Harmonica Thinking

Wired Magazine Coverage

O.k  I've already posted this on my two other blogs but I'm excited about this, plus I started this blog to charter my book writing journey, it, like the book, has since evolved into something else... 

So my big news is that Brainstruments is mentioned in the current issue of UK Wired (Smart List 2012 on the cover). I can't tell you how chuffed I am about this. As design and tech geek I have read Wired for years so I'm delighted to actually appear in it. If I had to pick one publication to cover the project, this would be it. A fabulous way to start 2012. Big thanks to David, Tom and UK Wired team.

The piece is in the UK print and iPad edition (Smart List 2012 on the cover) but you can see the piece online here www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2012/02/play/musical-talent

The piece doesn't mention the main point I'm making in the book, which is that a musical instrument is a mental model.   A summary paper of my thinking and research can be downloaded here.

Big thanks to David, Tom and UK Wired team.

Brainstruments - my book project research paper and website

When I started this blog in February 2010 it was primarily to talk about the process of writing my book which at the time was totally focused on the harmonica. However, as I've posted here in January, I soon realised that my central theory applies to all instruments and the project mushroomed. Now, I am delighted to announce that I have just completed a summary paper of my research which you can download from a new website for the project. I'm both excited and terrified to be releasing this work, much more so than with my albums.

You can find the site at www.brainstruments.com and download the paper there. There's also a Facebook page.

So what's it about? My central proposal is that the musical instrument a musician plays is not the physical instrument, but instead a mental model. I have termed these mental models 'Brainstruments'. I have sought to validate this idea by interviewing some of the world's leading jazz, blues and classical musicians and also neuroscientists.  I posted here about some of these amazing artists who include Charlie Hunter, Joe Lovano, Chris Potter, Brian Blade, Martin Taylor, Claire Martin and Randy Brecker. 

Producing this paper has been an extremely useful process for me. Although very time consuming, it has helped clarify and refine my initial thinking in response to some amazing, unanticipated outcomes from the research interviews. It's also provided a fantastic mechanism to receive feedback from some eminent neuroscientists from places like UCL. I remain amazed that what began as a simple question about harmonica players has grown into these theories.

I hope you find the project interesting and thought provoking whether you are a musician or music fan. I believe the ideas will enable professional and amateur musicians to improve their playing standard and to enhance the way music is taught by educators. The book will follow in 2012.

Lee

 

1 Year and 34 Interviews with Leading Jazz and Blues Musicians

Happy New Year!

This being my first post of 2011 I thought it apt to write something about the very thing that led me top start this blog, my decision to write a book. One of my early intentions was to blog about the process of researching and writing (how "Web 2.o"). However, I quickly discovered with a full time job and other commitments, I had a choice between spending time blogging about the book or actually making progress on it. An obvious decision, and my updates have been correspondingly...infrequent.

Some Writing, a Lot of Research  

So where have I got to? Well, reviewing my first post from February 22 last year, I have to say overall progress in 2010 was tremendous. The most significant aspect is that the subject of the book changed because something wonderful happened during my early research. I quickly saw that what began as a theory for the harmonica actually applied to most instruments. While writing has not progressed as fast as I planned, the research has been much deeper and wider, reflecting the remit of the book completely changed. Things, shall we say, 'blossomed". 

One element of my research is to cross reference the experiences of world class harmonica players with those of other world class musicians, in particular jazz players.  It was this approach that led to the remit of the book changing. Meeting and interviewing these wonderful musicians, many of whom are personal heroes, was absolutely one my personal highlights in what was a brilliant year anyway. 

Here's a list of the 2010 research interviews. All were done face to face and lasted between 30 minutes and 4 hours. 

Saxophone

• Joe Lovano 
• Chris Potter
• Nigel Hitchcock
• James Spake
• Nick Payn

Trumpet

• Randy Brecker
• Guy Barker
• Abram Wilson

Trombone 

• Jim Fryer 

Piano

• Neil Cowley
• Christian Sands

Guitar

• Charlie Hunter
• Matt Schofield
• David Mills

Bass

• Jasper Hoiby
• Laurence Cottle

Vocals

• Ian Shaw
• Claire Martin

Sitar

• Balugi shrivastav

Drums

• Evan Jenkins

Chromatic Harmonica

• Hendrik Meurkens
• Gregoire Maret
• Olivier Ker Ourio
• Yvonnic Prene
• Joe Powers

Diatonic Harmonica

• Howard Levy
• Dennis Gruenling
• Jason Ricci
• Joe Filisko
• Brendan Power
• Greg Zlap 
• JJ Milteau
• Adam Gussow
• Dave Barrett

When I look down the list of people I have interviewed so far I have to pinch myself. I am grateful for the amazing contributions from these incredible players. You won't be surprised to hear that all the meetings were fascinating. Several unexpected findings have emerged though. I can say that from the people listed here, 90% had never considered the issues I'm researching. This has given me an enormous amount of encouragement, given all their talents, deep understanding of music and their craft. I hope to complete another 10 or so interviews during the first few weeks of 2011.

This is a massive project and I would also like to thank industrial designer Stuart Banham for his computer renderings and model making. And Jason Musil for his research assistance. My trip to the USA in March and April 2010 to do many of the interviews was an amazing experience. I would also like to thank Ron Smith for looking after me in Mississippi. 

O.k, back to work....