Naturally, you’ll be judging yourself first and foremost. But you could probably deal with that. It’s the audience that may intimidate you.

It’s the audience that will judge you.

It’s the audience that has the memory of what was before.

But, how is it possible they can distinguish right notes from wrong ones without knowing much about music?

It’s because they have a brain. Or, at least most of them :) And likely; you have one too!

Brain

The most primitive part of our brain – our ‘reptile’ brain – monitors our vital systems and constantly scouts our environment for potential threats.

The somewhat less primitive ‘mammal’ part of our brain is all about social stuff. Fitting in or not fitting in is important to this part of our brain.

These two can perfectly spot wrong notes. Or right notes. Or beautiful notes for that matter.

But there’s something unique about them when compared to the most recent part of our brain; our conscious brain.

Subconsciously

This means people hear whether a note is right, wrong or fitting without thinking.

Consciously

However, we decide consciously how much we like or dislike these ‘rights and wrongs’.

So?

Unfortunately, to profit from this natural talent you have to know what to pay attention to when improvising/listening. People with lots of musicality instinctively do.

Anyone can be taught this, but not all people are equally sensitive. This means that though virtually everyone will hear large ‘right or wrongs’, only few will hear the small ones. Let alone ‘feel’ them.

You?

Let’s find out where you stand in the next chapter.