The mysterious power of music: hearing four pieces at once.
If I ask you to think about the song “Happy Birthday,” your brain can probably recall it for you and you can hear it playing in your head. This is called audiation.
Well, what if I asked you to hear “Happy Birthday” in your head… and at the same audiate “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” as well? Can you do it? I can’t either. Suddenly we’ve dropped off from a nearly universal, inborn ability to a very rare skill.
Now that you’re thinking about that… you HAVE to hear the Radiolab piece called “A 4-Track Mind” about the stunning and unique gift of ragtime pianist Bob Milne.