Rocktober
Music is fun-da-mental. This may be a bold statement, but it is something that I believe and apparently so do many members of my social circle. Why did I hyphenate fun-da-mental…because music is something “fun” you can enjoy yourself and share with others AND music is also “mental” because it is good for your brain in more ways than you think.
G.O.A.T.chella (a.k.a. Oldchella) is just one example of a concert where parents in the baby boomer generation could rock out and have “fun” along side their millennial-aged progeny (well maybe not right next to them, but at the same venue…LOL). When Rihanna joined Paul McCartney in a surprise appearance to sing “FourFiveSeconds” on Saturday night, half the audience cheered in immediate recognition. Others had to be told by their kids or grandkids seated next to them who the mystery lady was, but one thing is certain everyone was having F-U-N watching some of their favorite artists!
This concert series was marketed as a cross generational event, but what about other artists? In this great month alone of "Rocktober", I have seen in social media and heard from friends of great musical experiences shared with family. Some of the “fun” events range from my cousin and niece (a mom and daughter) post about experiencing Gwen Stefani and Eve together to parents and friends taking their children to a first “concert date” (mom and son) at LA’s Greek Theatre to see Fitz and the Tantrums and one mom text me and ask if I could sneak some forbidden pics of her daughter performing on stage this weekend with the Rolling Stones at G.O.A.T.Chella!
Historical musical experiences have also shaped my social media feeds this month. My aunt recalled her favorite Elvis concert (my mom is also a big Elvis fan and his music shaped my early years) and included a YouTube link to that 1973 concert. And from my MTV days, I saw one favorite TBT post from a colleague recalling Bon Jovi at the VH1 Event “Big In 2002”.
Now, changing beats to my “mental” statement about music, most of us have heard about the great benefits of learning to play a musical instrument. My son and I are lucky enough to have found Toddle Tunes (www.toddletunes.com) as a young mom and infant to share together and now Bryce continues his love of music solo as a student in his “Kids Rock” class weekly with Teacher Matthew. But music training can also lead to better scores across the board according to a study published by the Brain and Creativity Institute at USC that started a five-year study in 2012 and published some interim results this summer*:
Music training has been found to be related to better language and mathematical skills, higher IQ and overall greater academic achievement. Also, differences between musicians and nonmusicians have been found in areas of the brain related to hearing and movement, among others.
So everyone please crank up the tunes, dust off the guitar and/or break out the credit cards and do some concert shopping on Ticketmaster and enjoy Rocktober!
Peace and Love,
Tomato
* http://observer.com/2016/08/music-training-speeds-up-brain-development-in-children/
photo credit: Maria Ives for radio.com