#7: Stephen McLean—Music, Meaning, and Mindfulness

Exploring Kodawari

In this episode, we talk to friend and trumpet colleague Stephen McLean. Stephen is currently pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University, and he's also beginning his teacher certification for Alexander Technique this year.

And like us, Stephen is also an avid meditator and is geeky about philosophy and psychology. So our conversation centered around the intersection of music, meaning, and mindfulness. What makes music meaningful? Does examining the meaning of music spoil the magic of how it works? And why does music uniquely affect our psychology?

Timestamps (clickable on webpage):

• [06:00] Relationships, Dating, and Mindfulness
• [09:56] Curb Your Enthusiasm and getting to know your inner Larry
• [11:30] Stephen's background
• [16:56] Introducing Alexander Technique
• [31:20] What does Alexander Technique have to say about body tension and walking properly.
• [47:36] What is the meaning of music?
• [55:03] Jordan Peterson and Iain McGilchrist on the left/right brain balance and why music is meaningful to us
• [01:04:42] Growing up in music with the conservatory mindset, competition pressure, etc, and how that affects your relationship to music.
• [01:08:00] The challenge of being a musician during the coronavirus pandemic.
• [01:11:00] Getting the chills while listening to music: this is how how our nervous systems are wired towards meaningful things—it's our bodies signal that we are in the presence of something deep and true.
• [01:19:16] Bonus Questions

Links:

• Alexander Technique
• Music, Mind, and Meaning
• The Master and His Emissary: A Conversation with Dr. Iain McGilchrist
• The Flinch by Julien Smith
• Ego and Archetype by Edward F. Edinger

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