Interesting article on how musicians’ brains function during improvisation. I hesitate to use the term think, because as one gets better at improv, “thinking as we normally think of it” pretty much goes by the wayside. I remember reading a quote once by a well-known old-school jazz musician (wish I could remember who) who said something to the effect, “The last thing I want to see a player do onstage is think”.
This is hardly a revelation. Musicians (and other artists) have spoken of this dynamic throughout history. When we’re comfortable with the music we’re making, it seemingly just flows out of its own accord, requiring of us only to get out of the way and let it happen. Mind and body just knows what to do by virtue of the countless hours of practice required to learn, then master, an instrument. There’s little if any thinking going on.
But if we’re unsure of the changes, or unsure of what notes to play (“hmmm, do I want a natural or b6…”), then the flow is impeded somewhat, but by its temporal nature is never stopped entirely. It’s sort of like chatting easily with a friend, the language tumbling from our lips like water down a creek, then hitting an obstruction in the stream that disturbs and churns the water a bit (searching for the right word, struggling with syntax, etc), and yet the water of language is compelled downstream, squirming around or rushing over every obstacle, inexorably.
When jazz musicians let their creativity flow and start to improvise melodies, they use parts of their brains typically associated with spoken language — specifically, regions that help people interpret syntax or the structure of sentences, according to a new study.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Medicine in Baltimore tracked brain activity as two jazz musicians played pieces from memory and then engaged in back-and-forth improvisation, creating something akin to a spontaneous musical conversation. They found that areas of the brain associated with syntax and language were very active as the musicians were improvising.
via Jazz Players’ Brains See Music as Language – NBC News.com.
