May 15, 2008 at 8:47 am
I am the exception! I can't listen to music, my mind starts thinking about a programming problem I am having, and the music becomes back ground noise.
I can't carry a tune or even remember the words to any songs but, I can picture in my mind code I have written in the past.
May 15, 2008 at 8:52 am
GSquared (5/15/2008)
I think this may be a case of "mashed potatoes statistics". Lots of just about any demographic group are musicians, or at least want to be and play at it. Most likely, there isn't a significant connection between the two.At the place I work, the CEO, one department manager, 2 salespeople, an accountant, and someone who has switched departments three times in the last 6 months, have a band and play and practice regularly. No point to this except to point out that people like music, just about universally.
Then, of course, there's me. I can't carry a tune in a bag. Tried to learn the clarinet when I was a kid - most people sound better when they're tuning up than I did when playing. 🙂
Ultimately, you are right. The only evidence I have, or was able to find, was anecdotal at best. Perhaps we musicians/techies are drawing correlations where none exist... or we are drawing correlations that apply to many other industries outside of our own. However, for myself, I can't help but look at development and music composition in similar ways and use each perspective to inform the other. Perhaps it is just certain kind of knack (like seeing both the trees and the forest) that helps a person excel at music and IT, or any other profession where one needs to do that - like a CEO.
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May 15, 2008 at 8:56 am
Being 'computer guy' pays the bills.
I play mandolin, guitar, bass and bodhran in a Celtic band on the central coast of California. If you want to 'Hear the Darlins' Roar!' and you're in the area, we'll be at the Guadalupe Dune Center today from 4:30 - 6:30.
May 15, 2008 at 8:58 am
Hi,
We all draw and relate to life from our own experiences. I look upon data structures as molecules with the ability to bond to one or many other molecules. In reading DNA we have to transcribe to mRNA and translate into protein. The thing is that through diversity of vioews a greater experience is gained, so if everyone in your department is a musician you will be missing out on many other worlds/universes
May 15, 2008 at 8:59 am
Brian Kukowski (5/15/2008)
A great book that talks about this topic is "Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid" by Douglas Hofstadter. It's been about a dozen years since I've read it, so can't really quote from it. It discusses three different areas- Math/IT (Kurt Godel)
- Graphics (Escher)
- Music (Bach)
Brian, I also love this book, and you're right, it's not a light read. (I only got through 1/3 of it before the algebraic notation got the better of me.)
But it is the one book that I intend to finish before I kick the bucket. It's a fascinating treatise on the relationships between math and art.
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May 15, 2008 at 9:02 am
John Reid (5/15/2008)
I would strongly urge anyone interested in pursuing this subject further to read the book "This is your brain on music" by musician-turned-scientist Daniel Levitin (http://www.yourbrainonmusic.com/). Although a basic knowledge of music helps, everything is explained and should be easy to follow for non-musicians. The reason I feel it should be of interest to programmers is because it makes you think about the brain's cognitive processes -- and how little we appreciate what happens "under the hood".
Thanks, John. That one is on my reading list. Another book I plan to read is Oliver Sacks' "Musicophilia" which deals with the same brain/music relationship. Sacks is a fantastic author and scientist.
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May 15, 2008 at 9:16 am
Oh goody, new books to read!
On the musical front, I'm a singer/songwriter, and I play clarinet (my first instrument), guitar (classical and 12-string; used to play bass in a jazz band), hammered dulcimer, mandolin, harmonica, penny whistle, and pretty much any other instrument I pick up. Don't really have the lip for flute, but I can still get decent sound out of one.
I too would like to see some empirical data - musicians in IT versus in any other profession. I do think there's a connection between math and music, but I don't know if that necessarily translates to musicians being good at IT. I have many musical friends that aren't in IT - even a few making a living with their music! 😀
Oh, and I ride motorcycles too...
Steph Brown
May 15, 2008 at 9:18 am
I am a piano/keyboard player and occasionally play the drums. I use the Roland XP-80, Roland Fantom XR and I have my eyes on the new Roland Fantom G7. My wife and I are the music directors for my church. I have been doing music for over 20 years and IT for over 12 years.
May 15, 2008 at 9:23 am
Julie Breutzmann (5/15/2008)
I agree that a high percentage of the population here has been involved in music at some point in their lives. But I believe that many of the points mentioned contribute to success in both fields.One local company does like to hire musicians for technical positions. One reason is that trained musicians are accustomed to accepting criticism and even using self-ciriticism to improve on their performance. I also understand that the level of brain activity in playing in a band or orchestra is astounding. One experiment measured this in basketball players. When they tried to do the same for musicians that had to recalibrate their instruments up because it was off the scale for the musicians as compared to basketball players.
Julie, could you perhaps find the name of that study? I would be extremely interested in it.
I found this Oxford study of musicians using FMRI brain scanning which concluded that musicians and non-musicians use different parts of their brains when listening to music, and also that people with perfect pitch have some differences.
http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/11/8/754
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May 15, 2008 at 9:23 am
Played the guitar, violin, a little mandolin, dulcimer, piano and a smattering of harmonica. Love music over the years and still do.
I wear headphones with music on all day and it helps my productivity.
There is a deep mathematical and logical base in music. Harmony is a pleasing mathematical pattern of sound waves, and each human mind has a set of sound patterns that please them.
Math and logic are also part of what I do in IT and when it works and operates in harmony it also is pleasing.:)
Miles...
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
May 15, 2008 at 9:29 am
Tin Pin - I recently had major heart surgery and had a few months of recovery. Meds were plentiful and the old brain had a few very hard days.
When in rehab one of the old timers asked if I sang or played an instrument. I said that I had and he went on to relate that it was a proven medical fact that if a person wants to recover the maximum recoverable mental capacity that they start playing the instruments again. I did and it worked wonders.
Miles..
Not all gray hairs are Dinosaurs!
May 15, 2008 at 9:30 am
stuart.saker (5/15/2008)
However as a scientist I would say, do not make statements without proof.
That's why this topic was posted as an editorial, and not as an article 😀 My comments were made based on personal observations and were posted here to get a response from a large concentration of IT professionals. On that note (no pun intended), your response was also solicited and appreciated. =)
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May 15, 2008 at 9:31 am
I was born a musician; I began playing my grandfather's piano when I was three, plunking out simple tunes by ear. At seven I started lessons, in fifth grade I started flute in school band (yes I was a band geek). Both these activities continued on into college and grad school, where I was accepted into the musicology program at a very highly ranked music school. I was attracted to pianos ever since I can remember, and later on in grad school, I asked fellow pianists from all over the world if they also had that early attraction and they all said yes. I went on to get a BS in CS so I could earn a decent living and it wasn't until I went to interviews, that HR people started asking me about the connection between music and programming, which I was unaware of. After 30 years in the business, I've had many coworkers who were also very good amateur musicians. I believe there is a connection between musical talent and the ability to see things in organized patterns and sequences, because that's what music and programs are: patterns, sequences and repetition. (I was a whiz a music theory, as many pianists are.) In my case, I have always said I am a musician and writer who earns her living in high tech.
May 15, 2008 at 9:32 am
I play guitar and bass. We also have a high number of musicians in our department. not so much on the server/admin side as the programming side. This also hold true in my family. about half my family plays at least 1 instrument, and every one of them is also in IT. Of the ones that do not play instruments, none of them work in IT.
May 15, 2008 at 9:40 am
Miles Neale (5/15/2008)
Tin Pin - I recently had major heart surgery and had a few months of recovery. Meds were plentiful and the old brain had a few very hard days.When in rehab one of the old timers asked if I sang or played an instrument. I said that I had and he went on to relate that it was a proven medical fact that if a person wants to recover the maximum recoverable mental capacity that they start playing the instruments again. I did and it worked wonders.
Miles..
Miles, glad to hear you have recovered. I think there is serious relationship between music and how much of one's brain it can exercise. I have read that music is often used in alzheimer therapy:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_2001_April/ai_72297149
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