Music can be a big influence on the life of a person. To some people, music can tell a story. It inspires creations, and influences behaviors. Artists can use music to express themselves through. Different music styles and eras relate to different cultures and time periods. What some people are not aware of, though, is that music also influences a person physically. Listening to and playing music can improve brain efficiency and health; therefore, children should be exposed to music at a young age.
During an experiment, subjects were exposed to classical music and silence. Afterwards, subjects took a spatial IQ test. Electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, which measure brain wave activity, were made prior to and after the test. The results showed that the group which listened to Mozart had a major increase in brain activity (Lerch 5). Children who have had music training are shown to have better long-term memory and brain functions. A group of children, after being musically trained for one year, scored significantly better on a memory test that is correlated with literacy, verbal memory, visio-spatial processing, and mathematics (First Evidence 1). Learning to play music has the greatest effect on children. According to Lerch, a connection between listening to music and improved intelligence throughout maturity may be present. Musically trained children perform better on spatial tests than children trained in other things such as computers (Rauscher 1). These are some of the many reasons children should have music training. Dr. Fujioka, who studied the effects of music training said:
Previous work has shown assignment to musical training is associated with improvements in IQ in school-aged children. Our work explores how mu...
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There is limited literature centered on an infant age group to support the notion that babies will become smarter through exposure to Mozart’s symphonies. Rauscher, Shaw and Ky (1993) devised an experiment initiating the theory now known as the ‘Mozart Effect’. The study examined the possible effect the exposure to three differing conditions; silence, a relaxation tape and a Mozart piece had on college student’s ability to perform spatial tasks, and hence the effect on their spatial IQ scores (Rauscher et al. 1993). Rauscher et al. (1993) concluded there was an increase in these scores for studen...
This review aims to address the debate as to whether or not playing classical music enhances the cognitive development of infants. This question is raised in response to the claim made by music educator Don Campbell (1997), who states that ‘playing Mozart to babies makes them smarter’, by aiding their intellectual and creative development. It is important to determine if there is sufficient evidence behind this statement as people are paying money for their children to experience the claimed effects. This review will draw upon, analyse and interpret a range of empirical research studies involving school-aged children to adults exposed to different forms of music (including Mozart) to measure the effects. Campbell’s claim will be critically evaluated and proved otherwise that playing Mozart to babies does not improve overall intelligence. It will be argued that the empirical studies are based on children and young adults not infants, that the effects were found to be temporary and relative to specific measure on intelligence, and that other forms of music can influence spatial reasoning.
Music and the Brain: Processing and Responding (A General Overview). For any individual who either avidly listens to or performs music, it is understood that many melodies have amazing effects on both our emotions and our perception. To address the effects of music on the brain, it seems most logical to initially map the auditory and neural pathways of sound. In the case of humans, the mechanism responsible for receiving and transmitting sound to the brain is the ears.
Many people do not realize the positive effect that popular music has on children. At a young age one of the breakthroughs for children is music’s benefit for language development. According to the Children’s Music Workshop, the effect of music education on language development can be seen in the brain. Studies have indicated that musical training develops the left side of the brain known to be involved in processing language and can actually wire the brain’s circuits in specific ways. The relation between both music and language development can also have advantages children. Listening to music can also improve children test scores and IQ levels. Dr. Schellenberg found that a small increase in the IQs of six year olds who were given weekly vocal and piano lessons. This leads to the fact that music is very helpful when it comes to education. Professor Christopher Johnson revealed that students in elementary schools with better music education programs sc...
There have been many studies done to find how music influences a child’s development. The College Entrance Examination Board discovered that students who took music appreciation classes had higher verbal and math scores than those who did not take the classes. (Stephens 2003) The U.S. Department of Education found that in 25,000 secondary schools, students who were highly involved in the music program did much better in math than any other students. (Stephens 2003) These studies and more have found that involvement in music increases chi...
The idea of the Mozart effect began in 1993 with a study conducted by Rauscher, Shaw & Ky. This study involved 36 university students taking three different IQ spatial reasoning tasks and for each test used either Mozart’s sonata for two pianos in D major and relaxation music was played, silence was also used. The results of this experiment showed that students who had listened to the music of Mozart had better results for the spacial reasoning tests in comparison to silence or relaxation music. The results also showed that the impact of Mozart’s music was only temporary and only lasted for 10-15 minutes. Overall this study was very basic and had numerous flaws such as the sample size and also the variety of tests used to look at the impact of music (Rauscher, Shaw & Ky, 1993). In 1997 Don Campbell’s book The Mozart effect popularised the claim that music makes children smarter. This book created a public interest in music and brain development. The book uses Rauscher’s experiment as an example of what Mozart’s music can do which in this experiment shows a temporary increase in spatial reasoning, this however was misinterpreted by the public as an increase in IQ. The popularisation of the...
Since this study has yet to be thoroughly examined and replicated, it is hard to give weight to the argument. The fact that the study does not involve infant participants also contributes to the issue that studies involving babies are lacking, and thus it is difficult to support the theory that babies are able to be “made smarter” by the effects of Mozart’s music.
Music has been around since the very beginning of time. The human body flows in a rhythmic syncopation. Music is used to change one’s mood and to inspire those who open their minds. It has the potential to cure diseases such as Parkinson’s disease. Humans, of every culture and society, function with a type of rhythmic music. As humans, we are hard wired to respond to music (Mannes). The human brain responds to music in such a way that the brain becomes more open to new rhythms, ideas, and values. Music has the power to take over the human body. This makes it easier to overcome conflict and change the ideals of somebody while using music (The Power of Music).
There have always been discussions of the effects music has on ones behavior, and how it’s related to Psychology. The truth has never really been verified among common knowledge, but it’s usually something that intrigues people. They say heavy metal and rap can make teenagers violent, sad and depressing music can make teenagers sad and depressed, and some say it’s best to listen to classical music when doing schoolwork because it makes your brain more active. There have been many people that reported how music has effects on their behavior. It can lift their mood, “fuel the fire” when they’re angry, or even make it easier for them to fall asleep. People never really get the chance to research the actual science of music, and how it changes people attitudes.
Music is one of the few things that has remained constant through the centuries this world has existed. Not only does music provide entertainment, it also has several effects linked to it. Music allows emotions of happiness and sadness to arise. From those emotions, physical effects, negative or positive, can occur. Music has a profound effect on the emotional, social, intellectual, and physical aspects of a person.
Schlaug, Gottfried, Andrea Norton, Kate Overy, and Ellen Winner. Effects of Music Training on the Child’s Brain. The Musician's Brain. New York Academy Of Sciences, 2005. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. .
Scientists and skeptics have different beliefs about the benefits of the Mozart Effect. Scientists found that Mozart “enhanced synchrony between the neural activity in the right frontal and left tempoparietal cortical areas of the brain,” and that this effect continued for “over 12 minutes” (Rauscher & Shaw, 1998, p. 839). Based on these results, Leng and Shaw speculated that “listening to Mozart could be stimulating the neural firing patterns in the parts of the cerebral cortex responsible for spatial-temporal skills, which subsequently enhances the spatial-temporal abilities that are housed in those parts of the cortex”[Dowd]. However nonbelievers suggest that the research is incomplete and misleading. The Irvine study that launched the phenomenon has been widely criticized. The Startling results announced by the initial paper were misleading. First, the researchers claimed that the undergraduates improved on all three spatial-reasoning tests. But as Shaw later clarified, the only enhancement came from one task—paper folding and cutting. Further, the researchers presented the data in the form...
Cooper, Belle. " How Music Affects and Benefits Your Brain."lifehacker.come. N.p., 11 22 2013. Web. 3
Music has incredible effects on the brain and body! Ever since the beginning of time, music has been around. It can influence the way a person thinks and behaves, and also social interactions. Teens are more susceptible to this (Revatto 1). Music can be used in therapy by helping people with depression, and can even be a more natural way to heal the body (“How Music...” 1). In some cases, songs and melodies can help or make diseases worse. Music is a powerful thing and can affect your brain and many other things in your body in numerous ways.
Weinberger, Norman M. “Music and the Brain.” Scientific American Special Edition 16.3 (2006): 36-43. Health Source- Consumer Edition. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.