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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…
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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…
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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…