In a recent interview in Harper’s Magazine, Dr. Oliver Sacks, the respected Columbia University neurologist, argued that intensive musical training had a profound effect on young brains. He noted a study that showed children with a single year of violin training demonstrated striking positive change in their left hemispheres.

Although it’s been ages since I last had someone look at either of my hemispheres, I believe I’m a walking exception to Sacks’ generalization. Music did, in fact, have a profound impact on me in my formative years, but I’ve spent the succeeding 50 years digging out of the impact crater. It is not a pretty story.

My adventures with the violin grew out of my father’s weakness for booze and maudlin music. He sated both cravings at a bar in Chicago named the Blue Danube, where Bela Babai and His Fiery Gypsies held forth nightly.

Bela’s principal claim to fame was his rendering of “Hot Canary,” a piece that lent itself to a style of violin playing that involved locating the right note by sliding the finger up and down the string to find it, rather than placing the finger exactly where it belonged. The beauty of Bela’s approach was that to the musically clueless, his slides imparted emotion rather than uncertainty. In short, Bela could cheat and get away with it.

more… Music did a number on me — latimes.com.