Transcript Baldwin Wallace Bach Talk Slides

http://www.bw.edu
Musical science, scientific music
Why are we
all here?
Why is there
a Bach?
http://www.bw.edu
Music as a SCIENCE
Philip Ball
Music as a SCIENCE
• Pythagoras, ~600 B.C.: There are
mathematical solutions to
natural phenomena. And they
are simple.
britannica.com
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’
Intervals => string fractions
Wavelength
Frequency
220Hz
440Hz
660Hz
880Hz
Note
A
A
Diapason
Diapente
E
Diatessaron
A
Simple solution: consonant intervals are related by small integers!
Frequency vs. Pitch
Frequency increases Geometrically
with increasing pitch
Octaves = P0 * 2x
Pitch X
2x
Frequency
A1
0
1
55
A2
1
2
110
A3
2
4
220
A4
3
8
440
A5
4
16
880
A6
5
32
1760
Important Intervals = small integers
• Octave = 2/1
• Fifth = 3/2
• Fourth = 4/3
• Third = 5/4
• Sixth = 5/3
Natural Harmony of the World
X
X
A
1/2 X
2X A
Octave
1/3 X
3X E
Fifth
1/4 X
4X A
Octave
1/5 X
5X C#
Major Third
1/6 X
6X E
Wavelength
Fifth
Frequency
Major Chord is built into Harmonic Series
Strings => Scales
Pentatonic Scale => worldwide
The Well-Tempered Clavier
Diatonic Scale => BACH
Music = Math of small numbers
Why are we
all here?
Music is the
Universe’s way
of being heard.
But what is so special about music?
Music is everywhere
www.nasa.gov
Music is everywhere
Music is old
>42,000 year old flute
Music is Universal
www.nasa.gov
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.”
Music is everywhere
• Pitch:
Tonotopic maps of auditory cortex
IO
• Timbre: Heschl’s gyrus, superior temporal sulcus
• Tempo/Rhythm: Cerebellum, basal ganglia
• Musical structure / meaning: Cerebral cortex
• Emotional content / reward: Limbic system
Music is innate
Babies @ 2 months:
IO
Turn toward consonant sounds, away
from dissonance
Recognize differences in tempo, key
Newborn brains
respond to music &
changes in music
Music is human
• Music is ‘hardwired’ into us
• Suggests genetic control
• Why? What is adaptive benefit?
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, 1877
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, 1877
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, 1877
Music = sexual selection?
• 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
= good genes
“honest signal” of mental and
emotional flexibility and fitness
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”
Music = pleasure technology?
Steven Pinker
• "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"
http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/mouse
/
Music = a spandrel?
Language?
Creativity?
Imagination?
Functional bit = arch
Artistic by-product = spandrel
Stephen Jay Gould
What does music do to/for us?
• Short-term changes to physiology
• Long-term changes to our brain
• Social cohesion
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 function
Music reduces stress
Relaxing music =>
reduction in
cortisol (a stress-associated
hormone)
Music increases mental abilities?
1993
Mozart > silence, relaxation
for a specific task of spatial
reasoning
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
Music is Rewarding
Reward systems in the brain
Hey I’m Hungry
Go Find Food
Good job!
Wow I just ate
Reinforce and motivate
behaviors that increase survival
Reward and the ‘reptilian’ brain
So nice and scaly!
Hey I just tried
to reproduce!!
Worth a shot!
50000 points!!
Basic Reward Circuit
Nucleus Accumbens
1000 points!!
Ventral
Tegmental
Area
Hey I just tried
to reproduce!!
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/
Self stimulation of nucleus accumbens
Olds & Milner 1954
=> Reward. Rat will not stop.
Reward in the brain
Dopamine
from Ventral Tegmental Area
to Nucleus Accumbens
Nucleus
Accumbens
Ventral Tegmental Area
Activated by
food, sex, drugs
… and MUSIC
http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/
Musical Reward
1. Flood brain with
Labeled, but nonactive DOPAMINE
2. Play music known to
induce ‘chills’
3. Image brain at peak
emotion
Nucleus Accumbens
1000 points!!
What does music do to/for us?
• Short-term changes to physiology
• Long-term changes to our brain
• Social cohesion
Einstein’s brain!
Einstein’s brain!
enlarged motor cortex, region controlling left hand
= a consistent finding in string players
Correlated with number of years of study
Brain changes = plasticity
Motor Cortex
Corpus Callosum
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)
Maladaptive plasticity
• Focal dystonia … ‘YIPS’
• Inappropriate recruitment of brain regions
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Münte et al. 2002
What does music do to/for us?
• Short-term changes to physiology
• Long-term changes to our brain
• Social cohesion
Community, Belonging, Togetherness
• ‘Motherese’ in all cultures
• Ritual
• Dance => unity
• Social cohesion
• Increase in Oxytocin?
Musical science, scientific music
Why are we
all here?
Why is there
a Bach?
http://www.bw.edu
> 50 musicians,
several composers
What does this mean?
http://en.wikipedia.org
Music as a Model of
Nature vs. Nurture
What is the musical
Genotype?
What is the musical
Phenotype?
What is musicality?
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•
•
•
•
•
Technical facility
Creativity / imagination
Memory
Emotional awareness
Motivation & Drive
Focus & Commitment
Social ability & Leadership
Empathy & Receptivity
Individual excellence is uncommon
Universal excellence RARE
Genetics requires categories
phenotype
Difficult to encapsulate talent
without oversimplification
Absolute Pitch
= genes + environment
Brain regions => aspects of expertise
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Technical facility
Creativity / imagination
Memory
Emotional awareness
Motivation & Drive
Focus & Commitment
Social ability, Leadership
Empathy
Individual excellence is uncommon
Universal excellence RARE
Differences in brain =
differences in ability
Genetics of musicality: Social behaviors?
AVPR1A & Social Bonding
Serotonin & Transcendence
Talent is not sufficient
Best = also more napping & more sleep!
10,000 hour ‘rule’
Practice is not sufficient
• Deliberate practice is key
• Still not a guarantee . . .
16 years old!
Bach’s are rare
Musical Training =
Training to be better people
•
•
•
•
Technical facility
Creativity / imagination
Memory
Emotional awareness
• Motivation & Drive
• Focus & Commitment
• Social ability
• Leadership
• Empathy
Support your musicians, and do music!
• Educators,
performers,
subscriptions …
BACH DOUBLE!
Thanks & Readings & Questions
Taking it all apart
http://zenpencils.com
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