Mind the music

Music has a way of minding our brains, and this title explores the effects that it has on our cognition, emotion, and behaviour. As well as into the fabric of our culture, music is woven into the fabric of our humanity – but where does it come from, and how does it help us to learn? Intuition and improvisation turn out to be critical to understanding our own embodied cognition. We have hunches in a way that computers do not. But as technology takes over what were once human tasks, there is a temptation and even tendency to enjoy our creature comforts while neglecting our natural faculties. So how do we re-learn the ability to improvise, to help us find our place in the nexus of human and machine? ‘Mind the Music’ is a reminder that it is important to keep your brain active, and an argument for the glory of intuitive choices. It dares you to improvise and dance to the music of the mind.