The Musical Brain

Abstract Neuroscientists have been studying musicians and the process of making music for the past three decades. The Musical Brain: What Students, Teachers, and Performers Need to Know explores some of these exciting research areas and demonstrates the impact this research can have, not only on the study and performance of music, but on how we think about the place of music in our lives. The book looks at research areas such as the biological foundations of music, neuroplasticity, imagery, mirror neurons, learning and memory, music cognition, musical abilities of babies, and cognitive advantages of studying music, and suggests applications based on this research for our earliest musical interactions with infants, for the practice room, for the teaching studio, and for performance. The book uses the stories and experiences of some exceptional musicians to demonstrate the brain processes discussed in the text and an accompanying website provides links to interviews, performance clips, photos, demonstrations, and essays that augment and amplify what is possible in a print format.