Neural mechanisms of music processing

What happens in the brain

When we sing or listen to music, the frontal lobe, which is primarily responsible for higher cognitive functions, and the prefrontal cortex, which is involved in complex behaviours including the executive functions, are both activated.

Researchers have observed that these regions respond to rapid modulation in music, such as quick changes of key and tone within a piece, and that engaging them in this way is associated with better focus and with completing tasks more efficiently.

What a singer can take from it

Opera is full of rapid modulation, and a singer has to track it while producing the sound. The drawings in the journal are one way of making that tracking visible. The contour of The Monk and His Cat, for instance, marks the exact bar where the music changes character, a change the singer had been singing straight through.