The Brain and Music

A fascinating account of Albert Einstein’s love and music and his performance ability on the violin came across my desk recently.  It seems that Einstein loved music and played the violin extremely well, for an amateur.  The problem is, he really did not have a good sense of rhythm.  Obviously, he knew how to count, but simply did not have that internal sense of rhythm that allows you to play chamber music or any kind of ensemble music.

A soloist can “kind of” get away with this, because there is no ensemble playing involved, but in a professional setting, you simply can’t make it in the music world if you don’t have that internal sense of rhythm and apparently, Einstein did not have it.  Nevertheless, because he was Albert Einstein, he had no trouble finding highly esteemed and accomplished musicians to play chamber music with him.  However, they did not hesitate to point out his rhythmic shortcomings!

Enjoy this story, from http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/features/the-relative-beauty-of-the-violin-2196313.html