When you first get a handpan, there is so much to explore it can seem overwhelming. Our Handpan 101 video will introduce you to some fundamentals of handpan playing including playing with a metronome, polyrhythms, paradiddles and drum rudiments, learning the scale of your instrument, playing chords and more!
Handpans are resonant steel instruments that evolved out of the Trinidad Steel Pan. Originally made by just one company in Switzerland, there are now (at time of writing) over 100 handpan makers worldwide.
The instrument used in this video is a PanArt 2nd Generation D Hijaz:
Hijaz Scale tones: (1) 5 b7 1 b2 3 4 5
D Hijaz Scale on this instrument: (D) A C D Eb F# G A
Music theory is especially important for handpan players to develop the knowledge of how scales work, how to build chords and how to play with other musicians.
The Paradiddle is an essential rhythmic figure for hand percussion or any instrument that features the interplay of two rhythmic elements. The basic paradiddle pattern is:
L R L L R L R R
This concept can be applied to linear instruments (those that play one note at a time) by simply alternating between two notes, with one note assigned as “left” and the other assigned as “right”.
We are all called to sound for different reasons. Some of us seek it out for entertainment, some for relaxation or meditation, some of us because we want to learn something new, and others because we are focused on...
In this video we look at the difference between what are often regarded as the two top quality handpan materials: stainless steel and nitrided steel. Stainless steel often renders a gold or copper finish and a bright, rich sound....
In this new collection of pan drums, we review and compare some exciting innovations. Included in this video:
-Tacta Handpans C# Harmonic Minor 16 Mutant
-Hamgam by Majid Drums
-Meinl Sonic Energy Octave Steel Tongue Drums in D Kurd and D Amara...
Learn to play chord changes on handpan so you can play along with guitarists, pianists, compose your own music that works with musicians on any instrument!
Gear used in this video: This video features our debut of the...
A new addition to the Didge Project store: the RAV Pan F Pygmy! This pan has two bottom notes on the underside of the drum that make this drum really special. This scale is almost identical to the F...
In most bands, the drummer is the member of the group that others depend upon to establish and drive the rhythm. Some of the keys to becoming a better drummer include melding the sound together, showing the other musicians where to place the groove, changing the time where necessary and finding the ideal textures to complement each musical moment.
When playing any instrument you must acquire the skill of time-keeping, which happens subconsciously while at the same time you are listening to everything else that is happening. This is especially important when first starting out in playing the drums. Good drummers work toward perfection and, as the key rhythmic member in most popular music groups, will always be in a high demand. Through consistent practice and a strong will to continuously improve, the fruits of drumming can be reaped. Listed below are seven proven ways to make you a better drummer in developing your technique and to take your drumming to another level.
#1. Work with, play with and mutually support other musicians
The members of your musical circle will really help in your overall musical improvement if you let them give you feedback. In your jam sessions they will synchronize with you and help by making suggestions to improve your playing technique. Be sure to discuss ideas with each of them. The musicians you play with will help in giving you valuable feedback which will go a long way in assisting you to become a great drummer. It doesn’t matter if you are in a band or not; you still have the ability to learn by working with others. Any musician teaching you is a great feedback resource and you should acknowledge that they are propelling you to improvement. If you have musician friends ask them to come hear you play and ask for feedback. You never know what helpful tips they might offer.
#2. Learn the basics first before developing your own style
Begin by studying the various genres of music: classical, rock, pop, Latin, jazz, etc. After you have taken some quality time in doing this, pick a one drummer who appeals to you the most in every genre and start focusing on the things you love about their style of playing. Learn how to imitate them. After you get done mastering the basics, try incorporating your own distinct style.
A number of us when we start out always have an obsession of being a “creative and original” kind of drummer. The idea of using other drummer’s licks doesn’t seem appealing at all. Often, new musicians wonder how another person’s creativity patterns may help them. So in the bid to avoid being the copycat type of drummer they go about trying to learn new techniques, creating fills that are “original,” yet they neglect mastery of the rudiments. This is a huge mistake and no one should go down this path. Begin by focusing on the fundamentals as it’s very essential, especially if you are a beginner.
#3. Start keeping time
Just as your computer’s clock keeps the time of day it’s a drummer’s responsibility to keep the time for the song that they are playing. Metronomes, drum machines, click tracks and other time keeping tools are of the utmost importance for drummers. You can also develop your time-keeping skills by playing along with recordings of your favorite songs, or even just by turning on the radio and playing with each tune that comes on. This is a great way to learning because the drummers you will hear have more experience than you and will have already developed a high level of musicianship. Try putting on headphones to hear the time right in your ear.
By working your musical ideas out at a slow tempo you can make sure that you hit every note clearly. Once you can play a whole passage or piece slowly, speed it up little by little (use a metronome) until you can play it at the desired tempo. When learning songs, start with those that are easy and which you love to play. Once you can play a song in its entirety, add your own creativity and branch out to original ideas.
#4. Focus on new ideas and experiences
As mentioned earlier, we see beginners trying to become creative using their own ideas with a total disregard of the fundamentals. Little or no success be realized this way. Just like the greatest athletes, writers and all the professionals at the top, learn to do all that is possible to get the needed exposure to ideas that are the best in your field. Always look for opportunities to building your experience by applying these ideas in a creative context.
#5. Develop both of your hands
When playing either hand percussion or with drum sticks, ensure to relax your hands. For almost every beginner, the dominant hand is usually stronger and the weaker hand needs to be strengthened. Practice using the weak hand in playing beats that are more pronounced while using the dominant right hand in striking softer notes.
#6. Play Dynamically (Loud and Soft)
Learning to control sound volume and intensity at every moment is one of the great qualities of professional musicians. For drummers, the amount of physical force you apply to the drum will directly impact its volume.Practice playing soft (ballad-like) as much as you can. ForThe drum set is a drummer’s eyes, hands and feet extension and so you should ensure to practice combining them altogether and also separately.
#7. Be disciplined in your practice
Nothing ever came out of being lazy. If you are truly dedicated to becoming a great drummer, nothing will come your way. Practice, practice and practice even harder, the results will overwhelm anyone. Make sure that you are putting in QUALITY practice time and not just QUANTITY. It’s better to spend 30 minutes of focused practice time than 4 hours of distracted playing.
These tips will ensure that you improve your skills as a drummer. Never forget that it always takes effort and work to ensure improvement but in the end, it will be worth it. Physical drumming is a very demanding exercise but it is highly satisfying to fulfill the need within a larger musical context. Finally do not be afraid of trying out your creativity and becoming adventurous.
What else helps make you a better drummer? Post your reply in the comments section below.
Author Bio:
Kimberley Ng is a blogger, she is passionate about drum music. She’s currently the editor at InstrumentInsider.comHangful.com a website for drummers to learn more about hang drum and all types of handpans. You can learn more on Hangful.com’s Facebook page.
One of the greatest challenges for musicians at all levels is mastering rhythm. Most struggle with timing and it takes steady discipline to master this musical element. In this video, you will learn to develop a stronger sense of both rhythm and timing by practicing basic clapping exercises with the metronome.
I see a lot of musicians out there who are great at making good sounds and are funky and awesome sounding but their sense of rhythm is totally ungrounded. They speed up, they slow down and its almost beyond their control. I used to be like that but after years of practicing with the metronome very diligently I’ve finally come to a point where I can hold a rhythm and take the role of a drummer. This lets me ease into a consistent repetition and that’s what’s really makes music have a sense of grounding.
What I want to give to you is some very simple exercises that you can do without any instrument. We are just going to use a metronome and clapping to do all of this. If you don’t have a metronome, it’s totally fine, just use one of the free metronome sites or apps below.
Some of the best handpan videos of 2016 saw the instrument traveling to spectacular places.
Handpans are spreading all around the world and 2016 was an impressive year for the instrument. Though this list is by no means exhaustive, here are some of the best handpan videos that 2016 had to offer:
1. Sam Maher – Fremantle Handpan
Shot beautifully in HD, Sam Maher is a fantastic player who’s playing and composition are beyond words. Just listening to these sounds is a fantastic experience. Watch and enjoy.
2. Faizan – Hang in there (Hand pan) (HD)
A steady groove accompanied by stompbox and foot shaker. Yes please! Filmed on a beautiful pier site in Maldives.
3. 60 second Handpan Challenge 2.0 2016 Yuki Koshimoto
Yuki Koshimoto plays beautifully and with the special extra effects she runs the sound through, this performance is highly relaxing and enjoyable to watch. One of the best handpan videos to come out of the 60-second challenge.
4. Philippe Gagne – Tocka (Handpan & Harmonica)
We’ve heard quite a few combinations of handpan and other instruments but this harmonica really sings. Such a sweet combination of sound textures here by Philippe and doing it all at the same time is even more impressive.
5. Daniel Waples & Montry Thaalavattam live @ Griasdi HandPan Festival – Austria 2016
This video from the 2016 Griasdi HandPan Festival rocks! We love to dance and mixing in the handpan makes it all the better
6. Yatao | Prag | Handpan Duo
The rhythmic precision of this duo from Berlin is exceptional. Beautiful cinematography and great sounds.
7. Carol of The Bells by Vasilis Vasiliou
Vasilis Vasiliou gets points for sheer creativity, not only with his composition and music production but also with his amazing shots playing handpan in snowy locations. Not to mention actually sitting and playing in while its snowing out.
8. Bello Banff – A Time Lapse HandPan Video by Daniel Waples
Stunningly beautiful shots of one of North America’s greatest nature areas set the scene for some fine playing by Daniel Waples. One of the best handpan videos of 2016, this clip is destined to reach millions of people.
9. Nadishana @ Hang Out USA 2016: Improvisation on Logan Mini Handpan
When it comes to pure technical ability on handpan, Nadishana is one of the best. Demonstrating mastery over harmonics, finger rolls and other sounds you may not have ever heard come from a pan, here he makes it all look too easy.
10. NADAYANA – Towards the Light (Pantam /Handpan, Gong)
An ethereal piece of music accompanied by beautiful visuals. Artistically done and special bonus points for matching the tuning of gongs and handpans.
11. Bandgladesh Live at the Bubble in Hungary at Babel Sound Festival 2016
This Amsterdam-based handpan, trumpet, ngoni, percussion and vocal outfit puts together a unique blend of sounds. This whole concert is worth listening to. www.bandgladesh.com
12. “Golden Mutant” – Jan Borren Handpan by Kabeção
Not only do we LOVE seeing a 15-note handpan, but we are impressed by Kabeçāo’s technical facility and grace. Beautiful playing on a beautiful instrument. Where can we get one of these?
13. Hang Massive – Here Comes The Badger
This combination of Handpan duet with live electronics is super sweet. Well produced video and awesome sounds. hangmusic.com
14. Mumi – The Four Seasons: Winter, Summer and Fall
Amazing arial videography combined with beautiful, subtle handpan playing make the 4 Seasons Series some of the best handpan videos, and certainly the best handpan cinematography, of 2016. We can’t wait for the release of the Spring video.
15. HALO OXALIS by Gabriele Pollina
We love seeing a player who can play fast and with a light touch. Gabriele Pollina does it all and makes it look easy.
15.60 Sec Handpan “Multiplayer” Challenge – Adrian J Portia
Perhaps the best 1 minute of visual multi-tracked handpan around.
16. Handpan Quito – Gustavo Simaan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fTz-KR23ek
Sometimes simplicity is key. Gustavo Simaan’s beautiful compositions with Quito, Ecuador as the backdrop make for an enjoyable audio-visual experience.
17. ‘Espelhos no Mar’ AsaChan Handpan – Kabeção
Kabeção is highly original in his compositions. His technique with finger rolls, friction drones and harmonics is off the charts.
Did we miss any of the best handpan videos of 2016? Tell us in the comments section below (make sure it is a 2016 video). If we like it enough we will add it to this list.
Are you an introvert who prefers solitude or an extrovert who doesn’t have any issue communicating with others? New research in the field of Music Psychology shows that your music playlist could reveal much about your nature as a person.
What is Music Psychology?
Music Psychology is the study of how music affects behavior and experience on any scale, from the micro (how music effects an individual’s emotional state) to the macro (how music can move masses of people). While the field of music psychology is vast, one of its most prominent focuses is figuring out which kind of people like which music. This information is highly valuable to marketers, politicians, and anyone seeking to have influence.
Music Preferences Are Linked To Personality Types
A number of recent studies from around the world are finding that psychological factors can largely determine the music preferences that people have. Energetic people who are also extroverts, outgoing and (sometimes overly) expressive types, tend to prefer upbeat, dynamic, feel-good music. Soul, electronic, rap, pop and hip-hop tend to appeal the most to such people.
In a study published in Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts in 2010, researchers examined the connection between the big five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism, aka O.C.E.A.N.) and music preferences. The study involved 100 volunteers who were asked to rate 20 unfamiliar music tracks. Those identified as extroverts had a natural preference for happy and upbeat music, more so than other volunteers.
A similar experiment was presented in the Journal of Music Therapy in 2005. Researchers worked with 145 male and female students who were chosen at random at different universities. Each volunteer filled out a questionnaire that was used to determine his or her personality type before the start of the clinical trial. Then listening experiments were conducted in which volunteers would pinpoint their favorite piece of music. More upbeat, rhythmical musical pieces were once again the option of preference for individuals who were classified as extroverts by the test.
What kind of music do introverts listen to?
Needless to say, introverts have their specific preferences when it comes to favorite music.
Introverts, those classified as shy, inward-focused individuals, tend to look for music that can be fully enjoyed in private, according to recent research. For these people, the main purpose of music is to stimulate contemplation and produce a sensory response. Most often, introverted individuals favor sophisticated music and/or meaningful lyrics.
Inward-directed “introverts” tend to be in touch with their creative side and at ease with their personalities. As a result, it’s very easy to see why most classical music fans might be introverts. A recent study in Psych Central reports that rock and heavy metal fans are also creative and not particularly outgoing, and classifies a large portion of listeners to these genres as introverts.
A University research team in the United Kingdom led by professor Adrian North undertook the largest study so far when it comes to music preferences and personality type.
The experiment continued for a period of three years. Over these years, the researchers worked with more than 36,000 people in 60 countries. The volunteers were asked to rate different musical pieces and a questionnaire was used to determine the personality types of these individuals. Apart from the findings about introverts and their music preferences, the researchers also found out that extroverts preferred music styles like blues, jazz, country, reggae, dance, Bollywood music and chart pop.
Professor North concluded that the deep link between musical preference and personality type is one thing that makes people defensive when their likes are being questioned. “Music preference and a person’s outlook on life are intrinsically connectedto each other,” North said. This is also one of the main reasons why people tend to bond over music and form friendships with individuals that share similar preferences.
Listen to these songs and see how your taste in music can predict the way your mind works.
Can You Transcend Your Personality’s Musical Stereotype?
While the music you listen to can be used as an indicator of personality traits, nothing is set in stone. But from the perspective of music psychology, there are outliers in both the extrovert and introvert groups. This means there are certainly extroverts who enjoy heavy metal and introverts who are in love with upbeat, modern pop music. These studies present general tendencies and what people gravitate the most to on the basis of their personality traits.
There are many other personality traits that could potentially have an impact on the tracks that we listen to. A study conducted on over 4,000 participants by 16personalities.com has found out that confident individualists (one of the 16 personalities types on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator scale) like classical, rock and metal music. People who are perfectionists looking for constant improvement tend to be drawn to music like punk and indie. Socially-engaged types opt for electronic, pop and hip-hop music.
By Jake Beech – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=30859659
As you can see, personalities are multi-faceted. Being extroverted or introverted isn’t the only thing that’s defining you. The wonderful (and incredibly challenging) thing about human psyche is its complexity. Thus, your music preferences are definitely influenced by a lot more than your attitude towards meeting with others and the way in which you handle social encounters.
We live in a world that’s characterized by a plethora of music choices and many people feel overwhelmed. The music that manages to cut through the noise and speak to a person can reveal tons of important information about who he or she really is.
One thing to remember is that music should never foster division and the classification of people. No matter what genre you like, music is here to be enjoyed. It should be used to form bonds, rather than to set boundaries, regardless of personality types.
What is your personality type and what types of music do you like? Post your response in the comments section below.
About The Author
ALICE CLARKE is a writer and a content marketer for The Australian Essay Service Review. Apart from her main job, Alice loves traveling, exploring and writing to share her experience with the world.
The Pandeiro is a tambourine-style frame drum popular in Brazil. Traditionally held in the left hand with the head facing up, this little drum’s versatility lies in its ability to carry multiple layers of sound at the same time. This video shows how to play pandeiro in the samba style, perhaps the most popular approach to modern pandeiro playing.
As our guest teacher Poranguí demonstrates, there are a wide variety of rhythms that can be played on pandeiro, and a range of bass sound available through it’s tuneable head. Typical pandeiro patterns are played by alternating the thumb, fingertips, heel, and palm of the hand. A pandeiro can also be shaken to make sound, or one can run a finger along the head to produce a drum-roll sound.
The Pandeiro is used in a number of of Brazilian music forms, such as samba, choro, coco, and capoeira music.
Here’s a few pandeiro videos which show how the pandeiro is used in samba, capoeira, choro and other musical styles.
Pandeiro in Capoeira Music
Listen to the “slaps” on the pandeiro as they accent the percussive music that goes along with capoeira, the amazing Brazilian martial art:
Pandeiro in Choro Music
This jazz-influenced Brazilian music form is great for listening at any occasion. Pandeiro is the traditional drum used in choro music.
Pandeiro in Samba Music
These guys play super fast and super tight. Great example of pandeiro in the samba tradition.
Pandeiro in Samba Reggae Music
A unique blend of multiple pandeiro sounds into one rhythmic composition.
About Poranguí
Born in São José dos Campos, Brazil to two artists – a Brazilian mother and a Chicano father – Poranguí grew up in the cultures of Brazil, Mexico, and the Southwestern U.S., steeped in a richness of musical, healing, and ceremonial traditions from birth. As a live musician Poranguí weaves ancestral songs and indigenous rhythms from around the globe. Creating his performances from scratch using looping technology, Poranguí’s live grooves range from meditative to dance party, moving the body, lifting the spirit, and transcending the divide between performer and audience. An evening with Poranguí might take you on a journey from deep, earthy didgeridoo grooves to high-vibe ecstatic Brazilian beats to blissful African kalimba lullabies. Serenades and storytelling to beat boxing and booty shaking: Together, these make an unforgettable experience. Visit him on the web at http://www.porangui.com
Music can do miraculous things and much of its work is done in the subconscious realm. It can make its listeners feel better, forget worries, lift our spirits and more. Following are ten ways that music and the subconscious engage in their cosmic dance.
1Music Changes Your Way of Thinking
Is it possible that thought can be influenced by sound? A recent study found that specific chords and harmonies in music are able to evoke specific mental states.
Is there scientific proof that listening to music while working out can give you more energy? This home-study claims that music provides rhythm to thoughts and that listeners of music gather motivational energy to complete difficult tasks that otherwise appear as too challenging to us.
Medical research is now showing that music has soothing capabilities for the physical body’s central organ, the heart. This study found that listening to the right music can help to lessen blood pressure and reduces the amount of stress on the heart.
Every fan of music wants some emotional support and therefore, he or she turns to music in order to regulate raw emotions that stem out of some pain. Listeners describe experiences of releasing emotional distress while listening to relaxing music.
If you feel hopeless and stressed out, music offers you a source of healing. If you just allow yourself to listen to fast music then your mental condition improves instantaneously.
Creativity is the process of identifying new possibilities by converging different factors. Music makes you more creative by relaxing your body and brain. In focusing on music, the brain relaxes in certain areas and opens the awareness of various creative possibilities.
Relaxed body and mind act together to make your body function in an improved fashion and the effects on memory have been measurably noted. Utilizing music with certain memory excercises, you may be able to strengthen your memory.
http://www.fitbrains.com/blog/wakeup-brain-tips/
8Music Reduces Physiological Pain
Music enables its listeners to experience happiness and therefore, sense of physical pain registers at much lower degree. Music fights physical pain as well. However, physiological pain reduces marginally due to music therapy and it does not in any case provide substitute to conventional medicine.
Psychologists identify your personality on the basis of your musical preferences. Lovers of classical and slow music like to live in solitude and they have introvert personalities. However, followers of fast music register as extroverts most of the times.
Music tends to inspire you to pursue happier life and therefore, you become capable of spreading love. Music lovers tend to have more friends and go out more than people who do not listen to music, according to a recent study.
11What other ways do you see the interaction of music and the subconscious? Post your response in the comments section below.
Author Biography
Nathan Nixon works as a music in and loves to spread his art. He considers happiness as a contagious condition and always moves to share with others his joyful understanding of the world. He works with Corporate Video Production | VidWonders. Contact him at Facebook,Twitter & Gplus with anything music-related.
The modern steel pan instruments known as handpans are growing in popularity due to their beautiful harmonic resonance and wide range of applications as hand percussion instruments. In this video/article we compare a Hang (Invented in 2001 by PanArt, the originators of the handpan) and a RAV Drum (invented in 2013).
The Handpan or Hang Drum
The Handpan or “hang” is a convex steel drum played with the hands and tuned with multiple notes. Each handpan is tuned to a particular scale such as major, natural minor, harmonic minor, hijaz, mixolydian, etc. Sonically the handpan is an overtone-emitting instrument that has the capacity to create many layers of sound and ethereal effects and works very well with drone instruments. Originally called the hang (pronounced “hah-ng”) the handpan was invented in 2001 by a little company in Switzerland. The instrument has fantastic resonance, overtones, and subtle variations in sounds beyond the tonal field base keys and can be played upside like an African Udu. Handpans are rare instruments with very few makers and even fewer makers that make quality instruments so it is a very expensive instrument and difficult to obtain one.
The Hang scale used in this demo is tuned to the D Hijaz scale
RAV Drum (aka RAV Vast) is a revolutionary new instrument that fuses the concepts behind handpans (hang drums) and tongue drums (traditionally made of wood). Perfectly cut steel tongues vibrate harmoniously together to create an ethereal sound perfect for meditation, relaxation, and other mystical music experiences. RAV was invented in 2013 in Russia. Conceptually this instrument uses cut keys as opposed to the hammer tuned Hang drum, which is not cut or welded in anyway. The RAV has a deep resonance and profound reverb effects where the sound lasts for a long time while the Hang/handpan) sound goes for a much shorter duration. This allows for a lot more space between key strokes in the RAV because the sound carries so long without losing the rhythm, which can make for more experimental playing in some respects than the Hang/handpan. The fullness of the sound and the duration of each key stroke makes the instrument very meditative to play because it renders itself to slow playing but of course can also be played very quickly and rhythmically. The backside of the RAV is not as accessible or resonant as a handpan but can still be played rhythmically. The price of a RAV is 1/3 the cost of a Hang and is also generally easier to play than the Hang for most people. It is also a much more durable and sturdy instrument. The handpan can be knocked out of tune with too hard of a hit and over time may need to get tuned up regardless while the Rav does not and is almost impossible to knock out of tune.
The RAV Drum scale used in this demo is tuned to the G Minor Pentatonic scale
Welcome to the Urban Didgeridoo Retreat, a full day of empowering didgeridoo and world music workshops to expand your mind and inspire your music playing.
From the 2015 Urban Didgeridoo Retreat
This workshop is for all levels of didgeridoo players, those who want to take their playing to the next level and those who want to welcome the didgeridoo into their life for the first time.
Nowhere else will you be able to get this much feedback about your playing from a truly experienced team of people.
When you sign up for the Urban Didgeridoo Retreat, you are investing in developing these great musical skills:
· Rhythmic playing
· Circular breathing
· Getting multiple layers of sound
· Incorporating the didgeridoo in a world music context
· Using the didgeridoo as a tool for meditation
· Playing with other musicians
BONUS GIFT: When you sign up for the Urban Didgeridoo Retreat you will receive instant access to Didge Project’s Circular Breathing Mastery Course ($47 value) at no extra cost. Comprised of over 20 videos and 3 full length pre-recorded classes, this program will help you move beyond the foundational techniques of didgeridoo playing and give you everything you need to master circular breathing.
· Worksheets containing a wide range of exercises, rhythms, tips and guidance
· Opportunities to play with other musicians
· Opportunities to ask questions during the workshop and get feedback about my playing
· Circular Breathing Masteryonline course with over 20 videos and 3 full-length classes
Playing musical instruments involves complex muscle responses. Therefore, it’s only natural that children who practice for hours at a time demonstrate improved fine motor functions. In addition, the idea that instruments have a profound impact on those with special needs has ventured beyond mere theory. Studies on how playing a musical instrument effects the brain are still in their early stages, but research continues to uncover astounding, new data.
Playing A Musical Instrument Rewires the Brain
Brain plasticity (the brain’s ability to restructure itself) has sparked interest over the past few years, and the effects of playing musical instruments has been highly discussed by researchers. Studies have consistently shown correlations between seasoned musicians and changes in brain composition. Comparisons with the brains of non-musicians has drawn speculation about the role instruments play in improving and refining auditory processes. Brain functions used to decode sound and rhythms have a fundamental nature, which means they can be translated into practical tasks, such as memory and speech, according to many scientists. Researchers have also observed that musicians are more keen in detecting variations in language and can sense emotions just by hearing subtle changes in a speaker’s voice.
Playing A Musical Instrument Leads To Academic Improvement
Brain scans have discovered a possible relationship between musicians and the accumulation of myelin, which helps the brain transmit information faster and perform elaborate functions. In fact, the simultaneous employment of nearly every part of the brain might explain why a student who begins playing at an early age is more likely to excel in academics and develop advanced problem solving skills.
Playing A Musical Instrument Leads To Enhanced Muscle Memory
Muscle memory (aka being able to repeat a physical task without conscious effort) among musicians is thought to be well-developed, particularly in students who begin learning by the age of seven. This can be credited to the cerebellum’s involvement in grouping sophisticated sequences necessary for playing rhythms, scales and chords. Performing differs significantly from simply listening to music because it involves manipulation of sound, which neurologist believe contributes to improved memory skills over time.
The decision to begin a new process, especially one as challenging as learning to play an instrument, can be frightening for adults, but the long-term benefits are invaluable. Playing at any age can sharpen the brain and relieve stress. Children and even adults starting later in life can benefit from instructors who will nudge them through difficult periods in the learning process, which is why educators play such an important role in keeping music a vital part of our culture. For those passionate about working with developing musicians, we encourage you to start teaching as much as you can, as soon as you can. Start to share everything you know with anyone who shows interest, and get experience by volunteering at music schools, retirement homes, pre-schools and anywhere else where music is appreciated.
Have you experienced positive results by playing or seeing others play a musical instrument? Post your findings in the comments section below.
Dixie Somers is a freelance writer and blogger for business, home, and family niches. Dixie lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and is the proud mother of three beautiful girls and wife to a wonderful husband. She can be found on Facebook. Dixie got information for this piece from a school that offers online programs in music education.
