The Brain, Music, And Optimal Performance

This clear yet delightfully quick-paced introduction to cognitive neuroscience for the voice studio nimbly weaves together discoveries in neuroscience with the experience of vocal artistry to show how singing can be viewed as a perception-action cycle.

From the outset, practical-application exercises demystify how the conscious mind integrates with unconscious sensory and motor processes to unleash our body’s intelligence to produce optimal and even peak performance in the expressive and artistic endeavor we know as singing.

Through this further expansion of voice science and pedagogy into the field of cognitive neuroscience, singers learn to take charge, to mindfully integrate their audio-motor intentions with expert motor response.

The teacher becomes equipped to better understand optimal flow of information, where disruption may occur, and how to guide the student in setting the right goal for the task of the moment — to get the thinking right.