People who've had strokes or traumatic brain injuries often live with aphasia: difficulty using language, both written and spoken. But music mostly originates in the undamaged hemisphere of the brain.

In fourth grade music class, Sister Regina told me not to sing. “You’re distracting the other children,” she said in front of the whole class. “Just move your lips, but don’t make any sound.” My tone ...

For some people, music is simply a meaningless string of sounds. This phenomenon, known as congenital amusia, is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects musical perception, despite normal hearing ...