Music Makes You Smarter

When I was in fifth grade, we had a special class in which we got to go to the band room and “meet” all the different instruments. Something about the trumpet just called to me. Later, I found out that fifth graders play the coronet, a smaller version of the trumpet. We rented one and so began my musical career. I was about eleven years old.

I continued playing the coronet until I got braces a few years later. The mouthpiece cut into my lips, which created a bloody mess (literally and figuratively). I switched to baritone, which is like a mini tuba. I liked playing on the low end. When I was fifteen, I started playing harmonica and when I was sixteen, after a failed attempt at playing guitar, I took up the bass. Years later, I added hand drums to my list of instruments. Each new instrument informed my musical vocabulary.

Interestingly, there is a linguistic connection to music. It turns out that FMRI scans of human brains playing a musical instrument shows the same active areas as speaking (plus a few). Furthermore, since music involves not only intonations, but rhythm, tempo and volume, it stimulates the brain even more. Some studies are starting to suggest that musicians keep their cognitive functions longer than non-musicians as they age.

Listening to music triggers some of the same linguistic centers of the brain, but it also triggers six different emotional centers. Surprise! Music is good for the soul. We all knew this already, but scientists are starting to catch up with us. You know how they like to have an explanation for everything.

I have my own theory about music. I think you can stimulate your brain further by listening to more complex forms like jazz and classical. These forms are not easy to listen to, but if you practice it gets more enjoyable with time and as an added bonus, you get smarter! So, listen to some jazz or classical music. Progressive rock has elements of both jazz and classical for all you rockers. It’s good for your soul, your soles (okay, classical not so much as they tend to like you listening to that sitting down) and your brain.

Is it Art?

I write a lot about technology in this blog. I’ve already made the case that technology is eating up jobs. So, what are we going to do when all the jobs are gone? How about art? Even if computers can do art, we would rather experience human art -- except for maybe the stuff a five year old does. Only a parent could see beauty in that crap. I guess you’ve gotta start somewhere.

I’ve noticed that most people associate “art” with the visual arts. If I ask a friend if they are an artist, they might say something like, “I can’t draw for shit.” My friends have foul mouths. Lot’s of things are art though. Obviously, music is art, but what about food? People who cook use a pallet of ingredients combined with various equipment to produce an olfactory and gastronomic experience that, like a good painting, runs the gamut from nasty (see 5 yr old art) to amazing.

I have some friends that do woodworking. They just call it woodworking, but I call it art. The crap I make, you wouldn’t put in your attic. The stuff they build, you’d probably pay good money for. Why? Because it looks good -- just like a good painting.

Some people design their own clothes. Others vandalize the neighbor’s trees with toilet paper. I think that looks really cool. Once, the kids in my neighborhood put toilet paper in one of my trees. I went out and added more. I didn’t feel their work was thorough enough. My neighbor asked when I was going to “clean it up.” I said I already had. It looked much better.

After a few days, it rained and I had to pick up the paper off the lawn. I thought about mowing it, but decided against. If you’re from Ann Arbor, you will know that green and white doesn’t go over big with the locals. My point is that art is where you find it. There are no rules about art except that you generally need to do something to create it. Here’s me with my band Sweet Melissa making some live art. I’m the guy who’s not allowed to sing (but they let me talk) who is just playing bass.

Here’s a pizza I made. Sure, it was dinner, but it was also art. Treating the things that you make as art makes the effort more fun and probably improves the results too. Whether something is art or not is more a matter of the creator’s attitude than the type of thing produced. Maybe you’re an artist after all!

Sex, Drugs & Rock ‘n Roll

We come to the final blog of this great triumvirate. All this thanks to our friends the bonobos. I’m quite sure that if we could get bonobos to blow a dube after sex, they would appreciate some good rock ‘n roll while doing it. Who wouldn’t? As the baby boomers become the old folks, not many.

I remember when I was a kid, most of my friends’ parents listened to Elvis or Frank Sinatra or some other old crap that we thought was lame. I used wonder what our kids would listen to. We all thought that rock ‘n roll was as good as it could get. Bands like Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and AC/DC were so good in their way, we couldn’t imagine any kid not liking it.

Turns out, we were right! Rock ‘n Roll has never died. Our kids (and their kids) do like it. Oh sure, there have been other genres – hip hop, rap, and electronic that are different enough that some old folks won’t like it (I’m not one of them). But, along with thousands of new artists producing new rock music, some of the old guys still crank it out. Why just the other day, there were the remains of the Who playing at the Super Bowl. They didn’t smash their instruments or anything cool, but it was nice to see Townsend and Daltrey still standing.

A few months ago, I saw a kid wearing what looked like an old Aerosmith tour t-shirt. I asked her if that was original. She looked at me and smiled and said “no.” I thought to myself, “sonofabitch, they’re still making old rock ‘n roll clothes.” I think bands like Rage Against the Machine, Muse and Tool breathe new life into the old girl, but Huey Lewis was wrong, the old girl is NOT barely breathin; she’s running hard. Long live rock – be dead or alive!

James Cameron's Giant Step

I just got back from watching Avatar.  I'm not going to do a review of the movie because I'm not a movie critic.  However, as a futurist/philosopher, I believe that it is within my purview to call out the significance of this movie.  I should preface my comments by disclosing that I watched it in IMAX 3D.  I cannot imagine it being seen any other way.

This movie is a game changer for entertainment.  I know there are other 3D movies that use the technology, but this one opens up new possibilities for the technology.  This is the "movie" version of the Internet's eBay.  Before eBay, the Internet was a gimmick: a new way to push out static content.  eBay was the first site to tap the collective nature of what the Internet would become.  It was the precursor to the very tool I am using now.

Avatar uses 3D technology to see a new path for mankind.  After reading some reviews, I realize that there is no saving some people from our savage past.  I actually read a review that said that all but the last 40 minutes of violence was a waste of time.  God help us all.  Clearly, Cameron intended us to associate with "The People."  They understood their connection to the Earth and found peace and harmony in it.  We need that message now more than ever.

My belief is that this technology will be enough to provide some people with a connection with this understanding for the first time.  Moreover, he opens up a new realm of possibility that movies (if that's even the right term for this) can be a powerful vehicle for lifting us out of our own skin.  Many will not understand what I'm talking about right away.  Like any game changer, it will take time to sink in, but as sure as I'm writing this, other movie folk are "getting it."  They will not wait to up the ante.

On the heels of these new 3D adventures will be an explosion of new home theater technology.  Let's face it, some people will be willing to pay a premium to climb inside the mind of the producers and directors who make these features.  Eventually, none of us will need to.  Remember  when a 42" LCD with HD cost $15,000.  Well, not it's 10 times less.  I can't wait until all movies are like this.  People will look back on Avatar like they look at the Wizard of Oz - the first movie that made color mean something.