Musicophilia summary

Now that we’ve looked at people who seem to lack musical abilities, let’s turn our gaze to musicians. What distinguishes them from the rest?

Research shows that musicians’ brains are noticeably different from those of non-musicians. Using brain imaging, neuroscientists have made precise comparisons of the sizes of various parts of the brain in musicians and non-musicians. These differences are so noticeable that experienced anatomists can instantly recognize the brain of a professional musician, whereas they would find it difficult to identify the brain of a writer, a visual artist or a mathematician.

What pitch do you blow your nose in? To most people this seems like an absurd question. But people with absolute pitch can instantly recognize the pitch of any sound they hear – even you blowing your nose.

For instance, Sir Frederick Ouseley, a former professor of music at Oxford, could detect that the wind whistled in D, that thunder rumbled in G, and the clock struck in B minor. Amazingly, when his remarks were tested, they would always be correct, demonstrating that for people with absolute pitch, each tone is absolutely distinguished from all others by a unique and characteristic quality.

Have you heard any orange songs lately? What about green ones? For most people, these questions sound surreal, but for a select few they make total sense.

These people have a condition called synesthesia. Synesthesia is the activation of one sensory experience by the stimulation of another sensory experience: for example, seeing the color blue when hearing a G sharp. And in some cases, synesthesia can lead to extraordinary musical capabilities.

It is a widespread belief that it takes a highly intelligent person to become musical – but this is far from always the case. Actually, musicality is the most common type of talent among savants – intellectually disabled people who show extraordinary abilities.

Take, for instance, Martin, an intellectually disabled man who developed a great passion for music as well as a phonographic memory, meaning that he could remember every piece of music he heard: he knew more than 2,000 operas, and could sing the melodies or play them on the piano from memory. The author tested him on his knowledge of operas, and realized that Martin not only remembered them perfectly, but also remembered the exact score for every instrument and singer. Furthermore, when he was played a piece he had never heard, he could repeat it almost flawlessly, and was even able to transpose it into different keys.

Have you ever been out jogging and been pushed extra hard by the energizing effect of a song? In fact, this mobilizing effect is also used in a variety of medical domains.

For example, Tourette’s syndrome can sometimes be eased by music. Tourette’s syndrome is characterized by often explosive tics, like jerking, mimicking and even yelping. But playful jazz or rock has been found to help sufferers due to the genres’ freedom to improvise. For example, the professional jazz drummer David Aldridge used drumming to direct the unruly energy of his Tourette’s into an orderly flow.

Even though it seems that the power of music has always been central to humanity, the concept of music therapy is relatively new.

In music therapy, patients compose, listen to and play music to accomplish individualized therapeutic goals. It arose in response to the return of damaged and traumatized soldiers from the Second World War. The first music therapists soon discovered that music could soothe both their physical and psychological misery.

If you really don’t like a particular piece of music, you probably just turn it off, or move out of its reach. But imagine reacting so strongly to certain songs that you have a seizure as soon as you hear it.

This can happen to some people who have epilepsy, a disorder involving convulsions and loss of consciousness, often in reaction to intense sensory input. But while most people know that epileptic seizures can be triggered by bright flashing lights, it’s less well known that some epileptic patients can also get seizures from music.

You’ve probably experienced a catchy tune that sticks in your head for hours or days on end. But imagine what it would be like if these “earworms” had the quality of actual perception – as though you had real speakers playing in your head!

Many people actually do experience this kind of musical hallucination, which feels as though they have actual music playing internally. Most sufferers emphasize that the music seems at first to have an external origin, and it’s only when they can’t find an external source for it that they realize the music is being generated by their own brain. One of the author’s correspondents called his hallucinations his “intracranial jukebox” – the jukebox in his skull.

Wouldn’t it be nice if out of nowhere you suddenly became blessed with musical super powers? You might want to be careful what you wish for: it has actually happened to a few, and some become so possessed by their musical ability that there’s no room in their life for anything else.

For example, after being hit in the face by lightning, Cicoria, a family man of 42 previously indifferent to music, became so obsessed with it that he scarcely had time for the rest of the world.

The key message in this book:

People’s sensitivity to music varies greatly: some people can tell the pitch of any note, while others completely lack musical ability or feeling. Brain disorders can change our experience of music, some inducing great musical passion, and others making the sound of music a horrifying experience. Music also has the power to heal a troubled mind, and even revive a motionless limb.