Tambourines Phonemes & Dopamine Music, Language, and the Brain Presented by Shirl Terrell Produced by Francis Choy

Our Roles TappersSnappersClappers

THEORYFUN

I come home in the morning light My mother says when you gonna live your live right Oh mother dear we’re not the fortunate ones And DE, they want to have fun Oh DE, just want to have fun

The phone rings in the middle of the night My father yells what you gonna do with your life Oh daddy dear you know you’re still number one But DE they want to have fun Oh DE they want to have

That’s all they really want Some fun When the working day is done Oh DE they want to have fun

Some boys take a beautiful girl And hide her away from the rest of the world I want to be the one to walk in the sun Oh DE they want to have fun Oh DE they want to have

That’s all they really want Some fun When the working day is done DE girls – they want to have fun Oh DE Boys just want to have fun They want to have fun They want to have fun... Lyrics: Robert Hazard Sung by Cyndi Lauper

KOUYOU AFRICAN MEDICINE DANCE Horns, drums, sticks, handclapping, tambourines

Tribal Dance

Tactus Level of temporal organization – regular and periodic Range coincides with moderate walking pace, human heartbeat, rate of jaw movement in chewing, infant sucking reflex

Ravi Shankar Raga Jogeshwari for sitar and tabla

Steven Pinker Evolutionary psychologist, Harvard professor, student of world-renowned linguist Noam Chomsky Evolutionary psychologist, Harvard professor, student of world-renowned linguist Noam Chomsky The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language How the Mind Works How the Mind Works The Blank Slate The Blank Slate

“Music is auditory cheesecake.” Music is biologically useless. Compared with language, vision, social reasoning and physical know-how, music could vanish from our species and the rest of our lifestyle would be virtually unchanged.

Steven Mithen Reading University archaeologist The Singing Neanderthals: the origin of music, language, mind, and body

Music’s evolution holds the key to language Music making is a universal human feature

Brain 100 Billion Nerve Cells Trillion neural networks

No single language or music center Bilateralization – processing in both hemispheres of brain

All babies are born “citizens of the world” – can learn any language perfectly and have an innate capacity to learn any of world’s musics

Dopamine – neurotransmitter linked to pleasure, emotions, movement, and addictions

Emotions Emotion: A mental state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort; often accompanied by physiological changes

Basic Emotions HappinessSurpriseSadnessAngerFearDisgust

Your Music What is one of your favorite pieces of music? What about that music appeals to you? What emotions does it invoke, if any?

Music Clips Imagine ~ John Lennon

Music Clips My War ~ Black Flag

Brainstorming Emotions this music evokes Subjects you could teach using this clip Ways to get your students involved

Music Clips ~ Elvis

Music Clips ~ Bauhaus

Music Clips ~ Schumann

Music Clips ~ Copland

Music Clips How Can I Keep from Singing ~ Enya ~ Enya

Habituation Brain is interested only in change Longer neurons stimulated, less they respond Without constant renewal of sound or attention to sound, we deafen to it

Earworm - Ohrwurm Song stuck in the head syndrome Neural circuits representing the song get stuck in playback mode

The important thing is not, “is it good music, but what is the music good for?” - Folksinger Pete Seeger “Richard Wagner’s music is better than it sounds.” –Mark Twain

Group Music Making Molds minds and bodies in shared emotional state Increases ability to cooperate with others Releases hormone “oxytocin”, loosens synaptic connections where prior knowledge held, clears path for acquisition of new understanding through behavioral actions shared by others

Circle Music as cultural expression Brain as it processes music and language Music as means of expressing emotions Music making in a group setting Cultural expression Bonding Music and Language In Brain Music to express emotions Music making In groups

CELEBRATE Kool and the Gang accompanied by The DE Gang