Music and the Brain

Choose classical music
With lyrics to sing;
You'll never forget it;
Great joy it will bring.

But better be careful
For I've heard it said;
The music's addictive;
It sticks in your head.

The current tools used for brain research are revealing unexplored areas of our minds. Scientists can now watch the brain in action and begin to understand how it works. It is an exciting time for research scientists as well as for educators. We are finding that we need to reevaluate our teaching methods and change our models.

Sometimes we find that research confirms what we already instinctively know – such things as:

• we remember words better with music and music better with words,
• attitude is often more important for success than brains,
• strong emotions can shut down higher order thinking, and
• laughter is good for you!

CLASSICAL MUSIC AND BRAIN DEVELOPMENT

Research has shown that music affects brain development at a very early age beginning in utero. Classical music by composers such as Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, and Haydn, "wire" children's brains, actually creating neural pathways in the brain. Since classical music is more complex than popular music, it wires more of the brain than popular music. It actually helps create many neural pathways in the brain.

During the first two years of life, children can learn to recognize specific classical musical melodies at the same time they are learning to speak their mother tongue. Mothers report that children as young as ten months and two years recognize specific classical music melodies and love to "sing" along with them. (See "What Others Say" on this website.)

For everyone who is concerned about their children's brain development, we recommend a two-CD presentation by Andre Pudewa – The Profound Effects of Music on Life (available from www.singnlearn.com). "Pudewa describes in detail the beneficial as well as potentially detrimental effects which various types of music can have on living things. Clear descriptions throughout the presentation bring attention to recent scientific research involving young children, college students, mice and plants...... This information will challenge you and will alter the way you view (or hear, for that matter) music forever."

CLASSICAL MAGIC® CAN HELP ESTABLISH
A LEARNING ATTITUDE IN STUDENTS

Negative emotions and attitudes can shut down higher-order thinking. The single most important element in children's learning is attitude. The limbic system is so powerful it can literally facilitate or inhibit learning and higher order thinking. It appears that positive emotions such as love, tenderness and humor can facilitate higher order thinking skills; whereas negative emotions such as anger, hostility and fear can literally downshift the brain into basic survival thinking(5)

Many students arrive at school already in a distressed condition, so a brief intervention of music can move learners closer to the optimal learning state of relaxed alertness. When we consider that 3 to 10 percent of school-age children are estimated to have some form of depression, depending on their age, the huge upside potential of music exposure ought not be ignored. (2)

Laughter is also an important technique for reducing stress and increasing learning. When students are having fun, their overall academic achievement increases (7)

Classical Magic® combines classical music and humor. The lyrics are educational and light-hearted. The themes usually take less than a minute each to play and sing, allowing teachers to use them throughout the day to help shape classroom attitudes. When children sing they relax, and their higher order thinking can begin to function. As children begin to recognize the classical music themes in cartoons, commercials, malls and cell phones, they also develop self-confidence, an important aspect of emotional Intelligence.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES AND OTHERS

Emotional intelligence may ultimately be more important to our success than cognition because relationships, volition, and school issues like attendance, school climate and dropout rates are impacted.(2)

Children who are involved in music activities do better in school. The probable mechanism for developing emotional intelligence comes from the research on creating and maintaining neural networks. These are the complex patterns of learning that comprise our behaviors. With novelty, challenge, repetition, feedback, coherence and time, the brain is enriched and new neural connections (synapses) are made. It seems that the playing of music accelerates and enhances the ability of learners to make rapid emotional assessments and to act accordingly.(2)

Children love to "know" and to show adults that they know classical music themes and composers. With the Classical Magic® program, children are inspired to play musical instruments fostering a positive self-image. They develop self-confidence, essential for emotional maturity.

MUSIC CARRIES EDUCATIONAL MATERIAL
INTO LONG-TERM MEMORY

When music accompanies learning material, it provides a powerful superhighway straight into the brain. The value of embedding lyrics in music is that learning this way activates emotional responses, as well as memory in the auditory cortex. In other words, music facilitates verbal memory.(2) Some studies show that children retain only 10% of what they read and 20% of what they are told. If you take the same information and teach it with a song, the retention increases to over 90%.

Too much of our schooling is based on the declarative system, a slow memory pathway. A straightforward music education program may enhance our procedural learning system – a much faster memory pathway which is stored in our superior long-term memory. Instead of relying strictly on lecture, educators who use more movement, singing, and music will improve learning efficiency and retention.(2)

The Classical Magic® program incorporates history and geography as well as operas, mythology and great literature. The lyrics contain educational information from such famous classical music themes as Orpheus in the Underworld and Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Peer Gynt and many more. Classical Magic® is a procedural type system that combines educational lyrics with music, allowing both to follow a direct path into long-term memory.

CLASSICAL MAGIC®
AND THE MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES

Howard Gardner in his Theory of Multiple Intelligences defines music as an intelligence as well as a talent. Children learn through many intelligences, and much learning is facilitated with music. Creative teaching will approach a subject through multiple intelligences. Classical Magic's theme recognition activities regularly involve most of Gardner's seven intelligences: (3)

• linguistic – reading and singing lyrics develop fluency, the rhythm of the language, poetry techniques, and vocabulary.
• logical-mathematical – participating in music activities demand precise timing and understanding of fractions
• bodily-kinesthetic – moving to music in both directed and spontaneous ways.
• music – singing, listening, to classical music, playing instruments, moving to music.
• visual-spatial – planning choreography, creating art while listening to music.
• interpersonal – working with others by singing, playing music, planning skits, etc.
• intrapersonal – feeling good about oneself and building confidence.

The more intelligences one uses, the greater the learning. Music is especially effective in developing interpersonal and intrapersonal skills and maturity. Music has great value as an art form that enriches our lives. All great cultures have embraced music, and no great culture can flourish without music.

For further information consult:

1. Arts With The Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen
2. Music with the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen
3. Intelligence Reframed by Howard Gardner
4. Emotional Intelligence Research by Daniel Goleman
5. Triune Brain Theory by Dr. Paul Mac Lean
6. www.newhorizons.org – New Horizons for Learning by Dee Dickinson
7. Brain-Compatible Discipline – With Dignity by Dr. Gerard Evanski
8. The Profound Effects of Music on Life by Andrew Pudewa

This page was last updated on 10/12/2007

© copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 Classical Magic, Inc.