What’s The Score?

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Music Fast Facts – Week 6

This is the first of a two part article that very briefly explains how Music affects your brain. You will be amazed.

Hello 2018!!!

The brain can work in ways we can’t comprehend. In numerous studies they have been able to see just how much normal things like music can effect, and even alter, it completely. These facts about music will give you an insight into the complexity of your own mind.

1. The chills you get when you listen to music, is mostly caused by the brain releasing dopamine while anticipating the peak moment of a song.

Music Chills
Image source: www.wiretotheear.com

Dopamine is a feel-good chemical released by the brain. This chemical is directly involved in motivation, as well as addiction. These studies found a biological explanation for why music always has been such a huge part of emotional events around the world since the beginning of human history.(source)

2. There are few activities in life that utilizes the entire brain, and music is one of them.

music on brain
Image source: image source

With Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI), a research team recorded a group of individuals who were listening to music. They found that listening to music recruits the auditory areas, and employs large-scale neural networks in the brain. In fact, they believe music can activate emotional, motor, and creative areas of the brain.(source)

3. Playing music regularly will physically alter your brain structure.

Brain plas­tic­ity
Image source: mindscapeworkshops.co.uk

Brain plas­tic­ity refers to the brain’s abil­ity to change through­out life. Changes asso­ci­ated with learn­ing occur mostly at the con­nec­tions between neu­rons. When studying musicians, they found that the cor­tex vol­ume was high­est in pro­fes­sional musi­cians, inter­me­di­ate in ama­teur musicians, and lowest in non-musicians.(source)

4. The brain responds to music the same way it responds to something that you eat.

As stated above, dopamine is a chemical released by the brain. This chemical is connected with the feeling of euphoria which is associated with addiction, sex, and even eating. Dopamine is what enables a person to feel the pleasures of such things. A study using only instrumental music proves that anticipation for a musical rush released the same kind of reactions in the brain as anticipating the taste of your food.

5. Listening to music while exercising can significantly improve your work-out performance.

Listening to music while exercising
Image source

Dissociation is a diversionary technique which lowered the perceptions of effort. This technique can divert the mind from feelings of fatigue, and heighten positive mood states like vigor. By using music during low to moderate exercise intensities, you will find yourself with an overall more pleasurable experience while working out.(source)

6. An emotional attachment could be the reason for your favorite song choice.

love songs playlist
Image source

Favorite songs are often context-dependent. Even though many people often change their favorite song depending on the most recent releases, it is proven that long-lasting preferences are due mainly to an emotional attachment to a memory associated with the song.(source)

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Music Fast Facts – Week 5

  1. The first pop video was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, released in 1975.
  2. Themes from movies Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges of Madison County, and Absolute Power were all written by Clint Eastwood.
  3. The only guy without a beard in ZZ Top last name (surname) is Beard.
  4. Since its launch in 1981 the song “Memory” of the musical Cats has been played on radio more than a million times.
  5. Paul McCartney was the last bachelor Beatle when he married Linda Eastman in a civil ceremony in London, 1969. Paul’s brother Mike was his best man. No other Beatle attended the wedding.
  6. There are 6 versions of Franz Schubert’s “Die Forelle” (“The Trout”), simply because when friends asked him for copies of the song, he wrote out new copies to the best he could remember at the time.
  7. In 1952, John Cage composed and presented 4’33”, a composition consisting of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence.
  8. The Carpenters signature song, “We’ve Only Just Begun,” was originally part of a television commercial for a California bank.
  9. In 1972, Leslie Harvey of Stone the Crows died after being electrocuted onstage in England. In 1976 Keith Relf, who used to play for The Yardbirds, was electrocuted by his guitar while playing in his basement.
  10. During a mid-performance in 1994 Ramon Barrero, a Mexican musician famous for playing the world’s smallest harmonica, inhaled the harmonica and choked to death.
  11. The Beatles holds the top spot of album sales in the United States, with 178 million sold. They also hold the top spot for singles sales – 1.6 billion.
  12. Following The Beatles on the chart for highest-certified music artists in the United States are Garth Brooks (148 million albums), Elvis (136 million) and Led Zeppelin (112 million).
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TED Talks: Bluegrass Virtuosity

This is TED Talk no.5 – not really a talk but a fun filled amazing performance, which is what we are aiming to inspire and achieve in our classes

For those old enough to remember, it reminds us of the Beverly Hill Billies theme music. It just makes you wanna say “Yeeeeeeeeha!”

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Music Fast Facts – Week 4

  1. Annie Lennox has won more Brit awards (8) than any other female artist.
  2. Ireland has won the most Eurovision song contests (7 times).
  3. Klezmer music is derived from two Hebrew words, clay and zimmer, meaning “vessel of music.”
  4. The Ocarina, a musical wind instrument, is also known as the Sweet Potato.
  5. A grand piano can be played faster than an upright (spinet) piano.
  6. A piano covers the full spectrum of all orchestra instruments, from below the lowest note of the double bassoon to above the top note of the piccolo.
  7. The last note of a keyboard is C.
  8. The biggest per capita music markets, in order, are Norway ($25 per person per year), UK, Sweden, Japan, Germany, Australia and United States ($15). China has the smallest per capita music spending, at less than a dollar per person.
  9. The longest living person on record, Jeanne Louise Calment (21 February 1875 – 4 August 1997), released a CD on her 121st birthday in 1996. Titled “Time’s Mistress” it features Ms Calment reminiscing to a score of rap music and other tunes.
  10. “Guess Things Happen That Way” by Johnny Cash was the 10-billionth track sold on iTunes, February 2010. It was bought by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, who won a $10,000 (£6,500) iTunes gift card.
  11. The top selling singles of all time are Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” (50 million), Elton John’s “Candle in the Wind ‘97” (33 million), Mungo Jerry’s “In the summertime” (30 million) and Bill Haley’s “Rock Around the Clock” (25 million).
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Music Fast Facts – Week 3

  1. The Star-Spangled Banner became the US national anthem in 1931. Prior to that, it was My Country “Tis of Thee,” which had the same melody as Britian’s national anthem God Save the Queen, which is based on music written by John Bull in 1619. Bull’s melody has been used more than any song in national anthems.
  2. The British anthem was performed the most times in a single performance. In 1909, while waiting for King Edward VII who was getting dressed a German band played the anthem 17 times.
  3. The Beatles song “Martha My Dear” was written by Paul McCartney about his sheepdog Martha.
  4. Tap dancing originates from Irish clog dancing and what is called the Irish reel and jig.
  5. Elvis’s favorite collectibles were official badges. He collected police badges in almost every city he performed in.
  6. Elvis was an avid gun collector. His collection of 40 weapons included M-16s and a Thompson submachine gun.
  7. Duran Duran took their name from a mad scientists in the 1968 Jane Fonda movie Barbarella.
  8. Journey, formed in 1973 by Neal Schon, was originally called Golden Gate Rhythm Section. Journey has sold more than 70 million albums.
  9. The world’s largest disco was held at the Buffalo Convention Centre, New York, 1979. 13,000 danced a place into the Guinness Book of World Records.
  10. In August 1983, Peter Stewart of Birmingham, UK set a world record by disco dancing for 408 hours.
  11. The real name of Lorde is Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O’Connor. See more Real Names of Famous Musicians.
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Knowledge: The Power of Music Education

It’s not music propaganda when we say that Music has a profoundly beneficial impact on our lives. The following 11 facts come from the DoSomething.Org website and is a wonderful list of why encouraging, participating in, enjoying and experiencing music is essential to your well being.

  1. Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music lessons.
  2. Children with learning disabilities or dyslexia who tend to lose focus with more noise could benefit greatly from music lessons.
  3. Music programs are constantly in danger of being cut from shrinking school budgets even though they’re proven to improve academics.
  4. Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.
  5. In the past, secondary students who participated in a music group at school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances (tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs).
  6. Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2% graduation rate and 93.9% attendance rate compared to schools without music education, which average 72.9% graduation and 84.9% attendance.
  7. Regardless of socioeconomic status or school district, students (3rd graders) who participate in high-quality music programs score higher on reading and spelling tests.
  8. A Stanford study shows that music engages areas of the brain which are involved with paying attention, making predictions and updating events in our memory.
  9. Much like expert technical skills, mastery in arts and humanities is closely correlated to a greater understanding of language components.
  10. Young children who take music lessons show different brain development and improved memory over the course of a year, compared to children who do not receive musical training.
  11. Schools that have music programs have an attendance rate of 93.3% compared to 84.9% in schools without music programs.
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Knowledge: A brief global history of music

Music has been around since the beginning of mankind. All over the world, people sang songs of greef, sorrow, happiness, greed, and so on. Music is the most interesting method to share your feelings. It doesn’t matter if you’re singing with your voice, an instrument or even both of them, it’s a fact that our souls and bodies are feeling the vibe.

The history of music dates back 5000 years ago, when people started to hit stones and wood in a particular manner, making rough music. Even then, music was accompanied by dance; many songs and dances were made to celebrate different Gods. This kind of music developed in the following thousands of years, turning into ancient music, which isn’t well known and not by far cherished in the modern age.

Before the ancient times, you couldn’t say that the sound produced by bricks hitting other bricks or wood was music. In antiquity, people made music in an interesting and organized way, reflecting the fact that mankind already understood the fact that music is the most beautiful thing that needed to repeat itself.

In Ancient China, music could be found all over the empire, in different forms. There were anthems composed for the leaders and a very rich portfolio of popular music. The instrument had various shapes, with or without cords, percussion instruments and all sorts of pipes, whistles and trumpets.

In India, music was the main activity inside temples, and the most important way to send messages to the Gods. The instruments were very much alike those found in China.

In Ancient Greece, there was music everywhere you looked. From bars to the senate, from the streets to noble’s houses, music entertained people 24/7. In Greece, music became a subject of study, mandatory for any citizen’s moral formation. In Plato’s Republic, music shows young people the way to harmony and spiritual beauty. Aristotle thought that music can even cure different mental illnesses.

In Ancient Rome, music found its way in theaters, accompanying instruments and made the show whole. Also, in Rome, many musical genres were invented: cradle songs, wedding songs, party songs, labor songs and so on.

In Medieval times, music didn’t have the same development as before, but it did exist as a form of expressing different feelings. Although music was sung all over the medieval cities, the main places where music could be heard were churches, monasteries and such.

In the Renaissance, music exploded all over Europe, and had many schools. The French and Flamand school, The Italian School, with its main figure, Claudio Monteverdi, The French School- Claude le Jeune, and The English School- William Byrd.

The Baroque has 3 main periods: the early, the middle and the late baroque. Along with these 3 periods, the 17th and 18th century came with major changes and new instruments and world renowned composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Friedrich Handel and Antonio Vivaldi.

For the next hundred years, the classical period takes shape. In contrast with the Baroque, the Classicism is renowned for its rigor and balance. This current took shape not only through music, but also with literature and the art of painting.

The 19th century is a romantic one, in all terms. I’ll give you 3 names and you’ll understand: Beethoven, Schubert and Weber.

The 20th century comes [along] and, like all other things, music expands and develops by the day:  From jazz to heavy metal, from rhythm and blues to death metal and from Moulin Rouge to Britney Spears.

[As for the 21st Century, the internet has brought about a major shift in the way we relate to, interact with and buy, music.  The ability to select a single track from any album means someone can have a very ecclectic music library because they can now buy a single movement from a classical composer’s symphony but not get stuck with the whole album which they may not like or want. The musical tastes they are a changin’!]