Tag: imitation

  • Myth or reality: mirror neurons and music, part VII

    A few months ago I wrote several posts about the importance of mirror neurons in the study and performance of music.  Mirror neurons, as you recall, are the cells that fire both when we act and when we see someone else making the same action, and multiple studies have been conducted that specifically explore mirror neurons in musicians.…

  • Mirror neurons and music, part IV: mirroring vs. mimicking

    Mirror neurons are imitation neurons, but does how we imitate matter? Forty years ago, long before mirror neurons were known about, psychologists Seymour Wapner and Leonard Cirillo were interested in finding out at what age children develop an understanding of right from left in terms of their spatial development. They conducted a series of experiments in which children…

  • Mirror neurons and music, part I

    You are at a concert and find that you are becoming increasingly tense, uncomfortable, and nervous as the performer experiences several memory lapses.    You know by the look on a student’s face as he comes to your studio that he hasn’t practiced during the past week.   A stranger smiles at you as you walk…