When was the last time you stepped back from the outside world and immersed yourself in some good music?
Music can have a powerful effect on people. It creates a special atmosphere and affects mood. Music has the
power to soothe you, to stir you, or just make you want to get up and dance. Imagine a Hitchcock movie without
music, a whole dimension would be lacking, and the suspense would be lost.
Or, think of the songs you’ve loved in the past, the soundtrack to your own life. How would your memories be different without music?
So, if you think that music "does something" to you, you are not alone. Recent studies show that music affects the brain in various ways and
can actually improve many abilities, both in children and in adults. Much research has been done on the effect of music on the physical, emotional,
and intellectual development of babies and children.
Classical Music Can Have Powerful Effects Even Before Birth
One recent study demonstrates that children exposed to classical music in the womb show a positive change in physical and mental development after birth. In this experiment,
fetuses were exposed to 70 hours of classical music during the last weeks of pregnancy. When studied at six months, these babies were more advanced in terms of motor,
linguistic and intellectual development than babies who received no musical stimulus during pregnancy.
Scientists explain that children are born with 100 billion nerve cells in their bodies. These cells, however, are connected only loosely.
Each event a baby experiences - such as listening to his mother, seeing a picture, feeling a sheet against his skin, or attempting to touch a
toy hanging above - triggers electrical signals (neural impulses) which establish or strengthen the intercellular connections in the brain.
The larger the number of connections in the brain, the richer its functioning. Neural pathways left unused usually die out. Therefore it stands to reason that an infant’s earliest
experiences can mold the brain and determine much of the infant’s adult potential. Scientists believe that learning music is one of those “brain-building” experiences.
Music And Intellectual Abilities
Creativity
A study conducted in Hungary found that when children between the ages of three and four were given lessons in singing and playing musical instruments, they obtained higher grades in creativity
than children of the same age who did not receive any musical training.
Memory
Three-month-old babies can use music as a means of remembering something they have learned. Babies in one study learned to kick a hanging toy in order to make it move.
While they were learning, a particular piece of music was played to them. After seven days the babies remembered that a kick produces movement - but only when they heard
the “learning” music being played. Scientists theorize that music gives significance to the learning situation and helps retrieve learned material from memory.
Spatial intelligence
Spatial intelligence is the ability to perceive various relationships in space and understand the visual world. In a California study of kindergarten children, one group of children
was given piano lessons, while another group studied computers. At the beginning and end of the study, the children were given an assignment to complete a jigsaw puzzle.
Children who had piano lessons had 34% better grades than those who studied computers. The scientists suggested that music forms the neural connections needed for this type of spatial thinking.
Mathematics
A 1996 study found that first graders who had been given special intensive musical instruction demonstrated considerably more progress in mathematics than classmates who had received a
standard musical education. Scientists believe that the connection between music and mathematics is partly related to the fact that music helps children understand concepts such as number
series, or relationships between numbers. For example, think of the concept of voice pitch where different voice pitches constitute a series such as `do`, `re`, `mi`, and a relationship between
them where `do` is lower than `re`, `re` is lower than `mi` and so on.
Language
There is a close connection between music and linguistic development. Both skills require the ability to differentiate between auditory nuances. In order for an infant to be able to tell the
difference between similar sounds such as "B" and "P, she must hone her auditory perception. Listening to complex classical music will contributes greatly to babies’ development of this skill.
In fact, music is a type of "language”. It is used to convey messages - messages that induce emotions and ideas in the listener. Listening to music will develop the ability to decode auditory
data and sharpen your child’s auditory memory - abilities which are fundamental to language comprehension.
Emotional intelligence
Music can bring on strong emotions. By listening to expressive classical music, babies hone their ability to detect moods and emotions in others,
while developing awareness of their own inner processes through the nuances of feeling evoked by the music. Later on, children may use music to express emotions through singing or playing.
The Healing Power Of Music - Its Effect On Body And Mind
Sound is energy. Sound moves in waves and is measured in frequencies and volume. Don Campbell, a music lecturer, believes that sound waves have an effect on the body’s cells and tissues.
He theorizes that music affects the body’s processes when we absorb energy from sound, causing slight changes in our breathing, pulse rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and other internal
body rhythms. Sounds can have a charging and liberating effect. In certain cases, they load the brain and even the body with positive charges. Campbell cites a number of health areas influenced
by music.
Music contributes to the recovery of premature babies
A Florida study of 52 newborn babies with a low birth weight demonstrated that playing music to them contributed to a rapid increase in their weight,
and shortened their stay in the hospital by an average of five days (as compared to a group of similar babies which were not exposed to any musical stimulus).
Breathing
Listening to music whose sounds are long and slow usually makes breathing deeper and slower, allowing the psyche a chance to relax.
Heart rate
The heart also responds to musical variables such as frequency, rhythm, and volume. The heart tends to increase or decrease its rate depending on the music`s rhythm. The slower the music,
the slower the heartbeat. A slow heartbeat creates less tension and soothes the spirit.
Blood pressure
Music can alter blood pressure. By playing recordings of pleasing music every morning and evening, people with high blood pressure can train themselves to lower
their blood pressure - and keep it low.
Music helps alleviate pain and improve mood
The brain creates natural relaxants, called endorphins, which can reduce pain and promote a feeling of natural well being.
Researchers at the Addiction Research Center in Stanford, California have found that listening to music enables the body to create these substances, thus improving mood.
Immune function
Music and sound can boost 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.
Your Baby Needs Music!
By playing classical music to your baby you can activate the neural pathways responsible for many intellectual skills.
General skills such as creativity, and more specific skills such as spatial intelligence, mathematical ability, linguistic ability, and emotional intelligence are honed by
the effects of listening to music. Many physical and mental functions are also affected by listening to classical music. Your baby is naturally unaware of these complex and secret processes.
He is totally immersed in the simple experience of listening to the soft music that envelops him, challenging him, arousing his curiosity, and stirring a variety of emotions in him.