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1.3.8 Music in the Brain: Left and Right Hemispheres
The common belief that the right hemisphere processes music and the left processes language does not hold up.
If Doc Yada-Yadams, a fully qualified neurosurgeon, were to sedate the left hemisphere of your brain (don’t try this at home), you would likely be able to sing a song (i.e., melody with words), but would not be able to speak. If the good Doc sedated your right hemisphere, you would be able to speak, but not sing.
Language and music “time-share” many characteristics in both hemispheres. Singing tends to be more right-hemisphere, with speech more left-hemisphere. Both the left and right hemispheres appear to process pitch intervals.
Most people have a preferred listening ear, usually the right ear, which is connected to the speech-processing left hemisphere. When you answer the phone, you usually use your right ear.
In male musicians, music shows much more lateralized processing in the brain, compared with female musicians.
As for modularity, whether they’re in the right, left, or both hemispheres, separate modules apparently process the time-based elements of music (meter, rhythm), compared with the melodic elements (pitch, intervals). No one knows exactly how many modules do the work.
Professional musicians show left-hemisphere dominance for music, amateurs right-hemisphere, probably because trained musicians approach music more analytically. As well, highly skilled musicians appear to use a significantly larger proportion of the brain in processing music than do people who listen to music but don’t play.