3/3

I'd always kind of filed this away as just related to the problem I've had following music that was too complex, which seemed to be a sensory input/short term memory/energy cost thing. I had similarly issues watching movies with subtitles, or following action sequences, or reading certain kinds of books, but as that's gotten better, this issue has stuck around, and follows the same sort of patterns as my word loss.

Anyway, if anyone's looking for something to do research on, there ya go. I'm not sure if other musicians are experiencing the same issue or not, and would be very interested if I'm not alone in this.

#MusicCognition #LongCovid #WordLoss #Improvising #Composition #Stimulus

2/3

I was listening to the most recent Cadence podcast and they mentioned in passing how musical information can follow the same pathways as language information. It hit me that I was having problems composing/improvising that mirror my word loss.

It's tricky to describe; English sucks at mental models of sound, and also word loss. I'll mentally reach for a sound that I know exists, but I can't find it in my head, or as something I can play on an instrument (piano/double bass). I know that there is a specific musical gesture/etc I was aiming towards, but I've lost access to it. This can also happen when I'm mixing music, but that's a newer skill for me. I'm not sure I'm doing a good job capturing what's going on, it's tough to describe. It took me 1.5 to put the two together, but in the moment it's an experience very much like when I'm trying to recall a specific word and I've lost it.

#MusicCognition #LongCovid #CadencePodcast #WordLoss #Improvising #Composition