Hmmm, he doesn't mention old time jamming, but I think he's on to something here...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tom Chatfield: 7 ways games reward the brain | Video on TED.com
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Step into the consciousness of your right brain
I'm putting the finishing touches on my workshop for the upcoming Fiddle Hell weekend. I've been reviewing the differences between the right and left sides of the brain, and doing a lot of thinking about what makes the old time fiddling experience different.
Seems to me, the sort of jamming and playing by ear that I do is related to giving the experience over to the right brain functions: hearing the tune as a whole, perceiving fingering and chords as spatial shapes (rather than letters and numbers), jamming as a communal activity using sounds instead of words. In contrast, reading notation and learning phrase by phrase is strongly rooted in analytical left brain functions. Here's some background information about what the right brain does.
First up, Jill Bolte Taylor's dramatic account of having a stroke.
And, here's an article that has a good side-by-side comparison of what the 2 hemispheres do.
Not to worry, I won't do much talking in the workshop. And, it certainly won't be a neuroanatomy lesson. We'll learn how to describe some techniques and put those words into use right away by playing the whole of the tune.
Here's a worksheet that I'll handout in the beginning to get folks thinking about old time fiddling techniques. Maybe some folks will give it some thought before the workshop.
Seems to me, the sort of jamming and playing by ear that I do is related to giving the experience over to the right brain functions: hearing the tune as a whole, perceiving fingering and chords as spatial shapes (rather than letters and numbers), jamming as a communal activity using sounds instead of words. In contrast, reading notation and learning phrase by phrase is strongly rooted in analytical left brain functions. Here's some background information about what the right brain does.
First up, Jill Bolte Taylor's dramatic account of having a stroke.
And, here's an article that has a good side-by-side comparison of what the 2 hemispheres do.
Not to worry, I won't do much talking in the workshop. And, it certainly won't be a neuroanatomy lesson. We'll learn how to describe some techniques and put those words into use right away by playing the whole of the tune.
Here's a worksheet that I'll handout in the beginning to get folks thinking about old time fiddling techniques. Maybe some folks will give it some thought before the workshop.
See you 'round the jams!
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