The Playground
The Simply Music blog
The Neuroscience of Creativity By Anna Abraham – Book Review
Credit: David Cassolato I will start with a little story. In 2007 I was beginning University studies and surfing the internet one weekend, when I came across a piano teacher’s blog. This teacher was on about this great new discovery. After teaching for many years…
The War of Art By Steven Pressfield – Book Review
I looked everywhere for the enemy and failed to see it right in front of my face. Sometimes things that should be obvious aren’t. Sometimes an obvious thing only becomes obvious after someone states it in such an articulate and relatable manner that its essence…
This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel Levitin – Book Review
By Rebecca Harding This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel LevitinThis Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel Levitin is a fascinating and in-depth exploration into the neurological processes that make us love and connect with music. Levitin,…
12 Notes by Quincy Jones [Book Review]
Quincy Jones may well be music’s all-time greatest multitalent. From jazz trumpeter to band leader to arranger for the likes of Frank Sinatra, conductor, composer, Broadway and Academy Awards director, producer for the likes of Michael Jackson, record company executive, impresario, educator, activist and more,…
The Molecule of More by Daniel Lieberman & Michael Long
Book Review By Katie Schmidt Welp, if I were a psychology professor, I would definitely make this book a requirement for all my students. Although I am not said professor, I do wish all of us would read this book. It gave me a much…
Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Book Review
Mihaly reading his book ‘Flow’ War is horrific. There’s no getting away from it. But sometimes out of the horror there’s a contribution to the world that wouldn’t be here otherwise. Such is the life’s work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. The study of what he has…
A World Where Everyone Plays by Bernadette E. Ashby – Book Review
A World Where Everyone Plays is a collection of stories of how Simply Music has impacted people’s lives. Each chapter is written by a student, teacher or loved one. The stories vary from a ten-year-old student, to a professional circus clown, to a retired teacher,…
The Musical Brain – Documentary Review & This is Your Brain on Music – Book Review
Documentary Review by Elizabeth Gaikwad The Musical Brain – Writer/director Christina Pochmursky, producer Vanessa Dylyn, Matter of Fact Media For me this is one of the most interesting documentaries made about the scientific evidence that music and emotions are fundamentally wired into the brains of…
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks – Book Review
Oliver Sacks is a neurologist and author known for his books exploring the strange and remarkable world of people with brain damage. In the 1960’s he published Awakenings, a study of his work with post-encephalitic patients who, after decades of immobility and non-communication, could be…
