# This is your brain on music...



## rhh7 (Mar 14, 2008)

by Daniel J. Levitin, a great book which I intend to read...will try to get it from my local library.

Levitin says that to become an expert musician...voice, piano, violin, guitar...requires 10,000 hours of practice, not talent!

That's 4 hours per day, 5 days per week, for 10 years!

I don't have the dedication or the time to make expert! But I am going to get a whole lot more serious about it.


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

I recently read that book. Interesting read once you get over the technical stuff - which seemed to drag on at times. I've always believed that virtuoso's were created by an individuals obsession with an instrument as opposed to be "born" that way. I think people are born with certain physical attributes and/or abilities but without obsessive practice they just go to waste. It all boils down to "Use it or Lose it".


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## shad (May 4, 2006)

I am reading this book right now, I agree that it drags on at times but still I highly recommend it. I don't think it will make me a better musician, but it is a fascinating read. Hope you enjoy it rhh7.

Cheers


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Paul said:


> I got both the Levitin book and this book for Xmas. Combined it made for an interesting few days reading.
> 
> I think I'll read them again this summer.


I'm on the waiting list for that one at my local library. Looking forward to reading that as well.


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## RIFF WRATH (Jan 22, 2007)

hmmmph........less reading and more practice.....4 hrs per day, 5 days per week, for 10years..............I can barely find 1 hour per day and i just started............dang, do they allow amplifiers in nursing homes?????


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

It's not a bad book. My wife got it for me a year ago or so. I'm a psychologist by training, and had the pleasure of being instructed by the guy that Levitin essentially replaced when he got hired on at McGill, so I found it a bit light for my tastes.

I can heartily recommend this journal to you if your interests swing this way: http://pom.sagepub.com/ or this one: http://www.ucpressjournals.com/journal.asp?j=mp and unhesitatingly recommend this book to you without qualification: http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=4833 as well as popping over to the website of the Society for Music Perception and Cognition: http://www.musicperception.org/

If you happen to be near a university library, I also recommend the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society and the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America


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## lbrown1 (Mar 22, 2007)

get it and read it - I found it to be eye opening


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## Hamstrung (Sep 21, 2007)

Not intending to hijack the thread or anything but it reminded me of a really interesting article with a theory on what it takes to make a living as an artist. In fact I may have got the link here some time back if this is a repeat... my apologies. If not, enjoy!

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php


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## DMac604 (Jul 8, 2007)

Sorry for being off topic but I was expecting to see this in here :banana:


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## devnulljp (Mar 18, 2008)

Paul said:


> I got both the Levitin book and this book for Xmas. Combined it made for an interesting few days reading.
> 
> I think I'll read them again this summer.


Those two are in my "to read" pile...unfortunately along with at least a dozen others...I try to listen to the Science Friday podcasts on npr along with a bunch of others, and his interview was very interesting. 

In the meantime you might enjoy this great TED talk: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html


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## Canadian Charlie (Apr 30, 2008)

I'm going to have to put this on my "GET THIS NOW" list, at the moment the factory i work at is a little slow and we are on 4 day weeks


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