Over the past month, I've been reading a doctoral dissertation on music in worship and the use of music in preaching. As one might expect, the dissertation is lengthy, filled with fancy words, polysyllabic words, technical terms, and lots and lots of quotes and footnotes. It is difficult to skim because there is so much "meat" packed into each paragraph.
A great deal of the musical/psychological information presented is material I learned long ago in college or have been able to experience first-hand in my teaching of both students and adults. Other tenets of the dissertation have been proven through first-person (moi) anecdotes and teaching situations.
Yes, music is powerful - whether in church, in life, in school, in personal relationships or in interpersonal interactions. The dissertator talks, in one chapter, about how music enables "brain- damaged" people to function in certain arenas. I've read that chapter twice and both times have laughed aloud at the thought of "brain-damaged" people because we are all brain-damaged in one way or another or at one time or another. I know that, at the end of my life, if I have any cognizance at all, I'll be one of those people who recognizes few, if any visitors, but will be able to sing the lyrics to dozens, perhaps hundreds, of songs.
The author speaks of "neuropathways" and how we can get "loops" of music stuck in our heads. That this concept is part of a doctoral dissertation is somewhat amusing because I and my fellow musicians have long talked and laughed about this phenomenon. It is irritating and irksome and can drive one nuts - day and night - with the same "loop". Some days - and nights - can find multiple "loops" playing, thankfully though not simultaneously.
I guess this makes me loopy.
Ancora imparo
