The psychology of music

Studies indicate that music can have profound physical and psychological effects not only on people but also on animals and plants.

Research into the effects of music on behavior, intelligence, learning, pain tolerance and health have generated a number of interesting findings. This article describes the results of some of the more intriguing experiments and studies.

Music, Mice and Madness

A student named David Merrill devised an experiment to discover how music would affect the ability of mice to learn new things. Merrill had one group of mice listen to classical music 24 hours a day and another to heavy metal music. He then timed the mice as they ran through mazes to see if the music affected their speed of learning. Unfortunately, he had to cut the first experiment short because the heavy metal mice all killed one another. In a second experiment, mice that listened to Mozart for 10 hours a day dramatically improved their maze-solving abilities, while the heavy metal mice actually became worse at solving mazes than they had been at the beginning of the experiment.

Music, Intelligence and Learning

According to the Association for Psychological Science, intelligence test scores grew higher in children who took lessons in keyboarding or singing. In another study, boys between the ages of 6 and 15 who took music lessons scored higher on tests of verbal memory than a control group of students without musical training.

Music and Pain Reduction

Researchers found that patients who listened to harp, piano, synthesizer, orchestra or slow jazz experienced less post-surgical pain than those who did not.

Music Therapy and Autism

Music therapy is particularly helpful for autistic students, who have difficulty interacting with classmates and teachers and become agitated in noisy, changeable environments. Autistic students respond very well to music therapy, which can be used to help them remain calm under stress and socialize more effectively. In addition, many autistic children have spectacular music skills.

Music and Violence

In a study of university students, participants listened to seven songs with violent lyrics, while a control group listened to seven songs without violent lyrics by the same artists. Afterwards, when asked to classify words as violent or nonviolent, those who had listened to violent lyrics were more likely to ascribe aggressive meanings to words such as “rock” and “stick.” The American Psychological Society has also published a report stating that research has definitively proved the link between youth violence and violent media, including music.

Music and Suicide
On a stranger note, sociology professor James Gundlach found higher rates of suicide among those who listen to country music. However, Gundlach notes that the suicide link occurred only with older country music, which he believes is not as upbeat as today’s.

Music and Plant Health

Experiments conducted by Dorothy Retallack to learn about music's effects on plants are described in her 1973 book The Sound of Music and Plants. Retallack played rock music (Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge) for one group of plants and jazz for another. When two weeks had passed, the jazz plants were healthy and bent toward the radio. The rock music plants grew very tall and droopy, with faded blooms, and most had died within 16 days.
Retallack tried other types of music, including country, to which the plants showed no reaction, and modern (discordant) classical music, which caused the plants to bend away from the speaker. The plants seemed to “like” Bach and North Indian sitar and tabla music.
Other people have conducted similar experiments, and some claim to have achieved similar results. However, Retallack has been criticized for using unscientific methods in her experiments.
Most music studies to date have used small sample sizes and some have not controlled for confounding variables, so although these findings are compelling, more research is required. However, given that many studies have generated similar results for certain types of music, the psychology of music is certainly worthy of further exploration.

Music Education and Society in the 21st century

Music in American soceity has undergone transformative change in the last few decades of the 20th century. Transformations in how people are involved with music are likely to continue with greater momentum in the next few decades of the 21st. I see four dynamic components of this change: 1) The declining relevance of Western European art music and the rising relevance and classicalization of American vernacular music and world music of the 20th century; 2) A two-pronged effect of the use of technology for music performance and creativity: the unemployment of traditional, professional human performers and the rise of amateur creativity; 3) A continuing equalization and democratization of society in general, and the growing resurgence of avocational and amateur musicianship; 4) Changes in music education at institutions of higher learning.

1) The declining relevance of Western European art music and the rising relevance and classicalization of American vernacular music of the 20th century
The old "gods" of music education in America include names like Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Debussy, etc. These gods were imported by the wave of European immigrants entering the United States at the beginning of the century. The devastation of Europe by the two world wars effectively relocated the center of the artistic world from Paris to New York. The first wave of immigrants as well as their children has long since passed away. Although the issues are complex and have much to do with cultural, anthropological, and aesthetic factors, it is clear that America's motivation to maintain the heritage of traditional European art music will wane in the 21st century.
Much has been written questioning the aesthetic authority of the canon of Western European art. Issues ranging from the hegemony of the academy to the disenfranchisement of women and other groups are a part of the debate. From an historical perspective, the beauty and artistic stature of the western canon seems undeniable. Nevertheless, as we enter the 21st century, it is impossible to ignore the fact that this canon is not as relevant to the artistic needs and fulfillment of either the contemporary artist or audience member as it once was. There are many reasons for this. Besides the obvious fact that the society from which this art arose was different than ours, the creativity of the 15th through the 19th century does not always convey those universal truths that traditionally were considered to be elements of timeless and good art.
For example, Haydn's symphonies frequently have last movements that evoke hunting scenes, complete with aristocratic moods, hunting horns and even the rhythm of horses' hooves. These movements were probably inspired by the desires of his patron and the court where he was employed. The values inspiring these movements may well be irrelevant to the vast majority of today�s music listeners. The wonder and beauty of Haydn's craftsmanship is not being questioned--the relevance of the music is. The rising diversity of the population raises more questions about the relevance of European art music in the 21st century. Each culture has music whose evolution is guided by a different set of aesthetic values. These values affect many of the music's elements, including its instrumentation, compositional techniques, and the quantity and quality of information it conveys. We can question the value of the performer/listener dichotomy, which unfortunately is taken for granted by the western art music world. Finally, we must recognize that the quality and state of artists', patrons', and listeners' psychology and consciousness was much different hundreds of years ago than it is now. We are in a different place as far as these matters are concerned and the art of the past may not speak to us.
The growing irrelevance of some Western European art music is in contrast to the surprising tenacity of American vernacular music over the course of this century, as well as the growing interest in music from non-western cultures. From Ragtime to the Blues, from Boogie-woogie to Rhythm and Blues, from Rock and Roll to Disco, from Punk to Alternative to Hard Core, from Rap to Goth to Dark Wave, the relevance of American music is obvious. Although young by comparison to European art music, American vernacular music has several hundred years of evolution behind it. Its multicultural roots have given it vitality unprecedented in the world of music. We have already seen "classically-trained" composers and performers incorporate materials from American vernacular styles and non-western music into their creativity (the minimalist movement is one example, the Kronos quartet is another). This incorporation is a reflection of what will be a common phenomenon--the seeds of the 21st century's creativity have already been planted, and these seeds are elements of the American vernacular and non-western musical styles.
2) A two-pronged effect of the use of technology for music performance and creativity: the unemployment of traditional, professional human performers and the rise of amateur creativity
Until about twenty years ago, TV, radio, movie and commercial studios regularly employed musicians. Every TV and radio commercial that had music had human musicians performing. Every movie score had musicians performing. Radio shows had resident musicians and even soap operas employed organists and other musicians to create improvised background music.
Since the advent of MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) and music synthesizers, the employment of musicians has changed dramatically. MIDI allows computers to perform synthesizers. Synthesizers can be programmed to sound like any instrument, real or imagined. Many of the jobs once performed by musicians are now performed by sophisticated computer sequencer programs. Even in high school shows and productions, a computer sequence sometimes takes the place of a pit orchestra. Clearly, teaching a musician how to be a successful performer for TV commercials is not going to help him find employment.
The positive effect of MIDI and computer-controlled performances is that an individual, with a personal computer and knowledge of composition and orchestration, can create a composition for any number of instruments and hear that piece performed immediately in the comfort of her own home. The empowering nature of this experience should not be underestimated. With this technology, individuals can create their own art rather than rely exclusively on the vicarious and alienating experiences of other individuals' productivity. The fulfilling experience of creativity has the potential to be a part of everyone's life.
3) A continuing equalization and democratization of society in general, and the growing resurgence of avocational and amateur musicianship
In the Renaissance, an average person could study a musical instrument for a year and be able to perform most of the artistic music being written at that time. The advent of the virtuoso performer two hundred years ago increased the number of years required for study. Since then, the insane level of difficulty advocated by composers of art music in the 20th century has all but eliminated most people from participating in what was once called "serious" music making. This is an aberration in the history of music. In the 19th century, the piano was indigenous in Europe and America, and everyone played for their personal enjoyment. Hymn singing, madrigal singing, community bands and choruses were all a part of every ones' musical experience. In America today it would be difficult to find a household that did not have a guitar or keyboard. It is strange that institutions of higher learning generally do not embrace nor promote this kind of music making, but still cling to the exclusive virtuoso ideal, and ideal which has a limited historical precedent and ultimately is not vital nor sustainable. Most Americans have not forgotten the potential for enjoyment that music making has to offer. The training of amateur musicians (true lovers of music) and the encouragement of avocational musicianship should be a vital component of the music curricula at institutions of higher learning in America.
4) Changes in music education at institutions of higher learning.
The rise of music education programs at institutions of higher learning in America has a rather complicated history. It involves the combination of the three-year European conservatory program of study with the American four-year Bachelors degree. Although the history of music education in American is beyond the scope of this article, I would like to highlight a few points. At one time a Bachelors degree in music was a vocational degree-- there was usually a reasonable chance of employment (as a performer or composer or teacher) after graduation. Today, the only degree for which this is true in a real way is the music education degree. Still, this statement is somewhat tenuous, for even when public school positions in music have not (yet) been cut, the skills that school teachers need to find success are much different than those traditionally taught. These new skills involve knowledge of popular styles (jazz, rock, gospel and ethnic), the ability to improvise and an expertise in music technology and media arts in general. Until music education degrees speak to these skills rather than those that are convenient to teach by music education faculty, students will be unprepared and unsuccessful both at doing well at the job and improving the reputation of the value of arts education.
There will be a market for traditional European art music, albeit a decreasing one. To fill this opportunity, professional classical musicians could be educated at three to four specialized schools in the United States. Music education at other institutions could focus on a more comprehensive approach, which would include the study of many different kinds of music. This kind of program could be designed to expose individuals to music that suits their sensibility, interests, and entrepreneurial abilities. Applied instruction would always remain an essential element of the curriculum, and studies in improvisation and creativity would be essential. An interdisciplinary study of critical thinking about the arts would be advantagious to the student -with so many kinds of music, performers, styles and composers, and with the pressures of the commercial market, students would do well to have an exposure to the process of making critical judgments about the arts. The best vitalizing force for music in society would be to ensure that Music instruction is available for musicians whose employment is or will be in another field. Opportunities for the non-traditional student wishing to study music later in life would create the critical mass of people necessary to maintain informed audiences.
Of course, not even another article would suffice to elucidate changes that new forms of sonic creativity have engendered. It would take more than one to begin to speculate how computer-inspired creativity and the attenuation of intellectual elements in favor of more viceral components have changed traditional asthetics of music composition and performance. From a traditional perspective, this change is one that reflects a degeneration of culture. From a creative perspective, this change reflects what has happened often: the creative destroys to create anew. And often, raw, powerful forces easily overwhelm cultured sensibilities. Eventually the cycle begins again.
Hopefully, we do not give up too much of what we treasure; we do not give up our humanity as the 21st century unfolds. It would be tragic to wake up in 2099 to see a world where harmony and pitch are forgotten in favor of amorphous noise with barking voices speaking unintelligible sounds of sadistic sensibility. More positive possibilities exist for those who tame the raw agression of uncultured creativity with those elevated elements musicians of past eras discovered and valued. 

Written by: Kevin Purrone, Ph.D.

Health benefits of music

Music has a special power to move us and stir our emotions. Anyone who has ever wiped tears away from their eyes listening to their favourite sad song will know how powerful simple notes and chords can be.
Now, scientific studies have shown that music really can change our mood and even help us concentrate.
We look at the effects music can have, and we ask the experts what songs are likely to help you run a race, prepare for an exam or relieve stress.

Music matters

Listening to a song can have a real effect on various parts of the brain, with studies showing that areas responsible for aspects, such as memory and vision, can 'light up' in response to music.
'There's a very wide range of reactions in the body and mind to music, and brain imaging studies have shown that various parts of the brain may be activated by a piece of music,' says Dr Victoria Williamson, lecturer in psychology at Goldsmith's College, London.
'For example, a recent study in Canada showed that there's a real causal relationship between music and the reward system, a core part of the brain that reacts to stimuli, which are good for us – food, light, sex for example – and reinforces these behaviours meaning that we do them more.'
So what benefits can music bring?

Mood boost

Some people listen to music for a boost on a tough day, while others might use music to keep them awake during a long car journey.

Everyone reacts to music in different ways. One individual may love heavy metal for example, while another is happiest listening to Mozart.
Whatever your preference, a 2011 Canadian study, published in Nature Neuroscience, has shown that plugging in to your favourite music could help melt away a bad mood.
Researchers at McGill University in Montreal showed that listening to pleasurable music of any description induced 'musical chills', which triggered the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine.
'We all know from our own individual experiences that listening to music can affect mood,' says Bridget O'Connell, head of information at the mental health charity Mind.
'Some people listen to music for a boost on a tough day, while others might use music to keep them awake during a long car journey or to purge a negative feeling.
'The brain is very complicated – and there are many elements involved in feelings of pleasure – but it's unsurprising that research suggests dopamine release is linked with feelings of pleasure induced by music.'

Focus

Music may even be able to help you concentrate.
A new 'digital tonic' called Ubrain, which can be downloaded onto smartphones, claims to be able to help people focus, energise, wake up as well as relax.
The process uses two different beats in each ear to create a third 'perceived' beat (a binaural beat), which can stimulate certain activity in the brain.
'By helping the brain cortex to generate specific brain waves, we can induce different states of alertness, depending on what we aim to do,' explains Paris-based clinical psychologist Brigitte Forgeot.
'If we're feeling anxious or stressed, we can encourage our cerebral cortex to produce slow alpha-frequency brain waves, while on the other end of the scale, if we help our cortex to produce faster beta waves, we will be better equipped to concentrate and focus our attention on a fairly lengthy task.'

Pick up the pace

The best choices for exercise are up-beat songs that match the tempo of your running stride.

Listening to certain music could actually help you run faster.
A study at Brunel University in West London has shown that music can help increase endurance by as much as 15 per cent, helping to lower the perception of effort during exercise, as well as increasing energy efficiency by between one and three per cent.
The best choices for exercise are up-beat songs that match the tempo of your running stride and which can have a metronomic effect on the body, enabling you to run for longer.

Better mental health

Music can be an effective and positive treatment for people dealing with mental health conditions.
'There are two distinct ways music therapy is used: either as a means of communication and self-expression or for its inherent restorative or healing qualities,' says Bridget O'Connell.
'Someone who is very withdrawn may find that music can act as an outlet for expressing things that they're unable to put into words. It can also act as a stimulus to awaken buried memories or evoke emotional responses that may take weeks to achieve with talking therapies.'

De-stress

Nearly a third of people plugged into their music players to give them a mood boost about work.

Music can be a great pick-me-up for when you are feeling stressed.
According to 2011 figures from the mental health charity Mind, nearly a third of people plugged into their music players to give them a mood boost about work, and almost one in four said that they find listening to music on the way to the workplace helps them de-stress.
Paul Farmer, the charity's CEO, backs up the statistics by saying that the therapeutic benefits of listening to music are well-known.
Tuning in to one of your favourite songs can be incredibly soothing and help to reduce anxiety.

Patient care

Music can actually have a significant positive impact on patients with long-term illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer and respiratory conditions.
Numerous trials have shown that music can help lower heart rate, blood pressure and help relieve pain, anxiety and improve patient quality of life.
'Music can be incredibly useful for somebody who is in a situation where they have lost a lot of control from their external environment – say they are in hospital for a long period of time with a serious illness and less able to move around,' says Dr Williamson.
'It can give them a sense of control back, as well as creating a calm personal atmosphere and blocking out some of the disturbances around the patient.'

Which music?

While there are certain trends – fast upbeat music for exercising and slower-paced music to relax – choosing songs that have the desired effect is often linked to personal preference.
'The effect of different types of music on mood will largely depend on people's individual preference and experience,' says Bridget O'Connell.
'If you grow up with rock music, you might not find classical music uplifting at all. On the flipside, some people can't bear rock music, so they are more likely to be wound up than uplifted.
'Music can also invoke particular memories for people, including some that could potentially make them upset. On the other hand, it could also bring them out of a severely withdrawn state or act as a form of communication in place of words.'
There are some rules of thumb though, admits Dr Williamson. 'For a general rule, if you want to relax you should choose songs with slower tempo, less key changes and more predictable structure.

Written by Adam Ramsay, health journalist

How Music Affects Us and Promotes Health(part II)

The Mozart effect

Earlier it has been thought that listening to classical music, particularly Mozart, enhances performance on cognitive tests. However, recent findings show that listening to any music that is personally enjoyable has positive effects on cognition.

Music improves memory performance

The power of music to affect memory is quite intriguing. Mozart's music and baroque music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information. The information being studied activates the left brain while the music activates the right brain. Also, activities which engage both sides of the brain at the same time, such as playing an instrument or singing, cause the brain to be more capable of processing information.
Listening to music facilitates the recall of information. Researchers have shown that certain types of music are a great "keys" for recalling memories. Information learned while listening to a particular song can often be recalled simply by "playing" the songs mentally.
Musical training has even better effect than just listening to classical music. There is clear evidence, that children who take music lessons develop a better memory compared with children who have no musical training.
Note: For learning or memory performance, it's important that music doesn't have a vocal component; otherwise you're more likely to remember the words of the background song than what you're supposed to be recalling.

Music improves concentration and attention

Easy listening music or relaxing classics improves the duration and intensity of concentration in all age groups and ability levels. It's not clear what type of music is better, or what kind of musical structure is necessary to help, but many studies have shown significant effects.

3. Music improves physical performance

Music improves athletic performance

Choosing music that motivates you will make it easier to start moving, walking, dancing, or any other type of exercise that you enjoy. Music can make exercise feel more like recreation and less like work. Furthermore, music enhances athletic performance! Anyone who has ever gone on a long run with their iPod or taken a particularly energetic spinning class knows that music can make the time pass more quickly.
The four central hypotheses explaining music's facilitation of exercise performance include:

• Reduction in the feeling of fatigue
• Increase in levels of psychological arousal
• Physiological relaxation response
• Improvement in motor coordination

Music improves body movement and coordination

Music reduces muscle tension and improves body movement and coordination. Music may play an important role in developing, maintaining and restoring physical functioning in the rehabilitation of persons with movement disorders.

4. Music helps to work more productively

Fatigue fighter
Listening to upbeat music can be a great way to find some extra energy. Music can effectively eliminate exercise-induced fatigue9 and fatigue symptoms caused by monotonous work.
Keep in mind that listening to too much pop and hard rock music can make you more jittery than energized. Vary what you listen to and find out what type of music is most beneficial for you. You could try classical music one day, pop the next day and jazz the third.

Music improves productivity

Many people like to listen to music while they work and I am certainly one of them. How about you? Did you know you can perform better at your work with music? Whilst there may be many reasons for wishing to listen to music in the workplace, it really improves your productivity!
According to a report in the journal Neuroscience of Behavior and Physiology, a person's ability to recognize visual images, including letters and numbers, is faster when either rock or classical music is playing in the background.

5. Music calms, relaxes and helps to sleep

Relaxing music induces sleep

Relaxing classical music is safe, cheap and easy way to beat insomnia. Many people who suffer from insomnia find that Bach music helps them. Researchers have shown that just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night.
Relaxing music reduces sympathetic nervous system activity, decreases anxiety, blood pressure, heart and respiratory rate and may have positive effects on sleep via muscle relaxation and distraction from thoughts.

Music reduces stress and aids relaxation

Listening to slow, quiet classical music, is proven to reduce stress. Countless studies have shown that music's relaxing effects can be seen on anyone, including newborns.
One of the great benefits of music as a stress reliever is that it can be used while you do your usual deeds so that it really doesn't take time.
How does music reduces stress?

• Physical relaxation. Music can promote relaxation of tense muscles, enabling you to easily release some of the tension you carry from a stressful day.
• Aids in stress relief activities. Music can help you get "into the zone" when practicing yoga, self hypnosis or guided imagery, can help you feel energized when exercising and recover after exercising, help dissolve the stress when you're soaking in the tub.
• Reduces negative emotions. Music, especially upbeat tunes, can take your mind off what stresses you, and help you feel more optimistic and positive. This helps release stress and can even help you keep from getting as stressed over life's little frustrations in the future. Researchers discovered that music can decrease the amount of the cortisol, a stress-related hormone produced by the body in response to stress.

6. Music improves mood and decreases depression

Prescription for the blues

Music's ability to "heal the soul" is the stuff of legend in every culture. Many people find that music lifts their spirits. Modern research tends to confirm music's psychotherapeutic benefits. Bright, cheerful music (e.g. Mozart, Vivaldi, bluegrass, Klezmer, Salsa, reggae) is the most obvious prescription for the blues.

How Music Affects Us and Promotes Health

Music is one of the few activities that involves using the whole brain. It is intrinsic to all cultures and can have surprising benefits not only for learning language, improving memory and focusing attention, but also for physical coordination and development.
Of course, music can be distracting if it's too loud or too jarring, or if it competes for our attention with what we're trying to do. But for the most part, exposure to many kinds of music has beneficial effects:

1. Music heals

Effective therapy for pain
Overall, music does have positive effects on pain management. Music can help reduce both the sensation and distress of both chronic pain and postoperative pain.
Listening to music can reduce chronic pain from a range of painful conditions, including osteoarthritis, disc problems and rheumatoid arthritis, by up to 21% and depression by up to 25%, according to a paper in the latest UK-based Journal of Advanced Nursing.
Music therapy is increasingly used in hospitals to reduce the need for medication during childbirth, to decrease postoperative pain and complement the use of anesthesia during surgery.
There are several theories about how music positively affects perceived pain:

• 1. Music serves as a distractor
• 2. Music may give the patient a sense of control
• 3. Music causes the body to release endorphins to counteract pain
• 4. Slow music relaxes person by slowing their breathing and heartbeat

Reducing blood pressure
By playing recordings of relaxing music every morning and evening, people with high blood pressure can train themselves to lower their blood pressure - and keep it low. According to research reported at the American Society of Hypertension meeting in New Orleans, listening to just 30 minutes of classical, Celtic or raga music every day may significantly reduce high blood pressure.

Medicine for the heart

Music is good for your heart. Research shows that it is musical tempo, rather than style. Italian and British researchers recruited young men and women, half of whom were trained musicians. The participants slipped on head phones and listened to six styles of music, including rap and classical pieces, with random two-minute pauses. As the participants kicked back and listened, the researchers monitored their breathing, heart rates and blood pressure. The participants had faster heart and breathing rates when they listened to lively music. When the musical slowed, so did their heart and breathing rates. Some results were surprising. During the musical pauses, heart and breathing rates normalized or reached more optimal levels. Whether or not a person liked the style of music did not matter. The tempo, or pace, of the music had the greatest effect on relaxation.

Speeds Post-Stroke Recovery

A daily portion` of one's favorite pop melodies, classical music or jazz can speed recovery from debilitating strokes, according to the latest research. When stroke patients in Finland listened to music for a couple of hours each day, verbal memory and attention span improved significantly compared to patients who received no musical stimulation, or who listened only to stories read out loud, the study reports.


Chronic headaches & migraine remedy
Music can help migraine and chronic headache sufferers reduce the intensity, frequency, and duration of the headaches.

Music boosts immunity
Music can boost the immune function. Scientists explain that a particular type of music can create a positive and profound emotional experience, which leads to secretion of immune-boosting hormones. This helps contribute to a reduction in the factors responsible for illness. Listening to music or singing can also decrease levels of stress-related hormone cortisol. Higher levels of cortisol can lead to a decreased immune response.

2. Effects of music on the brain

Music enhances intelligence, learning and IQ
The idea that music makes you smarter received considerable attention from scientists and the media. Listening to music or playing an instrument can actually make you learn better. And research confirms this.
Music has the power to enhance some kinds of higher brain function:

• Reading and literacy skills
• Spatial-temporal reasoning
• Mathematical abilities,Even children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder benefit in mathematics tests from listening to music beforehand.
• Emotional intelligence

 

Learning to play a musical instrument offers a lot of benefits. I personally believe that if there's one thing you should learn in your lifetime, it's how to play an instrument. Here are 5 reasons why:

1. Playing A Musical Instrument Makes You Smarter
Many studies have been conducted on the effects of music to the brain. Scientists say that children who are exposed to music, or those who play an instrument, do better in school than those who don't. Recent research suggests exposure to music may benefit a child's reading age, IQ and the development of certain parts of the brain. Adults can benefit from learning to play an instrument too because it helps the mind to be alert and remain active eventually helping to sharpen the memory.

2. It Teaches Discipline
Learning to play an instrument is like learning to speak another language and it can be challenging at times. One of the qualities musicians possess is discipline. You have to be disciplined in order to master playing your instrument. You have to set time each day to practice, practice and practice some more.

3. Playing A Musical Instrument Relieves Stress
We all have days when we are so stressed out and we just want to take a break from it all. Have you ever noticed that when you hear soft, soothing music you feel more relaxed? Playing an instrument can do that and more, especially if you're the one playing. Music is one of life's simple joys; it helps calm the mind.

4. Sense of Achievement
If you're a beginner learning to play your first piece, it can be frustrating. But once you've mastered it, the satisfaction you'll feel is priceless. Never mind if it's just a simple piece, believe me you'll never forget the first piece you've mastered. You are one more step closer to achieving your goal and that is certainly something to be proud of.

5. Playing A Musical Instrument is Fun
Sure it can be a lot of hard work but there is no denying playing an instrument is fun. Once you get better at it, opportunities will arise for you to share your newly learned skill with your family and friends. Who knows, you may also consider playing professionally in the future. Playing a musical instrument opens up a lot of good possibilities that will surely enrich your life.

Music and the Brain 

Although interest in music and the mind dates at least as far back as Plato, the neuroscientific study of music is a young discipline. Our approach reflects the belief that research on music has the potential to illuminate fundamental aspects of human brain function, including language, the active nature of perception, and the processing of complex sequences that unfold in time. Research on music at The Neurosciences Institute falls into three broad areas:

The relationship of Music and Language
Both music and spoken language feature rich rhythmic and melodic structure. Furthermore, both employ a finite set of basic elements (such as tones or words), which are combined in principled ways to create novel, hierarchically organized sequences. That is, music and language share the crucial feature of being syntactic systems.

Given these similarities, are music and language largely independent brain functions, or do they have an important degree of overlap? We have addressed this question in three different areas: the relationship of syntactic processing in music and language, the relationship of music to the melody and rhythm of speech, and the relationship between musical tone deafness and speech intonation perception. Our research has reveled a significant degree of overlap between music and language processing. Using methods that span neuroimaging, neuropsychology (e.g., the study of music processing in aphasia), and behavioral studies, we are exploring this overlap as a novel way to illuminate the cognitive and neural foundations of both domains.

Musical Rhythm and the Construction of Perception
Perception is not just a passive registering of what is “out there” in the world, but a constructive process involving active interpretation, as well as integration across brain systems. The phenomenon of a musical beat nicely illustrates this fact. Every human culture has some form of music in which listeners perceive a regular beat, and in every culture, people move in synchrony with the beat of music. Musical beat perception and synchronization may seem like simple abilities since they are so widespread, but appearances can be deceptive. Humans are the only species to spontaneously move in synchrony with a musical beat, and can extract a beat from complex rhythmic patterns. This raises the question of what aspects of our brain support this remarkable ability. We have studied musical rhythm perception to examine the coupling between the auditory and motor system, and how this coupling differs from the coupling of visual and motor systems. In addition, we have studied brain mechanisms of beat perception, suggesting a possible role for the motor system in how we hear a beat. Understanding how the auditory and motor systems are coupled in beat perception and synchronization could help in the development of treatments for certain motor disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease, in which rhythmic music is known to help people initiate and coordinate movement.

Temporal Dynamics of Brain Activity During Auditory Perception
We believe that understanding the fine temporal details of brain responses to sound is important for understanding brain mechanisms of auditory processing. We have developed novel methods for tracking stimulus-related brain activity from the auditory cortex as it unfolds in time, using magnetoencephalography (MEG). Using the method of “frequency tagging,” we have studied how brain activity evolves over time as a listener hears a melody, organizes complex incoming auditory information into perceptually distinct sources, or pays selective attention to an auditory stimulus. Our results indicate that ongoing timing patterns of activity are influenced by melodic structure, and are also modulated by cognitive processing. For example, we have found that selective attention to an auditory (vs. simultaneously presented visual) stimulus has a modest effect on the amount of neural activity associated with that stimulus, but a large effect on the timing of brain activity associated with that stimulus. Specifically, when an auditory stimulus is attended, stimulus-related activity in distant brain regions becomes highly temporally correlated. This stands in contrast to earlier work on visual selective attention at NSI, which showed that visual attention strongly modulates the amount, but not the timing, of activity associated with the stimulus. Thus the auditory and visual systems may have fundamentally different mechanisms for selective attention, suggesting that attention disorders in the two domains might need to be treated with different approaches.

 

The Effects of Music on the Mind

Beyond Soothing the Savage Beast

Mozart

Are people typically geniuses? Statistically, people probably are not. In fact, most people probably aren't even intellectually gifted at all. Most people are likely to be pretty much average, maybe a little bit above average, or a little below, but very average none the less. It is universally understood that people strive to learn to become wiser and more informed about the world around them. The more people learn, the more powerful they can become. It is the speed at which people learn that separates the geniuses from the average people from the learning disabled. Geniuses don't run into problems while learning, because they learn so fast. It is everyone else that could really use help. One solid way to increase the speed at which people learn is with music. People learn through music and their minds grow faster because of it. Some music, when implemented properly, can have positive effects on learning and attitude. Music is a powerful thing, and when we understand its significance, it can bring dramatic changes both positive and negative into our lives.

The earliest stages of learning for young children are the most important. The fundamentals of learning are instilled into a child at a very young age and how much importance is placed on these fundamentals can have dramatic affects on the future of the child's learning. Music, when applied in a constructive way, can have positive effects on a child's learning and help them in many ways.

One way that music can make learning easier for a young child is by implementing music lessons into a child's normal activities. A small study was done two years back involving ten three-year-olds who were tested on their ability to put together a puzzle and the speed at which they could do it ("Learning Keys" 24).

After the initial test was taken, five of the children were given singing lessons for 30 minutes a day and the other five were given piano lessons for 15 minutes a week (24). The lessons were conducted over a six- month period of time, and after the six months, all of the kids showed substantial improvement in the speed at which they could put together the puzzle (24).

The researchers understand this skill in putting pieces of a puzzle together as the same reasoning that engineers, chess players and high-level mathematicians use. In this study of inner-city kids, their initial scores were below the national average, but afterwards their scores nearly doubled (24).

The term they give to the type of reasoning and thought that goes into putting pieces of a puzzle together is called abstract reasoning. By teaching music, people exercise the same abstract reasoning skills that they use for doing math or some other exercise in which the people have to visualize in their head.

An eight month study was conducted by Frances H. Rauscher of the University of California at Irvine, in which 19 preschoolers, ranging in age from three to five, received weekly keyboard and daily singing lessons while another 15 preschoolers received no musical training at all (Bower 143). At the start, middle and end of the study, the subjects were tested on five spatial reasoning tasks (143). After only 4 months, scores on the test to assemble a puzzle to form a picture improved dramatically for the group with the musical training, while the control group didn't, even though both groups started out with the same scores (143).

It can be understood that this kind of improvement may not be substantial enough to alter the way people are fundamentally taught, but its results cannot be ignored. Rauscher explains, "Music instruction can improve a child's spatial intelligence for a long time, perhaps permanently" (qtd. in Bower 143).

Implementing such changes and improvements into a young child's learning could have great effects on them in the future when dealing with the same spatial reasoning skills.

With its resulting improvements in spatial reasoning, music can also be a very helpful tool when actually implementing it into the classroom and involving it with learning basic curriculum. In New York City, a program called Learning through an Expanded Arts Program, or LEAP, has been going on for a while now in which music and the arts is implemented into the school curriculum to improve scholastic scores of children at all levels (Dean and Gross 614). One way in which music is implemented is with math. They call it "musical math," in which the teacher incorporates rhythm with counting and gaining a grasp on the fundamentals of math (618).

With the rhythm, they are able to learn basic elements of math like fraction and multiplication. Christine Bard, the LEAP consultant explains, "Music helps teach the precognitive skills. It gives students the capacity to trust themselves by providing internal discipline through a highly repetitive structure" (qtd. in Dean and Gross 618). On the whole, students' feeling of self-confidence and accomplishment are great and most importantly, the students' attitude toward math and learning is increased dramatically (618).

Music as a separate and thorough curriculum can have dramatic positive changes in the learning process of young people. Mary Jane Collett, the Director of the Office of Arts and Cultural Education of the Division of Instruction and Professional Development of New York City Public Schools says:

... a well taught sequential music curriculum not only results in music learning that has inherent value; it also gives students the chance to listen, react, see, touch, and move. Instruction in music skills, appreciation, and theory also provides a wealth of learning strategies that enhance children's analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating skills. Students learn to process information and transfer knowledge through these concrete, kinetic, and cognitive experiences (Collett 61).

Mary Jane Collett is an advocate for a program called Learning To Read Through The Arts (LTRTA), which makes music and the arts a separate course in the elementary curriculum instead of using it as an aid to different parts of the curriculum here and there (61). Music is taught through listening to different types of music while talking about the music, trying to understand it and interpret it in different ways and in many ways, imitate it (63). She further explains:

These integrated music experiences provide excitement in learning for children and thereby improve students' reading, writing, thinking, and analyzing skills and strategies. Learning through all the senses expands the learning process to accommodate different learning styles. Opportunities for integrating communication arts, literature, science, social studies, and the arts are limited only by the educator's imagination, creativity, and open-mindedness (64).

Music, when involved in the classroom, can have great effects on the early stages of learning for the very young up through elementary age school children. Music can also have significant effects on older people in a learning environment. Music does not have the same effect on older people as it does on younger people, however. It is easily understood that for young children, getting them to do fun musical things like learning to play an instrument is somewhat easy compared to getting an adult to do the same thing. Children will do it because it is something new and exciting whereas adults need to be motivated to do something because they won't do something simply because they can. For adults it is a matter of choice, but when they choose to involve music into their everyday lives, the effects can be just as dramatic, but different when compared with music effects on younger children.

One important aspect that music can have on learning for people of all ages is attitude. It seems logical to assume that it is more helpful for adults who are less likely to want to do a particular job or activity, but music can change this and give a listener a more positive attitude and motivation. As we will see, by simply listening to pleasant music in the background while doing an arduous task can make it seem so much easier, or in some cases, music may not increase positive attitude, but will ease the strain of an activity. A study was conducted by Shawn E. Mueske, a graduate student at Mankato State University, to determine the effects of background music on a biology lab. He studied to determine the effects of background music on attitude, achievement, time spent in the laboratory and on task behavior (Mueske 6-7). He used a control group which entailed one lab where no music was present, and one experimental group which listened to popular/soft rock music at an appropriate, soft sound level for background music (14). He found that there was no real difference in attitude or achievement among the two groups, but there was a significant increase in time spent in the laboratory and time spent on task (18-28).

Listening to music as background can help when people when they're thinking, learning, or working, but the music needs to be implemented correctly. It can be easily understood that if it's vocal music, it needs to be somewhat quiet, for if it isn't, it can be very distracting to the mind. It is logical to conclude then that if it's instrumental, it can be somewhat louder than vocal music, but not too loud because any music that is loud enough will make it hard to learn or think. As we will see, the listener's preference to music must also be taken into account, because the primary goal is for the music to affect the person's mood and attitude positively, and if they are listening to music that they absolutely deplore, it won't help them think because it will be hard to shut it out of their mind.

When people listen to music in the background, it is very important that they listen to music that they are familiar and comfortable with. It is not necessarily better for people to listen to music that is supposed to relax them if they are unfamiliar with it. It is better for people to listen to music they are comfortable with and know well and like. A study of 50 male surgeons was conducted to see if they performed a basic surgeon-related task better and more efficiently while listening to surgeon-selected music, experimenter-selected music, or no music at all (Allen and Blascovich 882).

The test monitored skin conductance response frequency, pulse rate, blood pressure, speed and accuracy (883). The experimenter-selected music was Pachelbel's Canon in D. Both conditions with music showed significantly better results than the condition without music, but the condition with surgeon-selected music was clearly even higher than the other (883). Another study was conducted on 54 people (25 males and 29 females) to determine the difference of subject-selected music, experimenter-selected music and no music on affect, anxiety, and relaxation (Thaut and Davis 210). This study was done under the understanding that stress is a major factor to health problems of the day. It is important to cut down on stress in our daily lives and any way that we can do that is beneficial to our health in some way or another. One way to try and cut down on stress in people's everyday lives is by listening to music. In past years, there has been quite a bit of music created for the sole purpose of relaxation and the reduction of stress. The question posed by this survey is: Do these relaxation tapes really work better than a person's personal preference in music or no music at all in reducing stress? The study found that all three ways worked well for relaxation and reducing tension, but listening to music proved a little bit more beneficial. Of both music groups, it found that the relaxation tapes were equally as good as the subject-selected music, but were no better (219-220).

Music is an invaluable tool when it comes to reaching students who fail to do well in school. Scott Shuler, a music consultant in the Connecticut State Department of Education and adjunct professor in the Hartt School of Music in West Hartford, Conn. describes at-risk students as students that express characteristics such as: academic underachievement, lack of self-esteem and self-respect, inability to communicate thought and feeling on an intimate level, limited conflict resolution and problem-solving skills, boredom with traditional schooling, need for a supportive peer group with whom they can establish a social bond, learning styles that differ from those addressed by traditional modes of instruction, interest in artistic expression and eagerness to pursue tasks they find interesting, need for an experiential, hands on approach to learning, avoidance of academic risk taking, and need to experience success somewhere in the school setting (Shuler 31).

Shuler proposes that there are two essential reasons why students fail in school. They are lack of ability to learn or lack of desire to learn, and while most students who fail have the ability to do well, they choose not to because their school experience doesn't motivate them (30). At-risk students create an aversion to traditional styles of teaching and when attempts are made to cut out "nonessential" subjects from curricula, it only worsens the problem and further distances the at-risk student from the goal of becoming motivated to do better (30-31).

For many reasons, music can be one of the most influential factors in getting at-risk students motivated. Music related courses in curricula give students many of the important elements that will erase the characteristics of an at-risk student. Every student likes music if only one kind, and outside of school, most students seek out music pretty actively (31). Therapists use music to help severely handicapped individuals, so why can't schools do the same thing to help at-risk students (31)?

Musical groups such as choir, orchestra or band help bring people together as well as improving communication skills, group work, and forming peer groups. Music creates a higher standard among people; where on a math test a grade of 90% would be an "A", a 90% grade on a performance would be quite bad (32). This study seems to suggest that music can provide a student with a level of individuality to learn in his/her own style. Music education creates a much more well-rounded student that do much more and learn much easier.

Music can also have very interesting and beneficial effects on the mind. A study was conducted at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California at Irvine by Frances H. Rauscher, Gordon L. Shaw and Katherine N. Ky in which 36 college students listened to one of three listening condition for ten minutes and then took the Stanford-Binet intelligence test designed for abstract reasoning (Rauscher, Shaw and Ky 611).

The experiment was repeated for each of the listening conditions which were listening to a Mozart piano sonata, a relaxation tape, and complete silence (611). They found that the equivalent IQ scores were the equal between listening to the relaxation tape and complete silence, but after listening to the Mozart piece, IQ scores were an average of eight to nine points higher than the others (611). The scientists explain how the enhancing effect doesn't last for more than ten to fifteen minutes after listening to the sample (611).

They were able to draw a certain amount of theories out of the results of this study, but much more testing is required for any solid conclusions to be made. They think that music that is without complexity or is highly repetitive will not enhance abstract reasoning, but rather interfere with it (611).

Their findings are put under scrutiny and criticism by Kristin Leutwyler, who tries to set the record straight about misinterpretations in the media regarding the findings of Rauscher, Shaw and Ky. She asserts that "...the popular press have suggested that anyone can increase his or her IQ by listening to Mozart. This supposed quick fix is false" (28). She explains that the IQ scores were based solely on spatial ability and not other factors that IQ takes into account (28). Leutwyler explains that Rauscher's work is "... based on the premise that listening to music and performing a spatial task prime the same neural firing patterns. But that's just a guess." (28)

Despite the skepticism of Leutwyler in the findings of the three scientists and the fact that more testing needs to done to take into account different variables, the initial findings cannot be ignored. There is some correlation between listening to music and spatial reasoning and through it, there is some connection with IQ.

A good sized study was done many years ago to test intelligence across a wide range of fields and subjects (Schoen 94). On the study, 205 college students were given the Minnesota College Ability Test, all of the Seashore tests for musical talent, and were rated on a scale for musical training (94). After the testing was complete, they separated out the top 25 and the bottom 25 to determine if there was a difference in musicality among them, but found none (94).

Next, they excluded the 25 students with the greatest and least amount of musical training and found two interesting groups (94). Of the two groups left, the top group's average student had taken music theory, private piano lessons for two years, voice and cello for four years while he/she had played in orchestras for four years, sung in choir for six years, had three musicians in the family, could read music and supply missing parts, and attended concerts regularly (94). The lower group's average student had never had any private lessons, didn't play an instrument, had no musicians in his/her family, and never attended operas or concerts (95). Music won't turn anyone into a genius, but it can have some substantial effects on bringing people above average at least.

One thing that music does that cannot be ignored is it stimulates the brain- sometimes positively and sometimes negatively, but it effects the brain nonetheless. Some positive effects on the brain can be seen from the study conducted by Rauscher, Shaw and Ky where they found a temporary increase in spatial reasoning after listening to a bit of Mozart. These findings are somewhat inconclusive, but cannot be ignored altogether. It shows how there is much more studying that needs to be done in the future on this subject.

I have a personal anecdote about how music stimulates the mind. When I was in high school, I took the ACT for the first time in the fall of my Junior year. It was a normal day and I wasn't extremely focused or unfocused on the morning that I took it. That morning before I left, and on my way to the test site, I listened to some of my favorite rock music on my radio. The test seemed a little hard, but I got through it. When my results came back a few weeks later, I received a 19. That was a horrible score for me. I figured that I had better take it again and get a higher score, so in the spring of my junior year I took it again. This time, I felt a little more focused and during the entire morning before I left and on my way to the test site, I listened to Mozart. This time I was much more confident on how I did when I was finished. A couple weeks later, I found out that I received a 26. Most people improve on their ACT score when they take it a second time, but I've never heard of anyone improving as much as I did. I had read the report about listening to Mozart and how it supposedly raised your IQ temporarily, and that's why I listened to it that day. I was much more prepared for the test the second time, but to improve as much as I did, one has to wonder if listening to Mozart had anything to do with it.

Music has been known to have a very direct effect on people's moods. By just listening to music, people's moods are easily altered. Several studies were conducted to test people's mood changes after listening to certain kinds of music (Schoen 89-99).

One large study of 20,000 people showed music changes mood and the changes in mood were very uniform (89). A large number of people listened to classical music by various composers from various musical periods and were asked how the music made them feel. Another study showed that the effects of mood varied from person to person depending on their musicality. Non-musical people enjoy music rarely and when they do, the enjoyment is slight, while semi-musical people enjoy music quite often and when they do, it is enjoyable to them, while musical people enjoy music rarely, due to discriminating tastes, but when they do, it is with the greatest intensity (90).

These studies also showed that certain types of moods/emotions are characteristic with music while certain emotions are not such as anger, fear, jealousy, and envy (91). Certain emotions are more characteristic with vocal music because of the words such as: love, longing, reverence, devotion (91).

Another study was done on 205 people testing the effects of major and minor modes. Minor mode gave the feelings of "... melancholy, mournful, gloomy, depressing..." while major mode most often gave the feelings of "... happy, sprightly, cheerful, joyous, and bright ..." (99).

Music is an important and extremely useful tool in the way we learn and to deny its power is a waste of a truly wonderful resource. In recent years there have been concerns about some types of music such as Gangsta Rap having very negative effects on peoples minds and moods. This type of music imprints an extremely violent image into people's minds and there has been growing concern about it and tying it in with violent crimes. In cases like this, it only shows how much more we need to study music to fully understand its full impact on the human mind. In these days where cutbacks are always eminent in people's local schools, people need to struggle to keep the music and art intact. Music and the arts are what make life worth living and without them, people lose hold of their culture and diversity. The ideal way to learn in the future would be to fully incorporate music into the curriculum of every school. If every school supported and encouraged their students to freely pursue music with the culture of music in their everyday lives, people would become much more efficient in their learning and would become much better students on the whole. Music is a power too great for man to comprehend at this point but through further study man can learn how to better harness its power to use it to its full potential.

by Kristian David Olson

Lowell Mason "The Father of Music Education

Lowell mason (January 8, 1792 - August 11, 1872) was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include his arrangement of Joy to the World and "Bethany", his setting of the hymn Nearer, My God, to Thee. He was also largely responsible for introducing music into American public schools, and is considered to be the first important music educator in the United States. In the last part of his career, as music director of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, he radically transformed American church music from a practice of having professional choirs and accompaniment to congregational singing accompanied by organ music(January 8, 1792 - August 11, 1872) was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include his arrangement of Joy to the World and "Bethany", his setting of the hymn Nearer, My God, to Thee. He was also largely responsible for introducing music into American public schools, and is considered to be the first important music educator in the United States. In the last part of his career, as music director of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, he radically transformed American church music from a practice of having professional choirs and accompaniment to congregational singing accompanied by organ music.

Bibliography

Mason was born and grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, where he became the Music Director of First Parish (now First Parish Unitarian Universalist) Church at age 17. His birthplace was saved from development in 2011. It was relocated to a town park on Green Street. The Lowell Mason Foundation is leading a grassroots community effort, in conjunction with music educators, to create a Lowell Mason museum and music education center.

He spent the first part of his adulthood in Savannah, Georgia, where he worked first in a dry-goods store, then in a bank. He had very strong amateur musical interests, and studied music with the German teacher Frederick L. Abel, eventually starting to write his own music. He also became a leader in the music of the Independent Presbyterian Church, where he served as choir director and organist. Under his initiative, his church also created the first Sunday school for black children in America.

Following an earlier British model, Mason embarked on the task of producing a hymnal whose tunes would be drawn from the work of European classical composers such as Haydn and Mozart. Mason had great difficulty in finding a publisher for this work. Ultimately, it was published (1822) by the Handel and Haydn Society of Boston, which was one of the earliest American organizations devoted to classical music. Mason's hymnal turned out to be a great success. The work was at first published anonymously—Mason felt that his main career was as a banker, and he hoped not to damage his career prospects.

 

In 1827, Mason moved to Boston, where he continued his banking career for some time. Mason served as choirmaster and organist at Park Street Church from 1829 to 1831. Mason eventually became a music director for three churches including the Hanover Street whose pastor was the famous Lyman Beecher, in a six-month rotation. Mason became an important figure on the Boston musical scene: He served as president of the Handel and Haydn Society, taught music in the public schools, was co-founder of the Boston Academy of Music (1833), and in 1838 was appointed music superintendent for the Boston school system. In the 1830s, Mason set to music the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb". In 1845 political machinations in the Boston school committee led to the termination of his services.

In 1851, at the age of 59, Mason retired from Boston musical activity and moved to New York City where his sons, Daniel and Lowell, Jr. had a music business. On December 20, 1851 he set sail to Europe. During his tour of Europe in 1852 he developed a great interest and enthusiasm for congregational singing, especially that in the German churches of Nicolaikirche in Leipzig and the Kreuzkirche in Dresden.

Following his return to New York City he accepted the position as music director in 1853 for the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church which had just completed construction of a new church edifice on Nineteenth Street. He immediately disbanded its choir and orchestra and installed an organ with his son, William, serving as organist. During his tenure, which lasted until 1860, he developed congregational singing to the point where the church was known has having the finest congregational singing in the city. In 1859 Mason, along with Edwards A. Parks and Austin Phelps published the "Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book".

In 1860 he retired to his estate in Orange, New Jersey, where he remained active in the Congregational Church there. He remained an important and influential figure for the rest of his life.

Benefit three: Success in Developing Intelligence

Success in school and in society depends on an array of abilities. Without joining the intense ongoing debate about the nature of intelligence as a basic ability, we can demonstrate that some measures of a child's intelligence are indeed increased with music instruction. Once again, this burgeoning range of data supports a long-established base of anecdotal knowledge to the effect that music education makes kids smarter. What is new and especially compelling, however, is a combination of tightly-controlled behavioral studies and groundbreaking neurological research that show how music study can actively contribute to brain development:

* In a study conducted by Dr. Timo Krings, pianists and non-musicians of the same age and sex were required to perform complex sequences of finger movements. Their brains were scanned using a technique called "functional magnetic resource imaging" (fMRI) which detects the activity levels of brain cells. The non-musicians were able to make the movements as correctly as the pianists, but less activity was detected in the pianists' brains. Thus, compared to non-musicians, the brains of pianists are more efficient at making skilled movements. These findings show that musical training can enhance brain function. Weinberger, Norm. "The Impact of Arts on Learning." MuSICa Research Notes 7, no. 2 (Spring 2000). Reporting on Krings, Timo et al. "Cortical Activation Patterns during Complex Motor Tasks in Piano Players and Control Subjects. A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study." Neuroscience Letters 278, no. 3 (2000): 189-93.

* "The musician is constantly adjusting decisions on tempo, tone, style, rhythm, phrasing, and feeling--training the brain to become incredibly good at organizing and conducting numerous activities at once. Dedicated practice of this orchestration can have a great payoff for lifelong attentional skills, intelligence, and an ability for self-knowledge and expression." Ratey John J., MD. A User's Guide to the Brain. New York: Pantheon Books, 2001.

* A research team exploring the link between music and intelligence reported that music training is far superior to computer instruction in dramatically enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills, the skills necessary for learning math and science. Shaw, Rauscher, Levine, Wright, Dennis and Newcomb, "Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial-temporal reasoning," Neurological Research, Vol. 19, February 1997

* Students in two Rhode Island elementary schools who were given an enriched, sequential, skill-building music program showed marked improvement in reading and math skills. Students in the enriched program who had started out behind the control group caught up to statistical equality in reading, and pulled ahead in math. Gardiner, Fox, Jeffrey and Knowles, as reported in Nature, May 23, 1996

* Researchers at the University of Montreal used various brain imaging techniques to investigate brain activity during musical tasks and found that sight-reading musical scores and playing music both activate regions in all four of the cortex's lobes; and that parts of the cerebellum are also activated during those tasks. Sergent, J., Zuck, E., Tenial, S., and MacDonall, B. (1992). Distributed neural network underlying musical sight reading and keyboard performance. Science, 257, 106-109.

* Researchers in Leipzig found that brain scans of musicians showed larger planum temporale (a brain region related to some reading skills) than those of non-musicians. They also found that the musicians had a thicker corpus callosum (the bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two halves of the brain) than those of non-musicians, especially for those who had begun their training before the age of seven. Schlaug, G., Jancke, L., Huang, Y., and Steinmetz, H. (1994). In vivo morphometry of interhem ispheric assymetry and connectivity in musicians. In I. Deliege (Ed.), Proceedings of the 3d international conference for music perception and cognition (pp. 417-418). Liege, Belgium.

* A University of California (Irvine) study showed that after eight months of keyboard lessons, preschoolers showed a 46% boost in their spatial reasoning IQ. Rauscher, Shaw, Levine, Ky and Wright, "Music and Spatial Task Performance: A Causal Relationship," University of California, Irvine, 1994

* Researchers found that children given piano lessons significantly improved in their spatial- temporal IQ scores (important for some types of mathematical reasoning) compared to children who received computer lessons, casual singing, or no lessons. Rauscher, F.H., Shaw, G.L., Levine, L.J., Wright, E.L., Dennis, W.R., and Newcomb, R. (1997) Music training causes long-term enhancement of preschool children's spatial temporal reasoning. Neurological Research, 19, 1-8.

* A McGill University study found that pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly for students given piano instruction over a three-year period. They also found that self-esteem and musical skills measures improved for the students given piano instruction. Costa-Giomi, E. (1998, April). The McGill Piano Project: Effects of three years of piano instruction on children's cognitive abilities, academic achievement, and self-esteem. Paper presented at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

* Researchers found that lessons on songbells (a standard classroom instrument) led to significant improvement of spatial-temporal scores for three- and four-year-olds. Gromko, J.E., and Poorman, A.S. (1998) The effect of music training on preschooler's spatial-temporal task performance. Journal of Research in Music Education, 46, 173-181.

* In the Kindergarten classes of the school district of Kettle Moraine, Wisconsin, children who were given music instruction scored 48 percent higher on spatial-temporal skill tests than those who did not receive music training. Rauscher, F.H., and Zupan, M.A. (1999). Classroom keyboard instruction improves kindergarten children's spatial-temporal performance: A field study. Manuscript in press, Early Childhood Research Quarterly.

* An Auburn University study found significant increases in overall self-concept of at-risk children participating in an arts program that included music, movement, dramatics and art, as measured by the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. N.H. Barry, Project ARISE: Meeting the needs of disadvantaged students through the arts, Auburn University, 1992

Benefit four: Success in Life

Each of us wants our children &emdash; and the children of all those around us to achieve success in school, success in employment, and success in the social structures through which we move. But we also want our children to experience "success" on a broader scale. Participation in music, often as not based on a grounding in music education during the formative school years, brings countless benefits to each individual throughout life. The benefits may be psychological or spiritual, and they may be physical as well:

* "Studying music encourages self-discipline and diligence, traits that carry over into intellectual pursuits and that lead to effective study and work habits. An association of music and math has, in fact, long been noted. Creating and performing music promotes self-expression and provides self-gratification while giving pleasure to others. In medicine, increasing published reports demonstrate that music has a healing effect on patients. For all these reasons, it deserves strong support in our educational system, along with the other arts, the sciences, and athletics." Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Leading Heart Surgeon, Baylor College of Music.

* "Music has a great power for bringing people together. With so many forces in this world acting to drive wedges between people, it's important to preserve those things that help us experience our common humanity." Ted Turner, Turner Broadcasting System.

* "Music is one way for young people to connect with themselves, but it is also a bridge for connecting with others. Through music, we can introduce children to the richness and diversity of the human family and to the myriad rhythms of life." Daniel A. Carp, Eastman Kodak Company Chairman and CEO.

* "Casals says music fills him with the wonder of life and the 'incredible marvel' of being a human. Ives says it expands his mind and challenges him to be a true individual. Bernstein says it is enriching and ennobling. To me, that sounds like a good cause for making music and the arts an integral part of every child's education. Studying music and the arts elevates children's education, expands students' horizons, and teaches them to appreciate the wonder of life." U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley, July 1999.

* "The nation's top business executives agree that arts education programs can help repair weaknesses in American education and better prepare workers for the 21st century." "The Changing Workplace is Changing Our View of Education." Business Week, October 1996.

* "Music making makes the elderly healthier.... There were significant decreases in anxiety, depression, and loneliness following keyboard lessons. These are factors that are critical in coping with stress, stimulating the immune system, and in improved health. Results also show significant increases in human growth hormones following the same group keyboard lessons. (Human growth hormone is implicated in aches and pains.)" Dr. Frederick Tims, reported in AMC Music News, June 2, 1999

* "Music education opens doors that help children pass from school into the world around them a world of work, culture, intellectual activity, and human involvement. The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music." &emdash; Gerald Ford, former President, United States of America

* "During the Gulf War, the few opportunities I had for relaxation I always listened to music, and it brought to me great peace of mind. I have shared my love of music with people throughout this world, while listening to the drums and special instruments of the Far East, Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Far North and all of this started with the music appreciation course that I was taught in a third-grade elementary class in Princeton, New Jersey. What a tragedy it would be if we lived in a world where music was not taught to children." H. Norman Schwarzkopf, General, U.S. Army, retired

* "Music is about communication, creativity, and cooperation, and, by studying music in school, students have the opportunity to build on these skills, enrich their lives, and experience the world from a new perspective." - Bill Clinton, former President, United States of America