musical thoughts

There’s a great article in the July 24, 2006 issue of Scientific American titled The Expert Mind. They did some work studying chess experts in order to learn some things about the brain. The payoff for us musicians is that idea of “manipulating mental representations” that I’ve previously discussed. Just like Chess experts can recall positions after a quick glance, expert musicians can recall music they’ve heard in more detail. And this article helps confirm why: we are manipulating a biggger store of mental imagery in our area of expertise.

read more of The Expert Mind

Today was sad because of the passing of a great one. Jay McShann was one of the players from the days when Kansas City was known all over for jazz. I met him and even played on a gig with him.

http://www.jaymcshann.com/inmemory.htm

Now he can jam with Bird again.