Lois Svard

Author: Lois Svard

  • Musicians are not “the athletes of small muscles”

    Musicians are often compared to athletes because, like athletes, we practice a lot, we use repetitive motions, and we’re often performing or playing under stress.  Unfortunately, within the past few years, the comparison with athletes has led to referring to musicians as “the athletes of small muscles.”   I don’t know where this phrase originated, but…

  • I got rhythm, I got music. . . I got READING

    Why study music, cont. George and Ira Gershwin wrote the famous “I Got Rhythm, I Got Music” in 1930.  Little did they know that, over 80 years later, a neuroscientist named Nina Kraus and her colleagues at the Auditory Neuroscience lab (Brainvolts) at Northwestern University would show a connection between rhythm, music — and reading. …

  • Are musicians better at identifying emotional cues in others?

    Why study music: part IVa About ten years ago, I was startled by a headline that, in essence, said if you wanted a spouse or friend who picked up your most subtle emotional cues, find a musician.  Intrigued, I tracked down the research behind the article and discovered the work of Dr. Nina Kraus, Director…

  • Music and speech: Why study music, part IV

    Our lives in sound Our lives are filled with sound.  On average, Americans listen to music for more than 32 hours a week (Nielsen 2017 study).  We spend hours in conversation with co-workers, friends and families.  We hear the everyday sounds of traffic, appliances in our homes, television, athletic events, pets, and a great deal…

  • Music and prehistoric cave art

    Lascaux Cave A few weeks ago, my husband and I visited Lascaux Cave, a well-known Paleolithic cave in southwestern France.  Many of you have seen illustrations like the one below –  one of about 600 cave paintings at Lascaux with another 1400 or so engravings dating to somewhere between 17,000 and 15,000 BCE. Actually one…

  • How old is music?

    Early Music When musicians or music lovers talk about early music, we’re usually talking about Renaissance music, so roughly between 1400 – 1650, if you extend into the early Baroque.  So for us, early music goes back a few hundred years.  If you speak to an archaeologist, however, early music takes on a totally different…