Why Do I Have to Practice?

By Barbara A. Moir, M. Ed.

Many people have the desire to play a musical instrument. But when they find out it requires daily practice, they shrink back, sometimes unwilling to devote the time and effort. Why are some people able to sit down at the piano and play songs "by ear" without daily practice?

The answer can be found in the brain. According to a 2015 neurological study from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, neurons or neural pathways come in different lengths. Playing by ear is accomplished through the shortest neurons in the brain that are located near the ears. We are born with those short neurons for natural music abilities because, as most people know, babies and toddlers exhibit their natural music skills when they vocalize and imitate sounds they hear. The neurons for natural abilities are not meant to lengthen. They  remain short. Instead of lengthening, they thicken through experimentation and use. Some people can use these natural abilities to figure out a song on the piano without practicing it because their short neurons are already developed.

Reading music is much different. Neurons for reading symbols begin at the eyes and travel deep into the brain to what scientists call the fifth tier or highest level of cognition. But humans are not born with these long neurons fully intact. That's why babies and toddlers can not read alphabet letters or music notes. These skills only develop as the long neurons for reading are stimulated and lengthened through frequent repetition of exact information. Their development can be compared to deepening a path in the forest. At first the path may hardly be visible, as an animal path. But if humans also start using the path, it deepens and widens--the same as the long neurons that stretch from the eyes to the deepest region of the brain.

Similar to paths in the forest, the long neurons for reading also can fade if they are only in the early stage of development. A forest path can grow over with bushes and trees and practically disappear. A long neuron can fade from not using it--unless it is solidly stable. A person who is taking music lessons can go on vacation without practicing and later still remember many skills when they return because certain skills were permanently learned. Likewise, skills that are new may be lost if they are not practiced enough.

You can learn much more about these long and short neurons in my new book: The Neuroscience of Reading Music--on Amazon.

                                                        Until next time,    Barbara