I just realized that I have not updated my "Reading" selection in a very long time. I read "The Old Man and the Sea" on a plane ride over Easter, so it's about time I caught you all up to speed.

I won't bore you with a list of all the books we've read over the past few months, but I will tell you that my current selection, "This is Your Brain on Music," by Daniel Levetin is fascinating.

This wonderful book has a wealth of information for anyone who is interested in, as he puts it, the "science of a human obsession." In it he discusses the functions of the brain as they pertain to both music-listening and creating, and, as I begin working on my MFA thesis, I find myself continually dwelling on these ideas. Music as "organized sound." The direct mapping of pitch from the auditory cortex to your brain. (Neurons in your brain fire at the exact frequencies of sound you hear!) Does 10,000 hours of practice really make a virtuoso? These questions and more will certainly effect the way I approach the coming year of studies. So, heads up, it's about to get real nerdy around here for the next 9 months.

Labels: Books, MFA, Music