music

Practice makes perfect? Not so much
05/21/2013 - 09:43

New research led by Michigan State University’s Zach Hambrick finds that a copious amount of practice is not enough to explain why people differ in level of skill in two widely studied activities, chess and music.

 

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Trying to be Happier Works When Listening to Upbeat Music
05/14/2013 - 16:49

The song, “Get Happy,” famously performed by Judy Garland, has encouraged people to improve their mood for decades. Recent research at the University of Missouri discovered that an individual can indeed successfully try to be happier, especially when cheery music aids the process. This research points to ways that people can actively improve their moods and corroborates earlier MU research.

 

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Birdsong study pecks at theory that music is uniquely human
12/27/2012 - 23:19

A bird listening to birdsong may experience some of the same emotions as a human listening to music, suggests a new study on white-throated sparrows.

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Propaganda with feeling – music as an instrument of social purpose
12/11/2012 - 15:51

Music speaks to the emotions and fulfils a range of functions. It can unite people, break down boundaries - and just as easily create them again. Take, for instance, a group of punk rockers poking fun at folk music fans: that in itself is relatively harmless. But it’s a different matter when music is used for political aims.

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Making music together connects brains
11/29/2012 - 08:03

Anyone who has ever played in an orchestra will be familiar with the phenomenon: the impulse for one’s own actions does not seem to come from one’s own mind alone, but rather seems to be controlled by the coordinated activity of the group. And indeed, interbrain networks do emerge when making music together – this has now been demonstrated by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. The scientists used electrodes to trace the brain waves of guitarists playing in duets. They also observed substantial differences in the musicians’ brain activity, depending upon whether musicians were leading or following their companion.

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Researchers develop Internet music search engine
05/07/2012 - 14:11

Can a computer be taught to automatically label every song on the Internet using sets of examples provided by unpaid music fans? University of California, San Diego, engineers have found that the answer is yes, and the results are as accurate as using paid music experts to provide the examples, saving considerable time and money. 

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