Isaac Newton passed a ray of sunlight though a prism and got 7 colors; red, orange, yellow, green, blue, Indigo and violet. He called this the spectrum. Notice the first, third and fifth are primary colors? Similar to a Maj Chord. Here’s a link to the Gootar Theory By James C. Cranwell, 04/20/2004
This article in the Desini Bermula segalanya blog (translates to “start here”) shows why playing an instrument helps keep the brain active. Here’s the link
There is a disproportionate number of nerve cells in your hands as well as the lips, tongue and feet. The articles shows that using you non dominant hand and learning/remembering new material both help. I think most of you have seen this guy somewhere. He’s the Homunculus Man. A Graphic representation of what it would look like, if parts of our bodies with more nerve endings were larger, than the areas with few nerve endings.
Homunculus Sensory and Motor
The most interesting part of the article to me was, learning that , you can increase the blood flow to the brain by massaging the base of the neck, right where the spine joins the skull, for a few minutes. So (electric players) remember, when your Guitar strap is digging into your shoulder, it’s cutting off blood to the brain. This is why Les Paul players always have that silly look on their faces(sorry, couldn’t resist). Extra wide straps with plenty of padding make a big difference.
Howdy, Reddit readers. Thanks in advance for checking this out.
This is something everybody does differently. Self taught Guitarists tend to use Chord boxes and string/fret numbers. Some people see the notes on a 5 line staff, some see colors. Do you visualize the entire fingerboard? To me it’s like whistling or humming. I just think of the melody in my head(and the Root notes of whatever key, I’m playing in) and hopefully my fingers automatically play them. It took me a good 5-6 years of practicing 4 hours a day, to reach this level of proficiency. I want to find a fast/easy way of getting beginner Guitarists over this hump. How you see the parts you are about to play?
I need to find the simplest, fastest and easiest to remember way of looking at Chords and Melodies. I don’t mean writing charts, this mainly a visualization exercise but feel free to use a diagram. It helps if you tell me whether you are self-taught and if you read music(not TABs).
I find that when you play different instruments or even use alt tunings, you have to simplify the way you store Musical information. Any tricks, tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated. There might even be a Deadcats or Gorehound Sound T-shirt in it for the best comment.
An article in Cognitive Daily states that even with non musical info like words and pictures too, Musicians tested were more likely to group information by similarities. The articles says understanding the relationships of the notes is how we remember them. Musicians have no advantage over non musicians in remembering a random sequence of unrelated notes. Here’s the article.
Here’s a link to an article in Cognitive Daily. Interesting read.
Here’s the Link. I’ve tried it a few times and never scored higher than 65%.
If you don’t study music before the age of 9 or 10 and learn the notes by their letter names, it’s almost impossible to achieve perfect pitch. Having perfect pitch could be as much of a curse as a blessing. Every time you hear an slightly out of tune Guitar or a song that’s not in it’s original key, your mind will process the sound as being incorrect.
Apparently if you’ve got it, you can tell what note you hear instantly. The same way we see colors. You don’t really have to think which color you are seeing, unless it’s a new color or one you are not familiar with.
Try guessing the open strings of your Guitar. Hum a note then play the string. Also tuning by ear as much as possible instead of using a tuner. Don’t depend on gadgets! Depend on your ears.
So anyone with kids out there, make sure you get them some music training, pronto!
Don’t Smoke Weed, Play Music.
By McDougalAK
This should be the new motto for all anti-drug campaigns.
Music, sex, marijuana, and food all have similar affects on the human brain. All four of these induce a state of relaxation on the mind. They all stimulate similar areas of the brain; sex, food, and music stimulate by releasing chemicals where-as marijuana stimulates by killing, and numbing cells. Surprisingly the most potent of these four “drugs” is music. Here’s the Link
I found a great article at Preacher Mikes Blog , it’s a welcoming address by Karl Paulnack for freshman at the Boston Conservatory. He writes;
The first people to understand how music really works were the ancient Greeks. And this is going to fascinate you; the Greeks said that music and astronomy were two sides of the same coin. Astronomy was seen as the study of relationships between observable, permanent, external objects, and music was seen as the study of relationships between invisible, internal, hidden objects. Music has a way of finding the big, invisible moving pieces inside our hearts and souls and helping us figure out the position of things inside us. Let me give you some examples of how this works. One of the most profound musical compositions of all time is the Quartet for the End of Time written by French composer Olivier Messiaen in 1940.
He also notes that, Musicians are more likely to save the planet than Politicians, Generals or Engineers. Reminds me of the old joke “I told my parents I wanted to be a Musician when I grew up”. They said “I had to do one or the other”
Here’s another bad joke; a Doctor arrives at the pearly gates and St. Peter asks him who he is, replies “I’m a surgeon, I helped the crippled to walk and the blind to see” Come on in St Peter says. Next person shows up, Peter asks who he is, “I’m a Teacher, I help educate the ignorant and prepared them for successful careers”. Come on in. The next guy comes along and says “I was a Musician, I made depressed people happy and I gave lonely people a reason to go out and celebrate life”. St Peter says ” That’s great, you can load your gear in through the kitchen”
Check out this article in Science Daily
Guess what? Surveys show kids actually prefer the sound of sampled, compressed music! They have gotten so used to music with no dynamics, that they actually like it. Convenience is a great thing, I grew up with cassette’s and skipping walkman-disc players. Here’s the link at Gizmodo. Maybe the prevalence of MP3’s will make people appreciate the sound of live music more.
There has even been a confirmed kill, a helicopter landed on some kid in Cranbrook BC who was listening to his Ipod instead of watching where he was going
. Link I read that 1/2 of the drivers under 30, use an Ipod while driving.
