Music and imaginary hearingMusic and imaginary hearing
All In The Mind
Dr Rebecca Gelding is a cognitive scientist who investigates what is going on in the brain as people imagine musical pitch and rhythm. As part of the series This Sounds Like Science, you can explore music on a different level in a free lunchtime event by Dr Gelding, presented by City Recital Hall and Inspiring Australia. In an upcoming program, All in the Mind will feature an interview by Sana Qadar with Dr Gelding, so stay tuned—in the meantime, here's a short extract about some topics being discussed at her talk on Tuesday, 18 February, at the City Recital Hall.
1:58•12 Feb 2020
Hearing Music in Your Head: Science, Opera and Wild Improvisation
Episode Overview
- Dr Rebecca Gelding investigates how people imagine musical pitch and rhythm and how this relates to musicians’ brains.
- Soprano Sarah Toth will lead improvised opera informed by poetry, electronic soundscapes and audience choices.
- The audience selects parameters such as topic, key (major or minor) and mood (for example, dreamy or march-like).
- Sarah’s previous devised opera, Seed, was created through improvisational sessions with her backing musicians.
- Dr Gelding notes that, although imagery is thought to be part of improvisation and composition, there is no direct study linking measured imagery ability with creativity.
“"Being able to imagine music, does that improve your ability to improvise?"”
Ever wondered what it takes to hear music in your mind as vividly as through headphones? This short All In The Mind segment introduces cognitive scientist Dr Rebecca Gelding and her fascination with how the brain handles imagined musical pitch and rhythm. Dr Gelding talks about an upcoming live event where science meets performance. She’s teaming up with soprano opera singer Sarah Toth for what sounds like a wonderfully unpredictable session of improvised opera.
As Dr Gelding puts it, Sarah will be "leading us in some improvisational opera, which is going to be pretty wild." Across the chat, you’ll hear how Sarah’s previous devised opera, *Seed*, was built: poetry, electronic soundscapes and opera layered together through improvisational sessions with her musicians. That same spirit of experimentation carries into this event, where the audience gets to set the parameters.
They’ll choose lines of unseen poetry, major or minor key, and even the overall mood — "whether it'll be sort of dreamy or a march or something like that." Dr Gelding explains that she’ll be sharing research on musicians’ brains and musical imagery, then interviewing Sarah about how imagery shapes her improvisation.
A central question hangs over their collaboration: "Being able to imagine music, does that improve your ability to improvise?" Dr Gelding notes that imagery is considered one component of improvisation and composition, but adds that "there's no study that I know of" directly linking measured imagery ability with creativity. It’s a neat teaser for anyone curious about how science can sit alongside live art, and how inner soundtracks might shape what happens on stage.
If you’ve ever caught yourself composing whole pieces in your head, this one might have you wondering what your brain is really doing.
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