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Music & the Brain

If you want your preschooler to excel in science and math, you may want to enrol them in piano lessons. Studies show an important connection between music and early brain development. A study from the University of California Irvine and the University of Wisconsin states that the effect most likely extends to all musical instruments and not just piano. Early music training can dramatically boost a child's brain power, building the skills necessary to succeed in high levels of math and science.

When a child studies music, it stimulates activity in the brain where brain cells begin firing in patterns, linking them with each other and creating a strong network of lasting connections. It is these very connections that are responsible for order, spatial reasoning and logic. The best time in a person's life to develop this lasting neurological framework is between the ages of two and ten. Don't let this deter you from studying music as an adult however; the same study also indicates that musical training at any age can have long lasting effects. In a test done on college students who listened to Mozart for 10 minutes, 30% of them scored higher on spatial reasoning tests.

Please remember, not every child can be made into a Mozart or a Beethoven, but the stimulus a child receives early in life helps determine how well his or her brain functions throughout life.

by Ken Mason

Music & Emotion

Imagine for a moment you are watching the Titanic and Jack is sinking helplessly to the bottom of the icy Atlantic and Rose watching on in unbearable grief. Now imagine if you will, circus music playing wildly in the background. The moment loses the effect James Cameron had in mind when he directed the scene.

This may sound strange, but very few people consciously pay attention to the music being played during a movie. Subconsciously though, our minds are listening and processing every note played. Let’s face it; movies would not have the same effect if they lacked music. You can feel the pain of a moment as soon as a single violin pierces the air with a long drawn out note. When sounds are dissonant, they are not usually pleasant to listen to. An example would the minor second played during the shower scene in the movie Psycho. This harsh sound is similar to the warning sounds animals screech when trouble is near. This is the kind of sound that causes the hair to stand up on your back. So how is it that we can feel happy or sad after hearing a sound?

Most of us are born with this ability and music is a universal language that is used to express emotion. When my daughter was 9 months old, she was just learning to walk. I was listening to a fast up-tempo song and when she heard the song she started bouncing and laughing. When I changed the song to something much more soothing, she mellowed and became very quiet. I came to the realization that she was born with the natural ability to feel the emotion and rhythm in the music. I tried this experiment with other babies and discovered that they all had the same wonderful reaction.

The next time you watch a movie, listen to how the music affects the emotion of the film. Try to imagine the film with no music or completely different music for the scene. You may want to try this when you are home alone with a DVD because if you start laughing in a theatre during the sad part in a film, they may have you ejected.

by Ken Mason