Music and the brain

12th of July 2002, The Royal Institution in London was the place of a symposium entitled The Musical Brain , of great interest not only for us, guitarists, but also for other people. The audience was given a chance to learn more about the brain s processing of music, the possible therapeutic effects of it, and, probably the most interesting for a guitarist  how to improve musical performance.

   A recent study at the Royal College of Music in London was conducted. In it, musicians were given a chance to stimulate, or rather modify, their brainwaves with the help of computer that interpreted the incoming EEG from the student s brain. It was shown that the theta waves, present in conditions of deep relaxation, where responsible for improving the musical performance after the end of training sessions.

   What can we conclude from the above results? Practicing music with relaxed, unstrained approach is the optimal way of improving the technical and expressive skills. Of course, you might not have access to a machine that reads your brain waves, but trying to make a short predetermined relaxation moment before you start your practicing schedule, and maintaining a very calm mind during the practice will enhance your guitar playing. It is now scientifically proven, so don t wave this fact away, but use it to your advantage.

   Besides that, special kind of music can also be used to affect the brain waves to a desired level. Patients recovering from stroke were seen to greatly quicken their walk-training effects when a metronome was used as a supplement. An anaesthesist in Germany has also reported his use of music to relieve the pain of his patients, in hand with reducing the stress hormone levels!

   Consequently, music of various kinds can have interesting effects on our nervous system, and vice-versa  we can manipulate our brain in order to improve our musical performance.

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