Music
Dr. Stambaugh hits the right note with new book
Musicians don’t just create music. They build a link between people’s brains, establishing a connection that crosses borders and barriers. This relationship between the brain and music has long been established. However, Fred and Dinah Gretsch School of Music’s Dr. Laura Stambaugh has taken it a step further with her new book, Music and the Brain for Musicians.
As a professor and the Head of Music Education, Dr. Stambaugh says she wanted to write this book to combine her areas of interest in vastly different academic disciplines after being a visiting instructor in the Music and Neuroscience Lab at Western University (Ontario).
“I had been trying to weave together my interests in music and biology since my undergraduate studies when I was told I had to choose one field of study or the other,” explains Dr. Stambaugh. “Now, as an interdisciplinary researcher, I don’t want other student or professional musicians to encounter the same barriers that I did. The purpose of this book is to invite musicians to learn about our musical brains and become part of this fascinating field of study.”
Already it has received glowing reviews from colleagues and peers.
“So often, research on music and performance science is made unnecessarily complicated,” said Jessica Nápoles, professor of choral music education at University of North Texas. “In Music and the Brain for Musicians, Stambaugh uses a user-friendly approach to understanding important topics related to perception and cognition, psychology of music, and the benefits of music study.”
Published by Conway Publications in summer 2022, the book focuses on music from the perspective of cognition and neuroscience, including how music is perceived and understood through highlighting several key research findings in previous studies. It all culminates in a call for action so that musicians can make meaningful contributions to research surrounding music. Due to the overlapping topics, it’s a perfect book for musicians, teachers, and college students in music and psychology.
“This book addresses the mysterious link between seemingly effortless technique and musical artistry,” said Cecilia Kang, associate professor of clarinet at Louisiana State University. “Stambaugh illuminates just how elite the musician’s brain is, while also providing connections to improve teaching, learning, and performance.”
Dr. Stambaugh’s research focuses on the development of automaticity in playing instruments, and she appears in Journal of Research in Music Education, Psychology of Music, Psychomusicology, Journal of Music Teacher Education, Update: Applications of Research in Music Education, and Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience. Her teaching articles are found in Music Educators Journal and Teaching Music.
The NAMM Foundation Welcomes Dinah Gretsch to The Board of Directors
CARLSBAD, Calif. – August 2, 2022 – The NAMM Foundation is honored to welcome Dinah Gretsch to the organization’s board of directors in the role of Vice Chair. As a member of the board, Gretsch will serve a three-year term to guide the work of the non-profit and fulfill its vision to create access to and advance participation in music-making across the lifespan.
“Through and through, Dinah is a tireless advocate for music education. Her work embodies a diverse amount of experience in both business and philanthropy across the music spectrum. We are honored to welcome Dinah to the board and look forward to her contributions on behalf of the industry,” says Mary Luehrsen, Executive Director of The NAMM Foundation.
Gretsch shares, “The Gretsch Company has proudly participated in NAMM for more than a century and it’s that history that makes the opportunity to serve on the NAMM Foundation Board of Directors an even greater privilege. I look forward to supporting the mission, the team, and the growth of its vitally important programs.”
Currently, Dinah Gretsch serves as Executive Vice President and CFO of the Savannah, GA-based Gretsch Company, a globally recognized manufacturer of high-quality drums and guitars since 1883. Dinah has been recognized as a prominent figure in the musical instruments industry for forty years with numerous prestigious awards and accolades. In 2003, the Atlanta Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) presented her with the Heroes Award, a distinction awarded to community leaders in the music industry. In 2008, she was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame for her significant contributions to the music industry. In 2014, the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Georgia Southern University honored her with the prestigious Betty Foy Sanders Patrons of the Arts Award. That same year she was honored by the Women’s International Music Network (WiMN) with the She Rocks Award for her leadership in the music industry.
With a core belief that music has the power to change children’s lives in a positive way, Dinah established the Mrs. G’s Music Foundation in 2010 to fund music teachers, support artist residencies and supply musical instruments to rural schools. She also provides grants to children to attend guitar and drum camps, all in furtherance of the Gretsch family mission to “enrich lives through participation in music.”
Dinah devotes much of her spare time serving on the boards of the Georgia Music Foundation, Sacred Heart Finance Committee, and Thomas Heyward Academy
With the appointment, Gretsch will join Tom Sumner, Chair of The NAMM Foundation and President of Yamaha Corporation of America; Susan Lipp, Secretary-Treasurer and Chairman of Full Compass Systems; and four-time World Series Champion, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Turnaround Arts Ambassador, and Latin GRAMMY-nominated jazz guitarist, Bernie Williams as Director-at-Large.
Since 1994, and through the generosity of NAMM members’ support of its Circle of Benefits model, The NAMM Foundation has reinvested 204 million dollars to fulfill the organization’s vision to support music education and advance active participation in music-making across the lifespan. In addition, the organization works to support scientific research, philanthropic giving, and public service programs. NAMM Foundation programs include NAMM’s Museum of Making Music together with signature programs that include the SupportMusic Coalition, a coalition that unites non-profit organizations, schools, and businesses working to ensure that music education is supported in communities everywhere; funding leading qualitative and quantitative research on music and music-making from top neuroscientists and researchers; the Best Communities for Music Education recognition program, which acknowledges and applauds schools and districts across the U.S. for their support for and to quality music education programs; GenNext, a program designed to foster emerging, college-aged music industry professions; Music Education Days at the NAMM Show that unites music educators with the music products industry; and grant-making to non-profit music-making service organizations in the U.S. and abroad.