Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Annette Kingsbury
In Disney's movie "Fantasia," inanimate objects seem to come to life to the strains of some
Though it's only a cartoon, some researchers are now asking the question: Does music have some
"magic" powers to turn on the brain? Can people wondering how to deal with depression use
As far back as the 19th century, music was believed to have an impact on the size of the brain.
Childhood brain development research has been going on for decades, but in recent years,
medical technology such as MRI actually allows a peek at the living brain at work. This allows
It's been dubbed "the Mozart effect" and though not yet fully understood, it has prompted the
packaging of classical music for children in the form of CDs and videos.
Babies," asking lawmakers for money to send every newborn in Georgia home from the hospital
with a classical CD. In the end, the Sony Corporation picked up the tab for a year.
Researchers don't know yet whether simply listening to classical music from an early age affects
the brain. However, studies seem to suggest that studying music may have an impact, though
and Behavior at the University of California-Irvine, "The ability to learn to play an instrument at
an early age might occur only in children whose brains previously were overdeveloped in certain
areas."
Another UCI professor, physicist Gordon Shaw, Ph.D., is a leader in the Mozart movement. He's
used only Mozart in his research (fitting, perhaps, since the composer was a child prodigy).
He has published studies showing that children who listened to Mozart and studied piano were
far ahead of their peers in math. Perhaps that's as good a reason as any for keeping elementary
music programs.
Carolyn Gilbreath, a consultant with the Oakland Intermediate School District in Michigan, has
studied the concept of "super learning." She said one theory is that the right music "sinks the
believe the right tempo and type of music can also heal -- everything from depression to multiple
sclerosis. Getting in touch with the alpha waves "puts the two hemispheres of the brain into
"It's something about the tempo; there's nothing magical," she said. Admitting that she's not
musically trained herself, she added with a straight face, "I did read an article that says you
While experts warn that it's too early to get excited about magically turning children into super
learners with a wave of the baton, here's a sampling of what some researchers have observed in
their experiments:
Preschoolers who had keyboard training did better at math reasoning than another group that
College students who had received musical training before age 12 remembered significantly
Infants can distinguish differences in pitch, melody and rhythm from very early on. In fact, they
even seem to recognize music they were exposed to repeatedly in the womb.
Students who received daily music training for seven months had higher reading scores at the
end than did a control group. A year later, their scores were still higher than the control groups.
Preschoolers were able to learn body parts better in a lesson that used music and dance as
For at least a century, educators have believed that music instruction helps students in many
ways, like speech and language development, motor and rhythmic coordination, and social skills.
But experiments like these point to the possibility that music offers benefits well beyond that. In
fact, since music is common to all cultures, some are wondering: Is the brain hot-wired for
music?
Gilbreath says she's frustrated all this information hasn't really filtered down into classroom
"I really thought they were going to have a whole different educational experience than I did,"
she said. "But it's pretty much the same, (despite) all we know."
It's rare that she will run into a teacher who is actually using music to enhance learning. One way
to do so is to play music as an "active" part of a lesson while teaching the subject material. Then,
when an entire lesson is completed, music is played by itself for the students, a more "passive"
use.
Interestingly, Gilbreath said teachers in the field of special education seem more open to
Taking no chances, one Waterford, Michigan School played Mozart for students before they took
the standardized tests. Oh, and they used peppermint, too (its scent is also thought to be
relaxing).
"I think it's wonderful," said Shelly Rose, whose child attends the school. "If it gets people to
Who wants to waste precious years of a child's life waiting for researchers to make up their
minds? Aside from having to endure the squeaks and squawks of a new musician, there's
Will it guarantee future success in school? Not necessarily, but it can't hurt and at the very least
there's the appreciation of the art form itself, something that can be enjoyed for a lifetime.
"The more you use the brain, the better you get," Gilbreath said. "It's a muscle; use it or lose it."
Gilbreath noted that research has gone on for decades on Einstein's brain. Studies have shown
the brain of the great scientist (who, by the way, played the violin) is unique in its structure.
There's no way to know whether he was born that way or if it developed after birth. But in music,
as in the mystery of Einstein, even if all the answers aren't yet known, some inferences can be
"Music probably helps you make some (brain) connections you wouldn't have made," she said.
"A lot of this is still hypothetical. We know so little about the brain; we have some behaviors we
"There's nothing like music. It can't hurt people. It's very beneficial. I don't think it has any
downside at all."
Music Education and Childhood Brain Development
By Annette Kingsbury
I decided to choose this article that has title Music Education and Childhood Brain
Development. This article is written by Annette Kingsbury who graduated from Oakland
University, BA, cum laude, Russian language and civilization, Minors in French and history/
social science. She has a lot of experience, such as freelance writer in Edible WOW magazine
between 2010- this year (5 years), a freelance writer in RochesterMedia.com between 2010 until
March 2013 (3 years), a freelance writer in patch.com between October 2012 until December
2012, a freelance writer in Walker Professional Writing Services between September 2011 until
January 2012, a freelance writer in the Oakland Press between January 2010 until August 2011, a
public relations consultant in Rochester Area Heritage Festival between 2010 until 2011, a staff
writer in Observer and Eccentric Newspapers between March 1998 until June 2009, et cetera.
Also, she has title and appreciation as a Observer and Eccentric Journalist of the Year, Staff
writer at the Rochester Eccentric when it was awarded the 2005 Newspaper of the Year for
circulation class by the Suburban Newspaper Association, staff writer at the Lake Orion
Eccentric when it won the General Excellence award of the Michigan Newspaper Association,
Talk about this article that has title Music Education and Childhood Brain Development
presents about the music effects. There is information about music, such as positive effects, and
- Summary or paraphrase or try to directly state what is the purpose of the article
--
From this article we know that actually music was believed to have an impact in the brain since
This article mentions that music can help children in math, it is from sentences
He has published studies showing that children who listened to Mozart and studied
piano were far ahead of their peers in math. Perhaps thats as good a reason as any for
Some believe the right tempo and type of music can also healeverything from
depression to multiple sclerosis. Getting in touch with the alpha waves puts the two
I agree with these points, but I can add that statement, actually not only children and adults, but
music can reduce stress for old people, but not all of them. I think that because the facts in this
world where many old people sometimes spend their days to listening music. In films that
actually adapted from real life showed old people spend their daily life to listening something
This article is agreeable for infants until college students, because this article presents the
sampling of experiments such as sampling to infants, preschooler, students and college students.
The fact that exists in recent years is many of parents suggest for infants should be listened to
music. They said that it is good for infants to stimulate their brain since they are infants. In
addition, many people suggest that how to make bright brain that can memorize something,
people should take music to make it happens. Everyday infants should be listened music.
Though this article has strength, but this article also has some weakness, such as does not clear,
does not complete and does not present the negative effects of music. Examples: just classical
music such as Mozart and Beethoven that presents in this article, what about the other music?
Researchers don't know yet whether simply listening to classical music from an early
age affects the brain. However, studies seem to suggest that studying music may have an
What does only classical music has an impact? What about the pop music, rock music or others
genre music or music that has lyric? And what about only listening to music without studying
at McGill University in Montreal showed that listening to pleasant music happy hormones that
trigger the release of dopamine. The brain is very complex and there a lot of elements that
could help create a feeling happy or unhappy and not surprisingly, the research showed the
release of dopamine, which is associated with feelings of pleasure as listening to music. These
could be concluded that listening to favorite music like pop music, rock music, jazz, country
music, instrumental music, et cetera, without studying music, it may be will help to defuse their
mind or defuse mind from stress, and it can be proved from my interview. I interviewed to those
who listening to music such as Korean music, west music, Indonesian music. Actually almost of
them said that listening to their favorite music can make calm, the depression is lowered, and
happy. These points indicate that not only classical music has an impact in the brain and if only
play an instrument at an early age might occur only in children whose brains previously
It has meaning that not all of children getting impact in their brain because of music. These
points do not give the age of children who getting impact. This is one of paragraph from this
article that does not complete to give information. However, in this article presents sampling of
some researcher have observed in their experiments, such as for preschoolers, college students,
infants, and students, but we do not know yet how many all of their exact age that getting an
To sum up, essentially music has an impact in brain. Many positive impacts that we get from
music, such as reduces stress in children, adults, and old people; calming baby; infants can
distinguish differences in pitch, melody and rhythm from very early on; can make higher score;
or boost scores on standardized tests, et cetera. Music also can not hurt people in some case. I
other hand, I think if people want to get positive impact, it depends on their selves, whether it is
music that they listen is their favorite or not. It is because music that has exact tempo and
References:
http://www.eduguide.org/article/music-education-and-childhood-brain-development
http://www.merdeka.com/sehat/7-manfaat-mengejutkan-dari-mendengarkan-musik.html