A neuroscience-based approach to musical instruction for adults, engineered to help grow, protect, and restore brain health You can learn to play music, no matter what you''ve been told about your musical talent or aptitude. Each and every one of us has been gifted with a fully customizable brain, one we can mold to learn anything, at any age. With the right instruction and methods, learning to play music can be an endless source of joy and fulfillment. And learning to play music isn''t just fun, it''s also the ideal brain fitness activity.; ;;;;Dr. Turknett, a neurologist, self-taught multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of Brainjo and the Brainjo Method of instruction, which has been used successfully by thousands of people, distills the principles of learning to play music down into a set of universal "laws" that can be applied to any instrument. His innovative and proven approach synthesizes the latest in neuroscience and skill-building theory, emphasizing practicing smarter, not harder, recognizing that there is no failure, only feedback, and leveraging the immense power of subconscious learning.; ;;;;Success or failure in learning to play music, just like anything else, is driven by how we learn. More specifically, it is driven by how well we engage our brain''s remarkable ability to change itself. ;;;;The benefits of learning an instrument extend beyond the immense pleasure that it brings. Recent research indicates that stimulating neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to change itself, leads to brain growth, reverses brain aging and even restores youthful brain function. The more areas of the brain that are stimulated, the greater the benefit. And when it comes to a whole brain workout, nothing beats playing music. ;;;;While much of Dr. Turknett''s detailed instructions are music-specific, the strategies underpinning this book apply not only to learning to play music, but to any kind of skill building. Our plastic brains are capable of so much more than we realize, as long as we can learn how to learn....

Autorentext
Josh Turknett, MD is a board-certified neurologist, author, award-winning musician, and entrepreneur. He speaks regularly on topics including learning, neuroplasticity, brain health, Alzheimer's, and cognitive performance. He is the founder of Brainjo and The Brainjo Academy, an online platform providing neuroscience-based musical instruction to optimize the learning process and enhance brain fitness.

Klappentext

A neuroscience-based approach to learning how to play music at any age

You can learn to play music, no matter what you've been told about your musical talent or aptitude. Each and every one of us has been gifted with a fully customizable brain, one we can mold to learn anything, at any age. With the right instruction and methods, learning to play music can be an endless source of joy and fulfillment. And learning to play music isn't just fun, it's also the ideal brain fitness activity.

Dr. Turknett, a neurologist, self-taught multi-instrumentalist, and the founder of Brainjo and the Brainjo Method of instruction, which has been used successfully by thousands of people, distills the principles of learning to play music down into a set of universal "laws" that can be applied to any instrument. His innovative and proven approach synthesizes the latest in neuroscience and skill-building theory, emphasizing practicing smarter, not harder, recognizing that there is no failure, only feedback, and leveraging the immense power of subconscious learning.

Success or failure in learning to play music, just like anything else, is driven by how we learn. More specifically, it is driven by how well we engage our brain's remarkable ability to change itself. Anyone Can Play Music is about the fundamental principles of learning, an owner's manual for molding a musical mind.

The benefits of learning an instrument extend beyond the immense pleasure that it brings. Recent research indicates that stimulating neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to change itself, leads to brain growth, reverses brain aging and even restores youthful brain function. The more areas of the brain that are stimulated, the greater the benefit. And when it comes to a whole brain workout, nothing beats playing music.

While much of Dr. Turknett's detailed instructions are music-specific, the strategies underpinning this book apply not only to learning to play music, but to any kind of skill building. Our plastic brains are capable of so much more than we realize, as long as we can learn how to learn.

Leseprobe
Ten thousand hours.

You may be familiar with this figure.

Based on research by Anders Ericsson and popularized in Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, it's the average number of hours across disciplines that research shows it takes to become an expert. The average amount of time it takes to master something.
The take-home message from the 10,000-hour rule is that, despite the stories we share as part of our cultural mythology, passion and dedication are the key determinants of mastery. From sculpting to picking, humans get really, really good at stuff through hard work, not through some fortuitous genetic gift of talent.

Now, you can read this two ways.

On the one hand, this is a very encouraging notion, as it means that when it comes to your musical goals, virtually anything is possible. With consistent, focused effort, the sky is the limit.
On the other hand, ten thousand hours is nothing to sneeze at. If you can manage two hours of practice every day, then you'll reach your musical Shangri-La in roughly thirteen years, eight months. To someone strumming their first guitar chords, blowing their first B-flat on the tuba, or plucking their first note on the 5-string banjo, those kind of numbers might be a little discouraging.

But there's more to this story. Specifically, there are a few very important points that are usually overlooked in the ten-thousand-hours conversation.

1. Even more important than how much we practice is how we practice.
   Ten thousand hours are an average. If we were to take all the data points and plot them out, we'd get a bell-shaped distribution, with the apex of our bell at the ten-thousand-hours mark.
   So some people in this data set have spent a good bit more than ten thousand hours to achieve mastery.

   And some have spent a good bit less.

   So, what explains this difference? Why do some people take much longer to achieve the same results? And why do some people never reach mastery at all?

   It's better genes, of course! Nothing but good ol'-fashioned "natural talent," right?

   Wrong! The difference maker is how they practiced.

   The rate-limiting factor here, the primary constraint on the learning process, is the pace at which the brain changes. And that pace is largely defined by our biology-in other words, in properties of our nervous system that are common to all of us. Those who reached mastery faster were simply better at changing their brains. They practiced more effectively, in a manner that fully capitalized on the biological mechanisms that support learning.

2. Most people give up.
   Most people who set about to master anything, musical instruments included, ultimately end up giving up. There are surely more guitars collecting dust in closets and attics than there are ones being picked lovingly every day by skilled players.

   And why do the majority give up? If mastery is just about putting in the hours, is it just because they're lazy?

   No.

   They don't give up because of a character flaw. They give up because they stop getting better. Research tells us that the single greatest motivator for learning is progress. Progress is the reward that keeps us coming back for more. On the flip side, nobody plods on for long in the face of no progress.

   And what causes p…