Music, Language and the Brain

Hello, class!

(This post is most related to what the 8th graders are working on now, but I think it's a fantastic subject for any age: music, language, and the brain.)

Borrowed from another teacher's blog for educational use, from : http://www.pianimation.com/2012/07/23/this-is-your-brain-on-music-part-1/

Here is a cool 5 minute snip of a TED-Ed video that legendary bass player Victor Wooten narrated.
Wooten seems to be a man that has practiced what he preaches: check out his biography if you are interested in how he got into the music scene.

He talks about the way we learn our first language as babies, and the way music should be taught. Think about the connections between what he says about learning music and the process of learning second or additional languages.

If you're interested in learning more, a lot of fantastic stories about music and the brain are in one of my favorite books, Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks. Stories involving language come into play for several chapters. It gets a little technical at times with brain-related words, but if you are up for the challenge, it is a great read!

                                                  

Miss G