding presents a symphony of discoveries that illuminate how musicians can optimize their mental wellbeing and cognitive abilities. She addresses common brain myths, motor learning research and the concept of deliberate practice, the values of instructional feedback, technology’s role in attention disorders, the challenges of parenting young musicians, performance anxiety and its solutions, and the emerging importance of music as a social justice issue.More than an exploration of the brain, The Musician’s Mind is an inspiring call for artists to promote the cultivation of emotion and empathy as cornerstones of a civilized society. No matter your instrument or level of musical ability, this book will reveal to you a new dynamic appreciation for the mind’s creative power.

Table of contents:
Introduction: A New EnchantmentA New EnchantmentThe Brain on MusicThe “Mozart Effect”Music and the MindChapter 1: Science, Art and The Missing Mind What Revolution?Mindless BehaviorismThe New Science of MindMusic as a WeaponScience and ArtC.P. Snow’s “Two Cultures” The “Third Culture” The Theory of Multiple IntelligencesThe Rescue of EmotionThe Other Half of the TruthThe Mind-Body ProblemNeuroaestheticsCautious EnchantmentChapter 2: Groundwork: at the Foothills Neuromyths and BrainscamsIn the Shadow of the “Mozart Effect”Tracking a Scientific Legend Exposure Is Not LearningThe Left Brain | Right Brain Dichotomy Brain Personalities and Learning StylesReal Brain GainsWhat is the Use of Music?The Big One Know-That and Know-How How the Thing WorksChapter 3: How Learning Works Two Basic Modes of Information ProcessingLearning DefinedThe Triumvirate of LearningStep One: AttentionAttention Aides: Emotion and DesireAttention Aides: Motivation and Rewards Attention Aide: Goal-Setting Attention Aide: SleepStep Two: Learning ChunkingConstructed Memories Step Three: MemoryNeurogenesis and Neural Plasticity The Plastic ParadoxBack to the BodyChapter 4: Learned Movement: Motor Learning The Question is How, Not WhatMotor Learning and Performance Differences Between Learning and PerformancePerformance Shifts: Upsides and DownsidesNegative Performance Shifts and ‘Unlearning’The Path to Carnegie Hall Three Rule of PracticeMotor Imagery: Thinking About DoingControlled versus Automatic Processes: Learning/Have LearnedFeedbackInherent FeedbackVisionSingers’ Alternative Facts: Cognitive Dissonance ProprioceptionAugmented FeedbackConcurrent Augmented FeedbackTerminal FeedbackFeedback FrequencyKnowledge of Performance and Knowledge of ResultsToo Much Information?Hands Off The Theory of Attentional FocusAttentional Focus in MusicNovice Learners and Internal FocusChallenges to “The Maxim” and “Just-do-it”Flexible AttentionPlanning for Disruptions: Training How to ThinkTraining Embodied CognitionChapter 5: Performance Studies Deliberate PracticeCognitive Demands of Deliberate Practice Emotional Demands of Deliberate PracticeGritBeyond Deliberate PracticeEarly Starts and Caring Mentors Tiger Moms and Helicopter ParentsThe Inverse Power of PraiseBuilding MotivationSelf-Esteem Theory N