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The Backwards Brain Bicycle and How We Learn Music

5/30/2015

There are so many applications how this, funny but well explained, video applies to how we learn music. Watch the video first, then read the analogies below.

"Learning a bicycle is a life skill, one that the brain never forgets." The musical application of this is how we practise and the importance that we practise "correctly". While in university, a friend commented how a student will learn a passage inaccurately, then spend the next 7 months correcting that mistake, to only play it wrong at the time of performance. Over the last three decades of teaching my friend’s comment has come to me many times. I have found her statement to be very true. Over the years I have explained to students about neural pathways and how we learn. A good example is to get a pencil and draw a squiggly line, which represents the neural pathway of the first time something is learned. Trace over the same line 10 times, following the first line, which represents the practising of that passage we just learned. What students will see is how the line becomes thicker, more permanent. After the tenth time, draw a deviation to the line (which is the "correct" way to play a passage). They soon see the comparison of how thick the "wrong" way is compared to the "correct" way. If they slip and do the wrong way they are only strengthening that path. So it takes many times of doing it correctly and never playing it the wrong way, before the brain prunes (removes) the old way of playing that passage. However, when under pressure, and if the first (incorrect) neural pathway has not been pruned from our brain, most times, students will play the wrong way – the brain will revert to the first impression of the path because it is the strongest. They say you need to repeat something 27 times in a row correctly to cancel out the ONE time you did it incorrectly. If a student plays a passage 2 times incorrectly, they now need to repeat it 54 times in a row to cancel out those two times. If a student gets to number 52, and plays it wrong again, they now need to play it 81 times in a row correctly to cancel out the 3 times they played in incorrectly. Learning a piece of music is like learning to ride the bicycle – “the brain never forgets”. As Destin stated in the video, after he could ride the backward bicycle, “It was weird though, it’s like there’s this trail in my brain, but if I wasn’t paying close enough attention to it, my brain would easily lose that neural path and jump back onto the old road it was more familiar with.” The old adage “you need to make a good first impression” is very true when it comes to learning a new piece of music or skill.

"Knowledge does not equal Understanding" (around the 1:20 minute mark). This has many references to how we learn and process music, so I will pick one reference – “understanding”. Many times in our teaching we give knowledge to students, but do we really give them the "understanding" of music, one of the key principles of Music Learning Theory. Edwin E Gordon defined audiation as "Hearing and comprehending in one's mind sound of music not, or may never have been, physically present. It is not imitation or memorization" (Gordon, 2012, p. 389). There are six stages and eight types of audiation (more on this in future blog posts). Suffice it to say, for students to understand music, they need to "hear", "experience", and "feel" music. With some students they "hear" and "feel" that the next chord that is to be played is the dominant, or the subdominant, or that it moves back to the tonic. And they understand that they are playing: tonic, dominant, subdominant; playing in a major or minor key, and; they “feel” that they are playing in duple, triple, or an unusual metre. It is when we guide students in their learning of music (rather than teaching them knowledge) that students play with understanding, improvise, experience music, and reach their highest level of music aptitude.

"Brain Plasticity. Children's brains have a higher rate of plasticity than adults". Brain plasticity refers to how the brain changes, the creation of new neural pathways, the pruning of unused neural pathways. Around the 4-minute mark in the video, Destin comments how his 5- to 6-year-old son “In two weeks he did something that took me 8 months to do, which demonstrates that a child has more neural plasticity. It’s clear from this experiment that children have a much more plastic brain than adults. That’s why the best time to learn a language is when you’re a young child.” This is very true with children, but does not apply only to language. A person’s music aptitude is the highest at the time of birth and can change widely during the first years of life, with the earliest years being the most sensitive for learning music. Before music aptitude stabilizes around age nine, it is ever changing and develops in association with environmental influences. (The stabilization of music aptitude coincides with the maturation of the myelination of the brain, which occurs around age 10 to 12.) Neuroscience researchers have found that there is a critical period and sensitive period for learning music, supporting Dr. Gordon’s statement, “The critical age for guidance in music is from birth to eighteen months of age. The sensitive age is sustained until approximately five years old. Children learn more during the critical stage than any other period of life” (Gordon, 2012, p. 47).

In a literature review I just completed, it was hypothesized that connections could be made between the field of neuroscience, Gordon’s early theories, and principles of Music Learning Theory (MLT). The purpose of the literature review was to investigate how neuroscience research lends support to how infants learn and process pitch and rhythm. The following questions were explored in the literature review:
1. What auditory cortical processing is evident in children and infants learning pitch?
2. What auditory cortical processing is evident in children and infants learning rhythm?

The hypothesis that principles of MLT are supported with research in neuroscience was sustained. In Table 1, the similarities between findings in neuroscience research and practical applications of MLT are illustrated (with the respected studies reviewed).

Table 1.

Neuroscience Findings and Practical Applications to Principles of Music Learning Theory

Element

Timbre

Neuroscience Finding

From 4-months-old to 6-years-old a preference to timbre can be developed (Fujioka et al., 2006; Shahin et al., 2004; Trainor et al., 2011).

Practical Application to MLT

Exposure to different timbres and instruments.

Pitch

Four-month-olds can distinguish pitch, as harmonic relations are merged into a single percept indicating a major shift in how pitch is represented between 3- to 4-months of age (He and Trainor, 2009).

Sing songs in the same keyality each time it is sung.

Familiarity

Infants develop pitch representation preferences to particular timbre, which suggests that infants as young as 4-months-old can reflect learning (Trainor et al., 2011).

Sing the same songs 4 to 6 times over a short period of classes.

Harmony

Six-month-old infants are capable of segregating mistuned components of a harmonic frequency suggesting they use harmonicity cues to distinguish simultaneous sounds (Folland et al., 2012).

Sing songs in various modalities and keyalities.

Metre

As early as 2-months-old infants show a preference to unusual metre through novelty preference (Gerry et al., 2010; Hannon and Trehub, 2005a.b; Trainor et al. 2009).

Singing of folksongs in usual and unusual metres.

Rhythm

Twelve-month-olds, with no prior exposure, are capable of distinguishing rhythmic variations in foreign folk music (Hannon & Trehub, 2005b).

Use of rhythm chants in varying metres.

Movement

Infants learn metre and rhythm through physical movement (Gerry et al., 2010; Hannon and Trehub, 2005a.b; Trainor et al. 2009).

Movement and activities incorporated into songs and rhythm chants.

Enculturation

Shortly after birth rhythm perception develops in infants in regard to culture-specific biases, before stabilizing around 1-years-old (Gerry et al., 2010; Hannon and Trehub, 2005a.b; Trainor et al. 2009).

Acculturation: Use of folksongs in various keyalities, modalities, and metres.

Brain Plasticity

Plasticity and normal maturation of the brain is developed by a year of musical training in children aged 4 – 6 years (Fujioka et al., 2006; Shahin et al., 2004).

Leaving Preparatory Audiation Stage and entering Audiation Stage – informal to formal guidance.

The Problem with Intervals: The Two-Note Melody

5/15/2015

This is an article that appeared in the June 2015 Issue of OPUS. The second article in a series of four.

It is two weeks until the exam and a particular student STILL can’t identify most of the intervals required for the exam!!!! In desperation the teacher pulls every trick out of the hat. Often the teacher will revert to a list of songs where the first two notes of the song relate to a specific interval. The teacher plays the interval and then asks, “What interval is this?” The student responds with the wrong answer and the teacher exclaims, “No, no, no! It’s a minor sixth! It’s the Theme from Love Story!” The student sheepishly comments that they don’t know that song. The teacher then exclaims, “You don’t know that song? Well it’s a great song, a classic!! You need to learn it, go on YouTube and find and listen to it over and over and over, so you recognize it so you can get this interval if it’s asked on the exam.” This comment may be followed by, “Have you not been doing the Comprehensive Ear each week?” or “Have you not been using (inserting any number of iPad apps, or ear training websites)?” The teacher may then suggest that the student sings the notes between the two pitches (silently) and see if they can figure out the interval that way. Or the teacher suggests . . . . . and the list of tactics continues in trying to help the student with intervallic identification. By the end of the lesson the student is almost in tears, the teacher is pulling his or her hair out, and a prayer is sent upward asking for Divine intervention on the exam. The student leaves and the teacher shakes their head in disbelief and mutters to themself, “Have I not taught this student anything, all year?”

The problem isn’t that the teacher didn’t teach the student anything, nor is the problem that the student didn’t practise ear training all year; the problem is the absence of “context”. When children learn music three things are important to remember: sequential learning, context, and audiation. Sequential learning is the logical progression in which students achieve along a continuum of sequential levels or skills, in other words, “scaffolding”. Scaffolding includes a variety of instructional techniques that are used to move students progressively to a stronger understanding and greater independence in their learning. Each level builds upon what was previously learned. Scaffolding, or sequential learning, as it is referred to in Music Learning Theory, is considered to be an essential element of effective teaching. All teachers, to a greater or lesser extent, use various forms of instructional scaffolding or sequential learning in their teaching.

Accompanying sequential learning is context. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines contextualize as “to think about or provide information about the situation in which something happens.” Contextualize is the act of making sure that things are done within context. This will be discussed in greater detail very shortly.

Once students have context they can then be successful at the third component being discussed in regard to students learning music, audiation. Audiation is hearing and comprehending in one’s mind sound or music that may or may not be present. It is not imitation or memorization, but rather hearing, in one’s mind, with understanding. “Audiation is to music what thought is to language” (Gordon, 2012). So how does all this fit in the above scenario of an exam around the corner and the student is struggle with identifying intervals?

Go back to what was previously claimed to be the problem in the opening scenario, the absence of “context”. As you read this, get up from your chair and walk to the piano. Play the melodic interval of an ascending major 3rd – G and B. What does it sound like? What is the context in which you played it? What do you hear coming next? Some may answer, “It sounds like a major 3rd” or “it doesn’t sound like it goes anywhere.” Carry on with reading while at the piano. Play a I – V – I chord progression in C major. Now play the G and B as a melodic interval. Ah . . . did you hear it? Did you hear how that major 3rd wanted to resolve? Did you hear how the B (the leading-note) wanted to resolve to the C? Now play a I – V – I chord progression in G major, and once again, play the G and B. How did it sound? Did the B want to move to the C? Not with the urgency that it wanted when played in the “context” of C major. Rather you probably audiated the G, the tonic, after playing the B. That is the importance of “context” when it comes to intervals. When you initially played the G and B, you heard it as a major 3rd. So what did that tell you? What did it mean musically? Ultimately it was two random notes, one played after the other, with little to no musical meaning, other than it was a major 3rd. However, when G and B are played after playing the I – V – I chord progression in C major, it is heard as being part the dominant harmony. When it was played in G major, it was heard as part of the tonic harmony. Same notes, same interval, but the difference in how it sounded the three times it was played is the result of “context”.

A question posed is, “What is the purpose of intervals?” What musical function do they hold while playing or singing? If singing or playing in the key of G major, and G – B – D is played or sung, does the listener hear it as a major 3rd followed by a minor 3rd, or is it heard as a major triad? Or more importantly, is it heard as the tonic triad? Staying in the key of G major, when the listener hears D – F# - A, is it heard as a major 3rd followed by a minor 3rd, or is it heard as a major triad? Or more importantly, is it heard as the dominant of G major? In both cases, the triad is major, and both triads are comprised of a major 3rd followed by a minor 3rd, but the function of the major triad is quite different, one being the tonic, while the other is the dominant. Now, throw D major into the mix. Play a I – V – I chord progression in D major, and play the G and B interval. This now takes on the role of the subdominant chord and if it is taken within context, it will be heard in the manner that it wants to pass through the dominant harmony, and then to the tonic harmony. So now G and B take on another meaning, because the context has changed. Perhaps it should be rephrased and worded, it takes on meaning because the “context is present”, therefore the G and B now “serve a musical purpose”. Without context, what is the purpose?

The way children learn music is a sequential process. Why did the student in the above scenario have difficulty with identifying the interval of the minor sixth? One reason is the lack of context. Was it heard as a descending tonic triad or a descending dominant triad? Who knows, as it was not played within context. If a I – V – I chord progression in C major was played, followed by the G and the lower B, the student will hear that it is the dominant harmony that needs to resolve to the tonic.   If the I – V – I chord progression in G major was played first, that descending minor 6th interval would have been heard as the tonic harmony. When played in context, a student is able to successfully identify a two-note tonal pattern, or interval. Aside note, it has been a major challenge to find a complete composition or melody that is comprised of only two-notes, but yet, students are expected to identify a two-note melody all the time on the Canadian examination systems, without any context. To be honest, with some music that is heard on today’s radio it would be nice if they only lasted for two notes.

With the above scenario, not only was the context missing, but the lack of sequential learning may have also occurred. When students first learn intervals, not only should the intervals be in context, but they need to be intervals based on the intervals found in the tonic and dominant chords of both major and minor tonalities (Gordon, 2012). Students learn this best through the use of tonal patterns that consist of 2 to 5 notes per pattern; first at the Aural/Oral level, and then at the Verbal Association level.

Students should first hear the tonal patterns on a neutral syllable (aural) and then sing it back on the neutral syllable (oral). In aural/oral learning, listening to music is the “aural” process and performing music (singing back) is the “oral” process. “When aural and oral learning are combined in skill learning sequence, they reinforce each other and stimulate development of students’ audiation skills” (Gordon, 2012, p. 97). A neutral syllable that works well for aural/oral learning is “BUM” (yes they will giggle at first but will soon get over it). “BUM “works best because it doesn’t interfere with any other syllables used in the process of learning music. It is also ideal from a vocalization perspective (rather than LA or DUM). Being labial (a sound made with the lips together) it forces pitch accuracy, resonance, and better vocal quality. After a student is successful at the Aural/Oral level on tonic and dominant chords, in major and minor tonality, they can move to the Verbal Association level. Use tonal syllables such as those used in a movable Do system that uses Do-based major and La-based minor. See Table 1 for examples of tonal patterns related to the tonic and dominant chords.

Table 1. Examples of Tonic and Dominant Tonal Patterns in Major and Minor Tonality*

* First establish tonality in relation to the tonality. In Aural/Oral Level sing tonal patterns on BUM, at the Verbal Association Level sing the tonal patterns using the tonal syllables; given above.

Once students are able to audiate the tonic and dominant tonal patterns, meaning that they can identify which patterns are tonic-related pitches, and which are dominant-related pitches within context, then they can move to including tonal patterns based on the subdominant chord;[1] first at the Aural/Oral level and then at the Verbal Association level. The key to all this is “in context”. To establish context before singing the tonal patterns, a simple tonic-dominant pattern can be sung:

Establishing Major Tonality**

Establishing Minor Tonality**

**While at the Aural/Oral Level sing the above patterns on BUM. In the Verbal Association Level, sing the patterns on the tonal syllables.

When singing tonal patterns with students, sing each note separated, rather than legato. As well, the tonal patterns should be non-rhythmical/non-metrical. The former is due to the process of developing audiation, while the latter is due to how the brain processes pitch and rhythm separately. After singing a tonal pattern indicate to the student (as a conductor would) when to sing back the tonal pattern. Vary the length between when you finish and the student begins. It is during the silence where audiation takes place, if it’s all sound there is no room for audiation (to think musically) and becomes mere imitation.

When we think of how children learn music, identifying intervals become a problem. Why? Because the intervals are not presented in musical context, nor are they usually based on the learning sequence of how children learn music, nor on how the brain processes music. At the moment, we are somewhat stuck with the activity of identifying intervals because it is a requirement on all our Canadian examination systems. One day, it is hoped this component will take on a more musical approach, and that it will be done in context, and that it will be based on how children learn and process music. Until that time arrives, we can help students by having them sing tonal patterns in a sequential manner, within context. Then at the exam they will hopefully be able to audiate the context, and answer the two-note melody, with accuracy, and with musical meaning and understanding.

[1] Read Learning Sequences in Music: Skill, content, and patterns by Edwin E. Gordon to learn about the order in which students learn and process music.