Every Brain Needs Music

Whenever a person  engages with music, countless neurons are firing―when a piano student practices a scale, a jazz saxophonist riffs on a melody, someone sobs to a sad song, or a wedding guest gets down on the dance floor. Playing an instrument requires all of the resources of the nervous system, including cognitive, sensory, and motor functions. Something as seemingly simple as listening to a tune  involves mental faculties most of us don’t even realize we have.

Dr. Larry Sherman, a neuroscientist, author, public speaker, and  lifelong musician is the co-author of Every Brain Needs Music: The Neuroscience of  Making and Listening to Music (Columbia University Press, 2023) and has given  public talks on the neuroscience of music around the globe. He uses visuals and live  music to consider music in all the ways we encounter it―teaching, learning, practicing,  listening, composing, improvising, and performing―showing how the brain functions  and even changes in the process. Learn

new perspectives on learning to play, teaching, how to practice and perform, the ways we react to music, and why the brain benefits from musical experiences.