Lectures

In Collaboration with the Leakey Foundation

The Music Instinct: the evolutionary history of human musical ability with Steven Mithen, Ph.D.

Friday, May 30, 8 pm
The enjoyment of music is as widespread as the enjoyment of food, the use of language and any other trait that is recognised as universal and to be part of our biological constitution rather than just cultural history. Since the past is silent, how can we know what type of musical capacities were possessed by our hominin ancestors? New research in the study of hominin fossils, archaeological remains, neuroscience, developmental psychology and musicology is generating fascinating insights into the evolutionary history of music. This research suggests that communication by variations in pitch and rhythm most likely preceded that of speech, and may have provided the foundation from which spoken language evolved. Using pieces of modern music to support his points, Mithen suggests how these developments can be pieced together to gain an understanding of the musicality of human ancestors and how current musical and linguistic abilities evolved.

Location: Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3800 Presidio & California
Tickets: $8 members/ $10 non-members/ $6 students
Tickets can be purchased by calling (415) 321-8000, or online. They may be purchased at the door if available.
The Leakey Foundation website