Brains of Jazz and Classical Musicians Work Differently腦子不一樣的音樂家：爵士VS古典

曹艷麗/譯

A study published by the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences （MPIHCBS） found that musicians who work in the two fields demonstrate substantially different brain activity， even when theyre playing the same music.

The research could help explain why musicians seem to excel in one or other style， and not usually in both.

The study outlines two steps in playing the piano： what the pianist is going to play—meaning the keys they press—and how they are going to play—which fingers they should use.

Classical pianists tend to focus on the second step―the ‘how. This means their focus is on technique and the personal expression they add to the piece.

Jazz pianists on the other hand focus on the ‘what， meaning they are always prepared to improvise and adapt the notes theyre playing.

The study included 30 professional pianists， half of whom were jazz players and half of whom were classical.

Both groups were shown a hand playing a sequence of chords on a screen. The sequence was scattered with mistakes in harmonies and fingering. The pianists had to imitate the hand movements and react to the irregularities， while their brain signals were recorded with sensors on their head.

The study found that different processes occurred in the brains of the jazz and classical pianists. In particular， the jazz pianists brains began re-planning sooner than the classical pianists brains.

The study found the classical pianists concentrated on the fingering and technique of their playing， while the jazz pianists were more prepared to change the notes they played to improvise and adapt their playing to create unexpected harmonies.

“In the jazz pianists we found neural evidence for this flexibility in planning harmonies when playing the piano，” says researcher Roberta Bianco.

“When we asked them to play a harmonically unexpected chord within a standard chord progression， their brains started to re-plan the actions faster than classical pianists. Accordingly， they were better able to react and continue their performance.”

However， the classical pianists performed better than the jazz group when it came to following unusual fingering. Their brains showed more awareness of the fingering， and as a result they made fewer errors while playing.

The researchers concluded that switching between jazz and classical styles of music can be a challenge， even for musicians with decades of experience.

They quoted jazz pianist Keith Jarrett， who was once asked in an interview whether hed like to do a concert where he would play both jazz and classical music： “No， thats hilarious，” he said. “Its [because of] the circuitry. Your system demands different circuitry for either of those two things.”

根據馬克斯·普朗克人類認知與腦科學研究所發表的一項研究報告，爵士和古典這兩個領域的音樂家，即使演奏同一首曲子，大腦活動也顯示出很大不同。

這項研究可能有助于解釋為什么音樂家似乎擅長這一種或那一種風格，而一般不會兩種都擅長。

該研究涉及到鋼琴彈奏的兩個步驟：鋼琴家要彈什么，即他們按下哪個琴鍵;以及怎么彈，即他們使用哪根手指。

古典樂鋼琴家傾向于關注第二步“怎么彈”，意味著他們的焦點在于技法和所賦予曲目的個人表達。

另一方面，爵士樂鋼琴家關注的是“彈什么”，意味著他們常常準備即興發揮和改編正在演奏的曲子。

這項研究的對象是30名職業鋼琴家，爵士樂演奏家和古典樂演奏家各占一半。

研究人員在屏幕上為兩組鋼琴家展示正在彈奏一串和弦的一只手。這串和弦彈奏時夾雜著和聲和指法錯誤。鋼琴家們必須模仿手的動作，并對錯誤部分做出反應，與此同時，他們頭上的傳感器記錄下了他們的大腦信號。

研究發現，爵士樂和古典樂鋼琴家的大腦中出現了不同的處理過程。尤其是，爵士樂鋼琴家的大腦比古典樂鋼琴家的大腦更快開始重新設計。

研究還發現，古典樂鋼琴家彈奏時專注于指法和技巧，爵士樂鋼琴家則更愿意改變演奏的音符來即興創作，并通過改編來創造意想不到的和聲。

研究人員羅伯塔·比安科說：“關于邊彈奏鋼琴邊設計和聲的這種靈活性，我們在爵士樂鋼琴家身上找到了神經學證據。”

“當我們要求他們在彈奏標準和弦的過程中加入一個意想不到但不違和的和弦時，相比古典樂鋼琴家，爵士樂鋼琴家的大腦更快開始重新規劃動作。因此，他們能夠更好地作出反應、繼續演奏。”

然而，古典樂鋼琴家在遵從不尋常的指法方面比爵士樂鋼琴家表現得更好。他們的大腦更注意指法，因此演奏時更少犯錯。

研究人員得出結論，即使對有幾十年彈奏經驗的音樂家來說，在爵士樂和古典樂風格之間轉換可能也是一個挑戰。

他們引用了爵士樂鋼琴家基思·賈勒特的一段話。在一次采訪中，賈勒特被問及是否愿意舉辦一場爵士樂加古典樂的演奏會，他回答道：“不，那太滑稽了。（因為）這是腦回路的問題。大腦需要不同的回路來處理這兩樣東西。”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）