Articles tagged as Music | Smithsonian Magazine

These 15th-century female musicians are clearly in grave medical danger.

Cool Finds

Some 19th-Century Physicians Thought Music Could Infect the Brain

When it comes to music in the brain, medicine has come a long way

June 22, 2015

Revelers two-step at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

How Do You Dance to Jazz?

The attendees at this year’s New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival taught our music writer a step or two

June 8, 2015

The legendary home base of blues pioneers.

Where the Blues Was Born

At Dockery Farms, the original bluesmen created a sound that would become legendary

June 2, 2015

New Research

Researchers are Trying to Harness the Power of Music for Unconscious Patients

Plumbing the depths of the unconscious brain has thus far uncovered more mysteries than answers

May 18, 2015

With their dark suits and classic instrumentation, the Del McCoury Band has the look of a classic bluegrass band, but their melodies prove otherwise.

The Radical Conservatism of Bluegrass

At MerleFest, the banjo-pickers and guitar strummers bridge the old and new

April 29, 2015

Using dirt containing bacteria that generate electricity, kids can build their own mud batteries.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Kit to Build Your Own Mud Battery and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Also, a campaign to build a Little Free Museum

April 24, 2015

Cool Finds

How a Piano Dropped from a Helicopter Paved the Way For Woodstock

The Piano Drop set the stage for the outdoor rock festival

April 24, 2015

A new record comes off the press machine at the GZ Media factory in Lodenice, Czech Republic in 2013

Only a handful of pressing plants can make records in the U.S. and their machinery is finicky

April 23, 2015

History in the making: Sam Smith performs with Mary J. Blige, one of his main influences.

Why We Should Teach Music History Backwards

Rock fans do their own investigative work to understand their favorite groups’ influences. So why can’t the rest of us get with the program?

April 21, 2015

There’s an FM radio on your phone…but you likely can’t use it

April 17, 2015

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2015

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2015

From sea to shining sea, our top picks for the most amazing American small towns to see this year

April 16, 2015

Jazz singer Billie Holiday wears a large white flower in her hair for a performance in New York City.

What Makes Billie Holiday’s Music So Powerful Today

Musicians including Cassandra Wilson pay homage to the jazz legend with new albums for Lady Day’s 100th birthday

April 7, 2015

New Research

Male Mice Sing Sexy Songs to Woo Females

New research shows that mice can change their mating songs according to context

April 6, 2015

Billy Strayhorn playing piano in a home, May 26th,1952.

This New Collection of 12,000 Photographs Chronicles the American Jazz Scene

A donation from the family of photographer and historian Duncan Schiedt captures the music’s “essence”

April 2, 2015

New Research

As We Get Older We Get More Tolerant of Discordant Music

Hearing loss isn’t the only thing that changes our music perception as we age

March 31, 2015

Why is music so important to so many of us?

New Research

Here’s How Music Really Could Soothe Your Soul

A leading scholar theorizes that music developed as an evolutionary adaptation to help us deal with the contradictory nature of life

March 25, 2015

Streaming revenues surpass CD revenues for the first time ever

March 20, 2015

Cool Finds

When Breathtaking Rock Billboards Dominated the Sunset Strip

A new exhibition showcases the Sunset Strip’s “rock ‘n’ roll billboards”

March 12, 2015

New Research

Here’s What Music Specially Composed for Your Cat Sounds Like

Research shows that cats prefer “species-specific” with frequencies and tempos that mimic the sounds of purring and birds

March 9, 2015

New Research

Popular Music Changed the Most in 1964

Scientists use genomic data to show how pop music evolves

March 2, 2015