Episode 27: 3 Reasons Why Playing Banjo Is Great For Your Brain

Over the years in my work as a clinical neurologist, I’ve often been asked the question: “what should I do to keep my brain in shape, to help protect me from getting something like Alzheimer’s?”

Since one my areas of expertise is diseases of cognition – those that affect our ability to do things like speak, learn, remember, and solve problems – it’s a question I’ve been asked a great many times.

“Learn a musical instrument or a new language,” has been my typical reply.

Most are surprised by that answer, having expected me to direct them to the latest online “brain training” program, or to the latest and greatest supplement being hawked on late night infomercials, or perhaps encourage them to take up crossword puzzles.

Yet, there’s little doubt in my mind that learning to play a musical instrument ranks near or at the top of the list of brain building activities, certainly far surpassing any of the aforementioned contenders.

And that, of course, includes learning to play the banjo. In fact, for reasons I’ll explain below, it is ESPECIALLY true of the banjo.

Reason #1: It’s a “game level” intervention.

One way of categorizing any sort of treatment or therapy we might employ in the name of better health is by the level at which it acts.

The highest level of intervention would be at the level of human behavior.

And just as it’s far easier to win at Angry Birds by playing the actual game than it is to win by manipulating its source code in real-time, game level health interventions are almost always more powerful, and much less likely to crash the system.

This is why the health benefits from things like changing one’s diet or exercising regularly far eclipse anything that modern medicines, which operate far downstream in the biological cascade, have to offer.

Though in this pharmaceutical-loving era of ours we may try to convince ourselves otherwise, we truly have no idea how to predict the full spectrum of consequences when we monkey with our source code. This is a lesson we’ve learned more times than we can count.

So rather than a drug we might take to boost cognitive function, which acts crudely on a single restricted domain of an incredibly complex regulatory system, with remote effects and potential risks we’re not smart enough to predict, learning an instrument acts at the top-most “game” level, influencing the entire system in ways that support and amplify its own finely honed systems for maintaining good health.

Reason #2: It’s one of the most cognitively demanding tasks humans engage in.

In a prior “Your Brain on Banjo” article I summarized all the various cognitive networks involved in musical performance, in particular the ones engaged in a typical jamming situation.

The computational resources necessary to successfully pull off such a feat are immense, and if we measure activities that build brains in the same manner as we do those that build bodies – by total work load – then we’d be hard pressed to find its equal.

Generally speaking, the harder you work the brain, the bigger it grows. Cognitively demanding exercises build synapses, and stimulate the birth of new brain cells. Playing music literally grows brains.

And while we can’t be certain of the direction the arrow of causation points here, I think it’s no coincidence that so many of our greatest scientists and mathematicians have also been musicians.

The research in the area also indicates that the brain-building properties of musicianship are protective. The bigger your brain, the richer the connectivity, the more protection afforded against the ravages of aging and degenerative diseases.

Reason #3: It connects us.

Most of us drastically underestimate the importance of human connection to health.

But the research is abundantly clear on the issue. Loneliness and social isolation negatively impact health, down to the level of the cell.

Yet, one of the ironies of this age of communication and “connectivity” is that, in many ways, we’re more disconnected from each other than ever before (no, Facebook friends don’t count here).

Pick up the banjo, though, and you’re instantly part of a worldwide community of musicians and music lovers.

You’re now a member of the 5-string tribe, one that engages in a sacred ritual where people of all abilities come together to share their music. They come together to connect over an act so fundamental to the human experience that it’s found in every culture across the globe: gathering together for song and dance.

What exactly does this do for your brain?

Loneliness and social isolation, or the lack of connections with other humans, has repeatedly been shown to increase the risk of cognitive decline, increase the production of hormones linked to brain shrinkage and a heightened risk of Alzheimer’s, and suppress the birth of new brain cells.

In short, from the brain’s perspective, nothing good comes from it.

By contrast, those who feel well supported and who are socially connected have bigger brains, and maintain their cognitive faculties for longer. Being part of a tribe nourishes and protects the brain.

So there you have it! 3 great reasons why, if hanging onto your marbles for as long as possible is a priority, then pickin‘ the five is your best medicine.

— The Laws of Brainjo Table of Contents —

I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed on Jonathan Levi’s Becoming Superhuman podcast.

It’s a show all about how we can maximize our learning potential, which as you may know is a subject I’ve been exploring most of my life.

In the interview, we spent most of our time talking about how to learn music, and the theoretical framework for the Brainjo Method, in particular how to apply our understanding of the science of cognition and neuroplasticity to learn music more effectively and efficiently, so that nobody gets left behind.

Those of you who are interested in the science behind the Brainjo Method, or just the topic of learning smarter will enjoy it I think (and you’ll also likely enjoy other episodes of the show as well!).

Click here to listen to the Becoming Superhuman show interview.

Episode 26: To Become An Expert, Stay A Beginner

Recently, after having received several requests for it as a “Tune and Tab of the Week” installment, I set out to learn Steve Martin’s “clawhammer medley.” The medley consists of four classic old time tunes Martin used to play in series during his comedy performances.

(RELATED: Click here to sign up for the free tune and tab of the week.)

The tunes are played out of an open D tuning, aDAF#D, which is not a tuning I’ve spent much time in.

In fact, while I’ve played the occasional fingerstyle tune in it, I’d never played anything in it in clawhammer.

The easier route would have simply been to adapt them to a tuning I’m more familiar with, such as “double D,” the de facto favorite for D tunes amongst clawhammerists.

But I wanted to stay faithful to the original, so I resisted the easy road.

Not surprisingly, it took a bit longer than usual to get the whole thing under my fingers.

Fighting the Urge

If you’ve been following along with the Laws of Brainjo series, you know that our ultimate objective in learning music is to take new skills that have yet to be learned, and practice them to the point where they become automatic. Automaticity is a sign that a new skill has been transferred from the conscious to the subconscious parts of the brain, and can now be executed without conscious effort.

Any skill that hasn’t been transferred to the subconscious circuitry, then, will feel effortful.

I’ve spent many years playing tunes out of double D, and those hard won neural grooves I’d built kept trying to guide my fingers towards those familiar and effortless patterns.

But those familiar patterns of double D tuning were of no use. Initially, it was impossible to resist those impulses. The pull of those hard won habits were too strong.

So learning this particular time was more challenging than what I was used to. And it’s natural to get frustrated in this situation.

And then I reminded myself about the importance of the Beginner’s Mind (and as the video below will attest, it worked!)

“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities,
but in the expert’s there are few.”

– Shunryu Suzuki

The Mind of the Beginner

In the early stages of learning a new subject or skill, everything feels awkward and unfamiliar. That of course includes the early stages of learning the banjo.

When everything is new, everything is HARD. When something feels hard, it’s a signal that the brain has a good bit of rewiring to do in order to achieve what’s being asked of it.

In the beginning of our banjo journey, we’ve yet to construct any neural circuitry for banjo playing, and so nothing is easy. As we improve, and as we build the fundamental neural networks required for banjo playing, things start getting easier. And more enjoyable.

But what happens when you’ve reached that point of hard-won ease, and suddenly you’re once again confronted with those beginner feelings of awkwardness again?

The natural tendency is to avoid whatever it is, to go back to the familiar stuff you can do well. After all, you’re not a beginner anymore, so why should you do something that makes you feel like one?

Yet, growth only occurs at the edge of our ability, when we’re engaging in those very things that feel hard. How then to resist the urge to go back to the familiar? To not press on, but revert back to what’s familiar and easy?

By maintaining beginner’s mind.

The concept of beginner’s mind comes from the Zen Buddhist tradition, and serves as a reminder to always retain the openness and curiosity we all have in the early stages of any journey.

A reminder to appreciate that there’s always more to learn than what’s been learned, and that there is no end to the master’s journey. That the scope of what we don’t know will always be larger than the scope of what we do know.

That to keep walking down the road to mastery, we must never stop thinking like a beginner.

— The Laws of Brainjo Table of Contents —

by Josh Turknett

Let me start by saying I love music in all forms. And I love all music making devices.

But I also have a special affinity for the banjo. In popular culture, however, misconceptions and mis-characterizations of our beloved 5-string abound.

So, in the interest of Banjo Public Relations, I thought it might be time to make the case for why I love the banjo, and why it is clearly the world’s greatest instrument.

Reason #1: THE SOUND

Any discussion of the 5 string banjo must begin with the sound.

Because there is nothing else like it.

And yet, while the joyful twang of a modern steel strung fingerpicked banjo is probably the first sound that comes to mind for most, the banjo is capable of so much more.

The ability to vary head tension, hand position, string type, head materials, bridge, tailpiece, playing techniques, nail length, neck woods, rim construction, and so on leads to a mind boggling number of potential sounds a banjo can make – even out of a single banjo. From sprightly and humorous to dark and melancholy, and everything in between.

(RELATED: Learn how to play the banjo clawhammer or fingerstyle with the Brainjo Method, the only system of instruction designed specifically for the adult brain. Click here for the Breakthrough Banjo course for clawhammer, or here to learn more about the Breakthrough Banjo course for fingerstyle.)

Reason #2: IT IS UNCONVENTIONAL

“When you find yourself on the side of the majority, it’s time to pause and reflect.”

– Mark Twain

Following the herd is tempting. It’s a survival instinct that, in our hunting and gathering days on the savannah, served us well.

In today’s world, where the consequences of zigging where others zag is almost never life threatening, the default strategy to do what everyone else is doing doesn’t always lead us where we want to go.

Almost without exception, the best decisions of my own life have been the unconventional ones – those times when I resisted the herd’s gravitational pull and set off in another direction.

And making one unconventional decision, like picking up the banjo over something more ordinary, helps to grease the wheels for more unconventional decisions to come. Until you’re crafting a life that may not fit the cookie cutter mold, but that fits you perfectly.

What this also means is that banjo players become banjo players just because they like the banjo.

Not because it’s what everyone else was doing (the guitar). Not because it’s what their parents wanted them to play (piano, violin). And certainly not to impress the ladies (the guitar again).

Plain, simple, and true.

Reason #3: IT DOESN’T CARE MUCH FOR ATTENTION.

There was the time – the “minstrel era” to be precise – when the banjo was all the rage. A time when the banjo player was the equivalent of the modern day electric-guitar-smashing rock star.

Times have changed.

In these times, the banjo is no longer in the spotlight. Its role is usually supportive, and we banjo players don’t mind that arrangement one bit.

It may be called on for the occasional solo, but that’s the exception that proves the rule. In most bands nowadays, the banjo’s main objective is to serve, to help everyone and everything sound a little bit better.

A banjo player can’t just mindlessly shred licks with the expectation her bandmates will keep up. No, to do his job well, a banjo player must focus on others just as much as he focuses on himself.

Even in the classic fiddle and banjo pairing the relationship is egalitarian. The object of the game is synergy, not a thinly veiled competition of one-upmanship.

Reason #4: YOU CAN TINKER WITH IT.

Tool making is hard wired into every human. We’re all born tinkerers.

We like to take stuff apart, mess around with it, figure out how it works, change things up and see what happens.

It’s how we learn about our world, and it’s how we ever came up with awesome ideas like a banjo in the first place.

Unlike most of its fragile cousins in the stringed instrument family, where doing anything more than a string change requires a certified professional, the banjo rewards the tinkering spirit. It’s infinitely customizable, resilient, and hard to screw up beyond repair.

Which also means that, as the tinkering continues, as people continue dreaming up novel modifications, the palette of potential sounds you can make on it will only continue to expand.

Reason #5: THERE’S NO FAME OR FORTUNE TO COME FROM IT.

First of all, playing music for a living is not the path to riches.

But for those who still decide to pursue a life of music for fame and fortune, or for attention from the opposite gender, the banjo is an ill-advised choice.

Which means that banjo players are pure of heart.

With no money to be made, no public adoration to be won, no girls to be wooed, all that’s left is just a desire to make good banjo sounds.

Reason #6: IT COMES FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS.

The banjo’s ancestors grew up in Africa.

Early forms consisted of a hollowed out gourd with animal skin stretched atop the strings, strung with animal gut, attached to a chunk of wood.

It’s been modified and transformed in many ways since, a tradition that continues to this day.

And there are essentially no rules about how to play it. Sure, some techniques work better than others, and have been passed along.

But there’s seemingly no end to the number of ways you can make great music on a banjo. And figuring out your own way of doing it is PART of the tradition.

Contrast this with an instrument like the violin, where the form of the instrument is precisely defined, and where the dominant pedagogy – arising from the dogmatic world of classical music, where uniformity is necessary to the style – says there’s one way of doing things.

Not surprisingly, this humble instrument tends to attract humble people.

Reason #8: IT’S A COMPLETE MUSICAL SYSTEM

Melody and rhythm.

Like corned beef and cabbage, you can’t have one without the other. They’re the twin pillars of music.

Play the mandolin without a rhythm section and the absence is stark. Or play the drums without an instrument adding melody and the ears soon tire.

But listen to clawhammer banjo or old-time fingerpicking, and it’s all there. Melody and rhythm all wrapped into one captivating, gorgeous symbiotic unit. It’s a complete musical system.

It is a drum attached to a fretboard after all.

Reason #9:  IT CONNECTS YOU TO A [VERY] LONG TRADITION.

Within America alone, the banjo has been a central member of many musical traditions, most of which predate the era of commercial music.

And while we don’t know when the first African tied strings across a skin-covered gourd, it’s likely that the traditions that included the banjo’s ancestors extend many centuries beyond that.

Needless to say, the banjo tradition spans continents and cultures. And almost universally, the banjo was played in celebratory rituals of song and dance. Back in times when we all made music, and didn’t divide ourselves into the performers and the audience, or the professionals and the amateurs.

For centuries, perhaps millennia, the banjo tradition has been handed down generation to generation, changing shape and sound along the way.

Playing the banjo connects you to all of that. You become one more link in a very long chain, a humbling reminder that you’re yet another traveler on this blue speck, with countless travelers who’ve come before, and many more still to come.

Sometimes it’s just nice to feel small.

— The Laws of Brainjo Table of Contents —