What is required of the brain when reading music?

The act of reading itself is anything but natural. Human brains weren’t designed to read: There is no “reading center” of the brain, and there are no “reading genes.” Instead, in order to read, each brain must fashion new circuits between parts originally designed to do other things, like retrieving the names for objects. These new circuits must not only combine many processes from different areas of the brain to form a specialized circuit just for reading -- in order to become a fluent reader, the circuit also needs to run lightning-fast, nearly automatic. (Korbey, 2015).  In reading music, the process is similar, the brain must fashion circuits from various areas of the brain:

• Auditory Cortext
  • Auditory Cortex of the Temporal Lobe (on each side of the brain slightly above the ears).  The auditory cortex analyzes the information from the music such as volume, pitch, speed, melody and rhythm.
    
• Cerebrum
  • ​The frontal gyrus of the Cerebrum (located at the top and front of the brain). The inferior frontal gyrus is associated with recalling lyrics and sounds when they are heard or sung.
    
  • The dorsolateral frontal cortex is stimulated when hearing music to keep the song in working memory and brings up images that are associated with the sounds, and to visualize the music when playing.
  • The motor cortex controls the body movements that are required when playing a musical instrument.
    
• Cerebellum
  • ​The cerebellum is is located at the back of the brain, below the cerebrum, and is a vital control center for reflex actions, balance, rhythm and coordinating skeletal muscle movement.  The cerebellum helps create smooth, flowing and integrated movements when hearing or playing music.  It works together with the other parts of the brain to affect rhythmic movement in the body when moving in response to the music.  It is the cerebellum that allows a performer to move the body in accordance to visualizing or reading music when playing a musical instrument.
    
• Limbic System
  
  • ​ The limbic system is composed of several interlinking parts that are deep inside the brain.  It is the limbic system that reacts emotionally to music.  The ventral tegmental area of the limbic system is the structure that is primarily stimulated by music.  The amygdala (the flight or fight part of the brain) is also part of the limbic system, and is normally inhibited when listening to music.  Note, if a person is functioning at the amygdala area of the brain, all learning ceases, they are in survival mode.
    

How do we understand and remember what we read?

It is essential to recognise the importance of comprehension when we read, whether it is text or notation.  There is little point in being able to de-code the words on the page, or the notes on the page, without being able to understand what the words, or notation mean.  There would be no pleasure in reading and boredom and frustration would be inevitable.  If we do not understand what we read, in text or in notation, remembering what we read becomes that much more difficult. 

Four Stages of Reading Text

1. Track our eyes across the lines of words on the page, from left to right and line-by-line.
2. Recognise the words in isolation and then as a group.
3. Say the words inside our head with our own internal voice.
4. Make an internal representation of what we are reading which, for most of us, is making a video or pictures in our head.

Four Stages of Reading Notation

1. Track our eyes across the staff of notation on the page, from left to right and line-by-line.
2. Recognise the melodic patterns (tonal patterns and rhythm patterns) in isolation and then as a group.
3. Hear the melodic patterns inside our head with our own internal voice.
4. Make an internal representation of what we are hearing which, for most of us, is audiating - hearing the music in our head WITH understanding.

The last stage is the key to comprehension, which is to say to have a full understanding and appreciation of what we have read. As reading skills develop, most of us bypass the third stage which leads to considerably increased reading speeds.

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