Beatz

Today we’ll be talking about rhythm. But I should be more specific. We will be discussing the use of rhythm in a learning environment, and how it can help our brains store a greater amount of information.

Have you ever noticed how learning information through a song allows you to be able to memorize it much faster? Take the ABC song for example; you learn that as a young child, to help you learn the alphabet. The use of rhythm and tone make it something that kids can pick up with ease. The human body and rhythm are one; it’s as natural for humans to tap their foot to a beat or nod their head as it is to breathe; it can all be done without really needing to think about doing it.

In fact, if you want to get technical about it, there is an explanation. In the book “The Mozart Effect,” author David Campbell states that “short-term memory has the capacity to hold about 7 bits of information. But related groups of information are remembered as a single bit, and thus....Information spoken in a rhythmic pattern will easily hold together as a unit,” which I found to be extremely interesting. The faster humans can learn and memorize information, the faster the brain will develop, increasing their intelligence to a level not possible without the incorporation of music in the learning process.

What are some other example of how rhythm has helped you learn something?

Music Therapy Pt. 2

Alas, I received not even one comment on the topic of music therapy. Perhaps the practice is so obscure that no one who views this blog has even heard about it. Imagine that! Anyways, it’s time to move on. Today we’ll be talking about a specific case of the truly marvelous powers of music, and how they’ve helped countless people out.

From a book entitled “Musicophilia,” Oliver Sacks recalls an old woman named Rosalie, who had Parkinson’s disease. “[She] remained transfixed, completely motionless, for most of the day, usually with one finger on her glasses. But she can play the piano beautifully, and for hours - and when she plays her Parkinsonism disappears, and all is ease and fluency and freedom and normality.” I was so blown away when I read this that I had to read it again. Now, here’s a woman, who is not able to do anything but sit, all day; she surely longs for the independence she once had. And then music comes along; good old music, and her world is transformed. She can suddenly do things she couldn't do in years. And of course, once again, as always, this is just further proof that things that are sitting right in front of our ears (or eyes or nose or mouth, depending what we’re talking about) can be something so much greater than ever believed. People, this is why we live. It is our job as humans to find the potential in things that may not be obvious. I mentioned this in the introductory post on this blog, but I wasn’t kidding; we really do have the power to change the future. 

Doesn’t that sound a little bit exciting, if not an absurdly huge statement to make?

Music Therapy

“The music teacher in our school has had more success with ‘one potato, two potato, three potato, four’ than all the psychologists, child psychiatrists, and counselors have had with drug-induced stability,” says the principal of a school in D.C.; Interestingly enough, music has been found to be such a successful method of learning (of those who are willing to try it), there is an entire practice devoted to it: music therapy. 

And its been around longer than you’d expect, too. Starting in the 19th century, music therapy uses the emotional, physical, mental, social, and spiritual aspects of music as an organic way to aid the patient in whatever way necessary. This practice has been used to treat Amnesia, Dementia, Parkinson's, and countless others. 


For a lot of people, using music can really trigger something within someone, that other forms of therapy cannot. Sessions of music therapy may include “improvising, [where] the client makes up his or her own music extemporaneously, singing or playing whatever arises in the moment,” which gives the patient full freedom to truly express themselves; or perhaps composing, where “the therapist helps the client to write songs, lyrics, or instrumental pieces, or to create any kind of musical product.” Whatever it is the patient may be doing, it certainly seems to be working. I feel like a broken record when I say, yet again, that there’s this form of help, that is literally sitting under everyone’s noses, that people just don’t realize, and it frustrates me to no avail.

Has music therapy ever come into your life? Have you ever heard about someone using music therapy to get them through something?

The Young Brain

One of the most common misconceptions about music is that, when placed in the context of a classroom, it leads to distraction and poor academic results;  however, this could not be less true. Over the years, enough tests have been conducted, and enough humans of all ages have been tested for me to be able to say with absolute certainty that in fact, music has more powerful effects than most people realize.

Photo by Jason Jones

Let’s start with the children, shall we? As it is today, infants and toddlers already often benefit from music naturally, through songs that are filled with simple facts that can quickly become imprinted into their brains. One test that was performed on adolescents tested two types of brains - one that actively listening to and playing music consistently, and one that was not. 

Can you guess what the outcome was?

The results were so clear in showing the heightened brain activity and improved memory in the child who's life involved music that it's hard for me to understand why music education isn’t more of a requirement in schools.


If tests like this exist, why don't more people know how effective music is? It’s a crime that the government is taking money from the music departments at schools and cutting time for music class in order to have more academics.


I know everyone is different, so I must ask this question: do you feel that music helps or hurts your learning? This can be listening to background music while working, creating songs to help you learn, ect.

Emotion in Listening

Blivy (not sure who that is, I guess my blog is already so popular that it just attracts everyone) poses an interesting question: when we listen to music, are there certain songs that we strongly react to emotionally? Or do we listen to music just because it sounds good to our ears? Although this question strays slightly from how music helps the brain, it’s still an important thing to look at. 

But first, lets separate it into two separate parts: there is the type of music, or a specific song, that we react strongly to because it reminds us of something; maybe a time in our life that no longer is present, or a person, ect. Then, there are the songs that really just “hit us in the gut”, as Blivy has stated. 

I have songs in both of those categories. For example, every time I hear a specific song, I’ll be reminded of a time during my Freshman year when I would listen to that song all the time. Regarding the other category, let me put it this way: if there were no songs I knew of that evoked certain emotions in me, emotions that I might not feel otherwise, I would not listen to music. Sure, I listen to some songs for fun, without intently focusing on what I'm actually hearing; but then, there are just some songs... that when I listen, I feel the need to stop 

everything 

I’m 

doing

to listen to it, in order to fully appreciate it. There is a song by Phish like that. I’m not sure I’ve ever met someone who has appreciated this song, or at least the second half of the song as much as I do. The first half is composed, and while that part is great, it does not come close to when they start improvising. It’s such a simple chord progression, just a I-V-IV, but there is something about the way they play it that just stirs my soul, so to speak. It makes me feel unexplainably happy; it’s hard to describe.


My loyal followers: What are specific songs that affect you emotionally? Post links to them in the comments!

Welcome

Have you ever wondered why listening to music makes you feel a

certain way? A feeling that you’ve never been able to full describe? A feeling that intrigues the mind, calms the soul, and entices the ears? I'd like to say I know that feeling pretty well. And I would be willing to bet most of the world knows that feeling. In fact, that feeling is the very reason music was not left in the dust hundreds of years ago as just a passing phase; it means something to people. And not only that, but it has been proven to have cognitive effects, and lots of them; but why? And How? Some of the greatest minds of our time have pondered that very question, and while the proof is there in the music itself, in the notes, the vibrations, the frequencies, the way the ear functions, how the brain processes what we hear, ect., there seems to be no true explanation to the powerful influence of music on humans; it has just simply worked.

As a musician and pianist, I feel it is my duty to inform my fellow classmates (as well as whoever else this draws in) on those benefits music provides, often so subtly they go unnoticed. So therefore, this blog will purely be about how music changes how we think, how we act, our moods, how music relates to many mental illnesses, and above all, how music advances the brain to a superior level. This is important stuff, guys. Let me put it this way: if music had been properly implemented into education systems around the world thirty years ago (or at any time, really), humans would be significantly more intelligent today than we are in reality. We have the power to change the future.