Every musician knows the answer to that age-old riddle 'how do you get to Carnegie Hall?' The answer of course is 'practice'. But there is something else. Getting your chops down is one thing, but being able to communicate non-verbally with other musicians on-stage is another. This struck a chord with researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton.

As if first dates weren’t nerve-racking enough. A group of brave singles have signed up to let McMaster researchers track their every move. It’s all in the name of de-coding dating body language.

Some of the world's greatest musicians have been beset by stage fright.

Big Wreck frontman Ian Thornley didn't know he was a touch claustrophobic – that is until he decided to release his brand new solo album at McMaster University's Live Lab.

This facility has a number of “audience” seats that allow a large number of subjects to be assessed simultaneously with a wide range of data being compiled for any number of projects and research studies. Reverberation times, various signal to noise ratios, and a wide range of music and speech stimuli can be controlled with the flip of a software switch on a wireless tablet.

What's the purpose of music? Is music simply for entertainment, or does it actually do something for the brain? Researchers at McMaster University are looking into these questions - from the effect music has on the development of infants to how it's received by people with Parkinson's disease. Neuroscientist Laurel Trainor joins The Agenda in the Summer to explore the neurology of notes.