Hi, again, Toretorden (and others),
I've discovered MB has a 100,000 word limit for a post (I bet I'm the first to actually discover that!
), and so the second part of my previous letter has had to become CHAPTER 6: ANIMAL MUSIC.
Speaking of whales, whose vocalizations (at least those of humpbacks) are often called "singing," the area of research into non-human animals' appreciation of music is one that is gaining momentum and interest.
Recently scientists studying animals who can "keep a beat" and seem to like to do so (similar to many people on MB) found that parrots and perhaps an elephant (based on videos) can do so, but cats and dogs and chimps cannot (but it is not known for other non-human apes). The researchers said that these animals who like to keep a beat and move to it "shared with people some ability to mimic sounds they hear," and "the brain circuitry for that ability lets people learn to talk, and evidently also to dance or tap their toes to music, suggests Aniruddh Patel of The Neurosciences Institute in San Diego" (CBS news online, "Animals shown to 'Dance' to music," April 30, 2009)
From what I've read, the human ability to appreciate and create music is based on brain areas we share with quite a few non-human animals (such as parrots). The whole area of the relationship between biology, language, emotion, and music is a very interesting one. I wonder...is there a thread on the Biology of Music? I'll have to check! Do any of you have stories about your animal friends and the impact music has on them? --Erica