The Musician's Mind

Teaching, Learning, and Performance in the Age of Brain Science

By: Lynn Helding

Narrated by: Pam Ward

Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's summary

Where does learning begin and how is it sustained and stored in the brain? For musicians, these questions are at the very core of their creative lives. Cognitive and neuroscience have flung wide the doors of our understanding, but bridging the gap between research data and music-making requires a unique immersion in both worlds.

Lynn Helding presents a symphony of discoveries that illuminate how musicians can optimize their mental well-being and cognitive abilities. She addresses common brain myths, motor learning research and the concept of deliberate practice, the values of instructional feedback, technology's role in attention disorders, the challenges of parenting young musicians, performance anxiety and its solutions, and the emerging importance of music as a social justice issue.

More than an exploration of the brain, The Musician's Mind is an inspiring call for artists to promote the cultivation of emotion and empathy as cornerstones of a civilized society. No matter your instrument or level of musical ability, this book will reveal to you a new dynamic appreciation for the mind's creative power.

©2020 The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. (P)2022 Tantor

More than I anticipated

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as I picked it because it was recommended reading for an upcoming course I’m taking. The first part was a bit dry but I gleaned useful information from each chapter but I was fascinated by the second half of the book. Most interesting was the less obvious interweavings of music, the internet and empathy and how they play into our everyday lives.

Useful and fascinating

I found lots to learn in this book as a classical musician: How mental practice works, how learned movements are ingrained, the root of performance anxiety, and even some tips on teaching students. If you’re looking for some insights into how your brain processes music during practice and performance, I’d highly recommend this book. The figures and tables are explained in words so it translates well as an audiobook.

Scientific, Excellent for Teachers

I liked the pieces of useful information. For example, the more effort you put into practicing or the more you overcome difficulties during practice, the more efficiently you learn. What would make it better for the next edition would be to have a more casual sounding or relaxed reader or approach.

The scientific thesis-style writing, with studies referenced to support the takeaways, in combination with a narrator who sounded a bit like a science professor made me wish occasionally for a summary of the book. Other than mirroring the scientific tone of the book, and talking a tad too slowly, the narrator did an impeccable job. There were no audio dropouts or slurred words, or missing syl-la-bles. The overall volume was consistent. Of course, it easy enough to adjust the narrator's speaking rate. I put her rate at 1.3 times normal.