Neuroscientist, musician and author, Dr. Daniel Levitin writes about the relationship between music and health and well-being in his latest book, “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine.”
Move over, DaVinci. Dr. Daniel Levitin is a Renaissance man for our time.
Not only is he a neuroscientist, musician and composer, but he is also the author of four New York Times bestsellers.
His latest book, “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine,” explores the curative powers of music through cutting-edge research and stories from celebrated musicians such as Sting, Joni Mitchell and Bruce Springsteen.
Levitin lives in Orinda Oaks with his wife of 10 years, fellow neuroscientist Heather Bortfeld. He shared with The Orinda News his many fields of expertise, his taste in music and his new book.
How long have you lived in Orinda, and why did you choose to live here?
I grew up in Moraga and went to first through eighth grade there, before my father moved us to Los Angeles. Those formative years of ages seven through 14 were in Moraga.
My two science teachers from Joaquin Moraga Intermediate lived in Orinda, and I would go there to clean their houses and do weeding and stuff to make money. And we would go to Orinda to go shopping or eat in the restaurants, because there wasn’t much in Moraga in those days.
I did my postdoctoral work at Cal. My father and mother both went to Cal. My grandfather went to Cal. My grandmother went to Mills (College in Oakland). This just seemed like where I wanted to be, so I moved here in 2012.
Your career spans psychology, neuroscience, music and writing. How do you have so many interests and accomplishments in such different areas?
I was very lucky because I grew up in the great era of California public schooling. When I was eight, the school district would give an instrument to any kid who wanted to learn to play and let them take it home to practice.
We also had a very active science program where we dissected frogs, collected butterflies and learned to identify birds and trees.
I had wonderful teachers, and they encouraged us to pursue more than one interest. I don’t know that it’s that way anymore, with the prevalence of STEM and with pressure to make a living. I benefited from teachers who didn’t force me to specialize.
Things changed when I went to college and had to declare a major. Then I dropped out of college and played music for 15 years.
Why did you make that decision?
I just didn’t feel like college was for me. I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a living, if not music. And I thought I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try to make it as a musician.
My musical interests span quite the range – I played in country, jazz and rock bands. But when the music business started to fall apart in 1990, I decided I should probably have a Plan B, and that’s when I went back to college.
I still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but at that point I had already started writing a novel, so I wanted to learn how to write better. I took creative writing classes.
I was always interested in the mind, and I wanted to understand how we form thoughts and how we remember things, so I took psychology courses. I took music classes. One thing led to another. I was closest to a psychology degree, so that’s what I got.
You are the epitome of “Do what you love and the money will follow.”
Steve Allen was a talk show host in my generation who helmed “The Tonight Show” before Johnny Carson, and he was a model for me because he was a real Renaissance man. He was a jazz pianist, a talk show host, a writer, a comedian – he just did everything. And I remember his advice was, “Find something you like doing so much that you would do it for free, then people will pay you to do it.”
Tell us about your new book “I Heard There Was a Secret Chord: Music as Medicine” and how you became interested in this topic.
When I was working in recording studios in San Francisco in the 80s, I worked with some great artists, including Carlos Santana. One day we were in the studio, and I’m behind three layers of glass, and he’s out there playing the guitar, and I started to get goosebumps. And I thought, why is this happening? What causes goosebumps?
When I got to college and studied art and esthetics and neuroscience, I realized nobody had an answer for why people get goosebumps in response to music or anything beautiful. That’s one of the things I’ve tried to examine in my own research.
I wanted to explore why we have the emotional reactions to music that we do, and how music can help us in healing from injury and disease, recovery from stroke, treatment of Alzheimer’s, as well as overall wellness.
One of the things I found is if you listen to music you like, it creates a chemical cascade in your body that boosts your immune system.
Can you give us a specific example of how music can play a role in healing an illness?
The easiest case to explain is Parkinson’s disease. In Parkinson’s, there is damage done to the parts of the brain that help you move, and in particular, the parts that help you walk.
The brain and muscular and bodily mechanisms that help us maintain balance are degraded in people with Parkinson’s. They often freeze while they’re walking, or they can’t get started, or they try to walk and they end up running.
If we play music that has the tempo at the pace of a person’s normal walking speed, they can walk smoothly. And if you train them on music for 20 minutes a day for a few weeks, the effects can last for months.
Do you have a favorite song or a favorite piece of music that you find particularly healing for you?
No single piece in particular. I have a collection of songs that do different things at different times. Since the pandemic, I’ve been playing a couple of pieces on the piano that are healing for me. One of them is “Pathétique Sonata” by Beethoven, and the other is Chopin’s “Prelude in E Minor.” Just playing them is very emotionally restorative for me.
It’s important to acknowledge musical tastes are very personal and idiosyncratic. When we talk about music as medicine, a doctor isn’t going to write you a prescription for a specific song. They may help you find a style of music or particular songs that suit you, but what heals you or invigorates you or comforts you is likely to be highly particular based on your own listening experience and where you are in your life.
Out of all of your accomplishments, is there one that makes you most proud?
Yes, my friends say that I am a good, loyal and trustworthy friend.
Is there anything else you want to add?
The new book is what I’m most excited about now, and I think that from the early reviews it’s accomplished what I wanted – which is to be an interesting, helpful book for the average person without any particular scientific or musical training. It’s a way to explore why music means so much to us, and how it can help us to live better lives.
