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Issue #3
Notes from The Music Hub
January 19, 2025
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How Music Helps with Problem-Solving, Part 2
Playing an instrument changes your brain.
There are numerous studies that show how music affects brain health, including the way the two hemispheres communicate.
Among other benefits, musicians have a thicker corpus callosum, which helps with cognitive processing and motor control.
What I want to talk about today is the way learning to play music helps with problem-solving. It does so in several ways, so this will be a multi-part series.
The third way music helps develop problem-solving skills is by teaching how to use different approaches to solve a problem.
Learning how to play an instrument provides opportunity to face a lot of problems, such as having difficulty with
- Learning to read music
- Putting two hands together
- Getting the right fingers on the right notes at the right time
- Playing scales correctly
- Interpreting the music correctly and playing with the right feeling or style
- Performing with ease
Sometimes the problem can be solved quickly.
But other times, the problem does not go away by just practicing the same way we have been.
We need to try a different approach in order to learn the music or solve the problem we're having with technique.
We might practice more slowly, allowing time for the process of seeing, interpreting the notes and sending the signal down to the right fingers.
We might methodically play the exact same two measures in a row over and over to drill the pattern and create an automatic muscle response to the music (muscle memory.)
Other approaches to learning some tricky music might be to change the articulation, clap the rhythm, sing the section, or play it with the other hand.
All of these approaches are just for practice, of course.
And there are many more approaches that can be tried or even made up.
The idea of all these different methods is to cause us to look at the music with a new perspective. When we change how we look at the music, something about it pops out at us differently and helps us find the solution.
This is an extremely important skill for solving problems.
Rita Mae Brown's famous quote (though often errantly attributed to Einstein) says, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
If we keep looking at a problem from the same angle, we won't gain any new insight.
Approaching a problem from a different angle and trying a myriad of solutions should not be feared.
Through practicing, musicians learn that trying even seemingly silly methods is a normal way of finding an answer.
What's new inside the app!
This week, I've added Lesson 19 - videos and PDFs of 5 songs - in "Beginner Level 2".
Lesson 18 is all about new time signatures in which a note other than a quarter note equals one beat, like 2/2, 3/8, 6/8, and 12/8, including a beginner tune in a Blues style.
I have also added a unit on playing the tune Misty. My arrangement is based on the recording by Ella Fitzgerald.
This week, I put up a video on how to play verse 3 to the end. If you would like the sheet music, you can get it here*: Misty by Johnny Mathis - Piano Solo - Late Intermediate Digital Sheet Music | Sheet Music Plus
*This song is still under copyright, so the arrangement must be purchased in order for the legally owed royalties to go to the proper people.
Are you ready to try the app?
Our monthly membership includes
- Instructional videos of theory concepts
- Demonstration videos of how to play each song
- PDFs of theory worksheets
- PDFs of songs*
- WEEKLY Group Sessions over Zoom so you can ask specific questions and get feedback on your playing
- Community Forum and Private Facebook Group
- Listening sessions: monthly deep-dives into a specific piece and its composer
*Arrangements of songs that are still under copyright must be purchased separately to ensure that I comply with legal regulations and that royalties are properly sent to the right person.
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If you'd like to know more, simply respond to this email!
Thank you for being a valued member of The Music Hub Community!
Please contact me by responding to this email if you have any questions or concerns!
Happy Music Making!
Heather Niemi Savage, composer, pianist & educator
Founder of The Music Hub
