Amy Allen, Owner/Instructor
Audiation - Music in the Mind
Children and Music
Homemade Instruments
Teachers and Students Part I
Teachers and Students Part II
Audiation - Music in the Mind
Children and Music
Homemade Instruments
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Audiation - Music in the Mind
Audiation - Music in the MindThis article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.Recently when working with a class of 5-year old children, I put a pattern of music notes on a staff and challenged the students to sing the resulting song. Although they had never heard the song before, they were able to flawlessly perform the pattern of notes. Later I was talking to a colleague about optimum musical learning and I referenced this class. "How are they able to sight sing at such a young age?" she wondered. "Are they an exceptional group of musically gifted children?" This led to a discussion of the process of audiation - the experience of hearing music in our minds even when there is no music present. As an aside, she expressed her doubt that the word appeared in the dictionary. Now it was my turn to wonder, for this term is so prevalent in all the recent music education journals. I have since checked my copy of Webster's and realized she was right ... about the word being in the dictionary that is. Evidently, "audiation" is a buzzword that has come about as a result of the last 15 years of musical education research.So just what does this word mean? It is our musical intelligence at work. It is similar to the way we use our visual intelligence to create images of objects or persons while our eyes are closed. It is also akin to the linguistic intelligence thinking in words or sentences without actually speaking out load. On the whole, it is a multifaceted and complex process, but it is basic to all kinds of music thinking. Without audiation, musical growth is impaired, if not impossible.Each person begins to develop the ability to audiate music with many different types of listening experiences as well as music-making experiences. As stated by Lili M. Levinowitz and Kenneth K. Guilmartin in their publication Music and Your Child, "A constant spiral of exposure through listening followed by experimentation through musical play will create an excellent foundation on which to build a rich musical vocabulary. This will then help the musical thinking process of audiation to be possible."In the past, we as music teachers have approached music learning without implementing this idea of audiation. Instead of starting with the experiences of listening to music and creating our own music, we have shown a page of printed music to a new student and tried to help them interpret the visual symbols to produce the correct sounds associated with those symbols. While this can be successful, it is not the most natural way of learning. In addition, it is certainly not the best way to teach a student who lacks the proper foundation of musical listening and exploration prior to starting formal lessons. Instead, a student should be encouraged at a young age to hear and respond with singing and movement to a piece, and then discern melodic patterns from the piece and copy a performance of them, all the while comparing their attempts at producing music to the model performance. Repeatedly doing this builds audiation skills.Since the research now supports a different type of teaching, music educators are no longer waiting until students are cognitively able to read and interpret the visual symbols of music before starting lessons. Music studios such as the Harmony Road Music School strive to form partnerships between certified early childhood music educators and parents to lay a proper music foundation and fill a home environment with music listening and exploration activities. This partnership can begin as early as infancy since it is never too early to start when the materials and teaching are age and developmentally appropriate. And even if a student is a teenager or adult when beginning music lessons, audiation should be a goal of the experience. All music training should be about helping the student learn more than just how to perform a song. It should be about helping the student hear the song without playing it or singing it.Whether or not the definition of "audiation" appears in the dictionary, the practice of audiation is now a more regular occurrence in my teaching. It is more the norm for a class of 5-year old children to be able to correctly sing or play some written music without ever having heard it. These children have reached a level of musical maturity never before thought possible for this age, save only by children who were considered extremely gifted. I like to think they are gifted. Because they have had listening experiences coupled with experimentation of creating sounds to match the music they heard, and because the visual representation of music was introduced only after that context, they are able to share the gift of music with me, their parents, and friends.
Children and Music
Children & MusicThis article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.Did you notice when your child was a baby, that he would become quiet and listen when a music tape would begin to play, or when you began to sing? Have you ever heard your child singing to a stuffed animal? Does he respond with body movements in steady beat when hearing music? Does she know the order of all the songs on a recording? These are common music behaviors that show a child is well on his way toward achieving two primary musical milestones - learning to sing in tune and to keep a beat. In many cultures outside America, children grow up with active music-making families who are not as tied to the television or frantic with activities, and these children have a natural ability to speak the language of music by ages 3 or 4. They can sing on pitch and feel a steady beat, they can understand music and are able to audiate, that is, think musically. Acquisition of these skills is dependent not so much on innate ability as on proper environmental conditions. Empirical knowledge show us that people are born with varying degrees of music aptitude, but regardless of the level of music aptitude children are born with, they must have favorable early informal and formal environmental experiences with music, or that music aptitude will never fully be realized in achievement. It is clear the earlier informal guidance and formal instruction occur, the higher the level at which a child's aptitude will stabilize. Characteristics of a favorable musical environment include 1) play and movement, 2) an exposure to a variety of both live and recorded music in different styles to help young children develop a musical listening vocabulary, and 3) modeling by teachers andparents.We are so performance oriented in this culture that we think of doing music as singing a whole song or playing a whole piece. But just as with everything else, there are developmental stages involved. Before you can perform the whole piece, you have to learn to speak out, and to understand elemental bits and pieces of the language of music. By a baby's rapt attention and by not crying when music is playing you can know she is aware that music (as opposed to talk) is happening around her. It has been shown that infants are, in fact, so sensitive to music that they change the key in which they are crying or cooing, if you begin to sing to them in a different key. Once they are able to change the pitch and inflection of the sound they are making in response to what they are hearing, a child's total development tends to proceed in the following stages. First, young children are able to chime in on particular notes of the song, such as the final resting tone. Then they imitate their parents as children become capable of singing by themselves, making up their own songs or singing their own versions of familiar songs, approximating the melodic contour of the song. Eventually, they are able to sing whole songs accurately. They are learning to think musically.Parents usually notice the beginnings of rhythm development when their children try to keep some kind of beat. Gradually they learn to keep a consistently steady beat, although not necessarily one that goes with the song! Finally, they are able to coordinate their body movements to the beat in many different songs and can even change tempo as the song changes. Again, a child is learning to think musically.When your child recognizes the order of songs on a recording, it is a sign that he is discerning patterns. Another sign is when your child fills in the beginnings or endings of a song's lyrics. Try leaving out the last word or note of a familiar song to see if your child will fill in the blank. You might also notice your child creating their own words or patterns for a familiar tune. This is a further synthesis stage of musical development that has to do with pattern discernment. A child who learns a second language early will speak easily and with the proper accent. In much the same way, a child who experiences, and then has hands on activities with melody, rhythm, timbre, and all the elements of music will be comfortable with performing and creating music as he or she matures. We would not expect a child to wait to talk until he can read - nor should we want to deprive students of a whole world of musical growth until they can perceive note reading. Parents are encouraged to optimize their children's potential during the accelerated learning years of early childhood by participating in musical activities. We encourage parents to sing, rock, bounce, pat, clap, dance, and play with their children as they listen to and make beautiful music together. Parents can share quality music with their children and can set a good example by supporting their local music organizations and by attending concerts given by those in the community. Support the arts. Seek out developmentally appropriate musical activities and make music part of children's lives from birth. Make music part of life, and reap the rewards as children grow and develop!
Homemade Instruments
Homemade Musical InstrumentsThis article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.Music can be found anywhere and everywhere, and can be as simple as the elemental sounds in nature of the wind whistling through the trees, or as complex as a concerto performed by the Paducah Symphony Orchestra. Music is especially present during the holidays with songs and carols to celebrate the season. Add some homemade instruments to accompany the singing, and the combination will work magic for your children.Making musical instruments out of ordinary materials you may have around your house can be a great way for the kids to fill their time when they are out of school over the Holiday Break. It will help them develop listening skills, creativity, and imagination - and it's much better for them than watching TV. At the Harmony Road Music School, we make instruments as part of our lessons and camps, and our students especially enjoy making the Tom-Tom Drum, the Bell Tambourine, and the Ocean Drum. So, gather the following materials to have on hand this holiday season and start creating!!Tom-Tom Drum (perfect for playing with "The Little Drummer Boy")What you need: coffee can or oatmeal container or other cylindrical container, scissors, 2 large balloons, 2 heavy rubber bands, 2 pencils with eraser tops, construction paper, markers or holiday stickers, glue.What to do: Start with the cylindrical container that has had both ends removed to make a tube with no top or bottom. This is the drum body. Glue construction paper to fit around the tube to cover it. Decorate with markers or stickers, etc. Then, use scissors to trim away the open end of a balloon enough so that you can stretch the balloon over one end of the drum body. The balloon is the drum skin. Hold the balloon in place with a heavy rubber band. Smooth out any puckers to make the skin tight. Repeat process with the other balloon and the other end of the drum.How to play: Use the eraser end of the pencils as drumsticks. You may also use fingertips to stike around the rim or in the center, making different pitches of sounds.Bell Tambourine (perfect for playing with "Jingle Bells")What you need: 2 paper plates, markers or holiday stickers, 6 or 7 jingle bells, stapler, inch wide colorful electrical or masking tape.What to do: Decorate the bottoms of the paper plates with markers or stickers. Turn 1 plate face up and place the jingle bells on the plate. Cover with the second plate face down so that the rims match and the bells are inside. Staple every inch around the rims so the bells cannot fall our. If you'd like, you may use the electrical or masking tape to tape around the outside of the rim to further close any opening.How to play: Shake the tambourine for a bell-like sound. Strike it with the heal of your hand for an additional percussive drum sound.Ocean Drum (great for all kinds of weather songs)What you need: foil pie pan with plastic lid, or other clear plastic food container (the bigger the lid, the better; round containers work best); rice, sand, tiny shells, beans or seeds; colorful electrical or masking tape, paper and paint or markers, glue or tape. What to do: Cut the paper the same size and shape as the bottom of the container. Paint or color a design or picture on the paper and glue or tape it to the outside of the container. You can also attach a picture on the inside of the bottom of the container. How to play: To make the sound of the ocean, slowly tip the container to one side so that the contents "roll" across the bottom of the container to the opposite side. When the contents are on the other side, turn the container so the contents move along the outside edge of the container. You may also use the ocean drum to make other weather sounds. A soft rain can be achieved by tapping fingertips on the plastic top of the drum. Turn the drum over and pound the foil surface with the palm of the hand for a thundering drum sound. Wind sounds are made by rolling the drum as if it were the steering wheel of a car, back and forth or in a 360 degree path. Shaking the drum produces a maraca effect. Rubbing a pencil or wooden spoon along the ridges of the plastic lid turns the drum into a scraper.After making these instruments and exploring the different ways of creating sound, it's time to accompany yourself while singing your favorite songs, both holiday and otherwise. Even long after the holidays, the instruments will continue to be popular with your child. For songs to use all throughout the year, and for other instrument-making ideas, an excellent resource is In All Kinds of Weather, Kids Make Music! written by Lynn Kleiner and published by Warner Brothers Publishing. The idea for making the ocean drum came from this book, and we use it at the Harmony Road School in our "Rhythm and Rhyme" class. To order it online, you can visit www.musicrhapsody.com and go to the Music Rhapsody Store. Be sure to order the parent-child book.Perhaps these activities will start you thinking about other instruments you can invent from common household items. At any rate, the time put into making instruments and exploring their sounds over the holiday break will be time well-spent, providing enjoyment for child and parent alike. Have a wonderful holiday season!!
Teachers and Students Part I
It's a Group Thing - For Teachers AND Students - Part IThis article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.Recently, the Music Teachers National Association Board of Directors developed a list of ten "Essential Skills for Promoting a Lifelong Love of Music and Music Making." This list was not designed as a set of standards for music students, or as a group of suggestions for parents on ways they can facilitate their child's music instruction. Rather, it is a list of skills for music teachers to use in creating curriculum and programs of study. What would you guess would be important for teachers to teach? Music reading? Rhythmic playing? Playing expressively? As you read through these skills, notice they describe musicians who are well-rounded and capable of doing much more than just learning to play pieces. The skills are as follows:Ability to internalize basic rhythms and pulseAbility to read - musical literacyAbility to perform with physical ease and technical efficiencyAbility to see printed music and hear it in the mind before it is played - audiationAbility to work creatively - improvise, compose, harmonize and play by earAbility to understand basic elements of theory, form harmony, etc.Ability to respond to the interpretive elements of the composition to express the emotional character of the musicAbility to conceptualize and transfer musical ideasAbility to work independently and to problem-solveAbility to perform comfortably individually and with others in a variety of settings or ensembles.Wow! That's a tall order, and in today's world with our busy schedules and compacted lesson and practice sessions, we often fall into the trap of thinking that music instruction time can best be used for learning repertoire only. We think we don't have the time for experiences in creating music, whether through improvisation or written compositions; or for arranging our own harmonies to go with favorite folk, hymn or pop melodies; or for learning music theory for the functional purpose of working independently on projects of interest to the student. But these are the very experiences that speak to the creative spirit within all of us. These are the skills that will often keep a music learner motivated to continue learning and making music for life. So much to do and so little time!! What to do??The best way I have found to include all of these skills in my teaching is through a comprehensive, carefully-layered curriculum taught in a group setting. Peer interaction and the dynamics of group learning provide for excellent opportunities to use music functionally - i.e. taking the knowledge of how to read notes and rhythm and expanding upon it to compose a class song or choose chords to harmonize a melody. Creativity is encouraged through group interaction as ideas and concepts are shared, practiced and reinforced. Listening is greatly enhanced through group ensemble playing and group singing activities. Students in groups learn to perform comfortably in front of others because they do it during every lesson. Understanding musical form is strengthened by a group discovery project such as harmonic analysis of a piece that the group is learning to play. The ability to conceptualize and transfer musical ideas from one activity to another is also stimulated by peers working together. Learning to read music and internalize rhythm and pulse are skills as easily taught in groups as in private settings, and the group setting gives additional opportunities to use games and activities to reinforce note-reading and rhythm concepts. These are just a few examples of the way group instruction is an ideal avenue for teaching. There are many more.As a teacher who has had experience both in private teaching and in group instruction, I believe the group setting is truly the best way to provide all-around musicianship skills development such as the ones listed above as "essential for promoting a lifelong love of music and music making." And not only is it an excellent way for me as a teacher to be able to teach these skills more thoroughly and completely, it is also a wonderful setting for thestudents who find it inspiring and motivating - just plain FUN.1"Essential Skills for Promoting a Lifelong Love of Music and Music Making," by Dorothy Payne. American Music Teacher, Volume 43, #4, p. 26.** For a more detailed discussion of audiation, read the article in this website entitiled, "Audiation - Music in the Mind."
Teachers and Students Part II
It's a Group Thing - For Teachers AND Students - Part IIThis article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.The advantages of group instruction are numerous and the bottom line to many of the benefits is motivation. Group dynamics and peer interaction form the basis for that motivation, as students and parents learn together through exploration and experience - "hands-on" learning. When a group of students shares the excitement of exploring a new concept, and the students are further encouraged to be creative with that concept, the resulting camaraderie will keep the students coming back for more. This can also be seen in many non-musical settings. Whether child or adult, people enjoy opportunities to learn from one another, share ideas, discuss and ask questions, and offer opinions. When this happens in a musical way in the group lesson, the students feel ownership in the class, and they love their lessons.Other types of peer interaction keep motivation high as well. Learning new skills can be work, and it is just more fun to work when others are working too. The "work" feels more like "play." Children especially want to be able to do things the first time they try, and frustration can hamper efforts when it doesn't happen easily. The frustration is diffused when children are encouraging one another while sharing ideas and strategies for mastery. What could be more motivating then having a peer applaud your efforts, much less your accomplishments? This authentic support system of students and parents is enormously motivating. A by-product of the class bonding is that students keep practicing and working at home so they don't get behind their classmates! Teachers AND parents can appreciate that type of motivation.Another benefit for students is that they develop a better ear for music. It is very easy in a private lesson setting to emphasize technical work and notation at the expense of ear training. This inhibits the growth of a student's musicianship and creativity. In terms of brain usage, technical skills and note reading are based largely in the left hemisphere. The musical right brain is inadequately utilized and students often do not learn to listen properly to themselves. Once these students learn to rely on notation for their music, it becomes increasingly difficult to explore musical avenues that do not have a notational basis - those avenues, for example, that start with the ear or depend heavenly upon a trained ear. These include those all-around musicianship skills such as improvising, composing, harmonizing, transposing, accompanying, and, of course, playing by ear. The student who learns in a group gains more well-rounded and functional skills in addition to an excellent ear.Not only do students develop good ears, but they also develop good listening skills and independent learning skills. In group lessons, students have to listen so they can sing, match pitch, and/or play together. In that way, listening aids students in developing both a rhythmic and melodic security and accuracy. In ensemble playing, when each student plays a different part, they must listen to hear their own part, and yet also listen to stay together and to blend. They can also be asked to listen to one another play individually and offer constructive comments - a critical listening skill that promotes the types of analysis and problem-solving that are required for independent learning to take place.Because the group approach is conducive to learning so much more than just how to play pieces or read music, the students gain confidence in their range and adaptability of abilities. Additionally, students are comfortable demonstrating those abilities and have the confidence to play for others. After all, they play in front of classmates every week! Although there are occasionally reasons for private instrument instruction, there are ALWAYS reasons for group instruction. Students are motivated due to group dynamics and peer interaction. They learn more - including functional musicianship skills. Students develop better ears and keener listening skills, as well as abilities to problem-solve and analyze, making them more capable of learning independently. Students are confidentand comfortable playing for others.It is a group thing - and a good thing...for both teachers AND students!
Movement as Readiness for Music
Movement as Readiness for MusicThis article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.Years ago, as a college graduate with a degree in music education, I began a private piano studio with about 20 students. Within the first year, I began to notice that not all beginning music students were alike. It's not that I expected that they would be, for we are all individuals with our own separate personalities and learning styles. But the differences in students really didn't have as much to do with the students' personalities, intelligence, or their amount of practice time --- and that's where I was surprised. The differences in the capabilities of my students to learn music had more to do with their rhythmic readiness for piano lessons.The students who could more easily and readily learn to play were the ones for whom music flowed. They performed with a seemingly innate understanding of rhythm and a sense of the steady beat in music. Where did this come from? Upon further investigation, I realized these students grew up in families that loved music and shared that love through movement. For some, it had been a parent that danced with them, and for others, it was a parent who put on a cassette and played along with pots and pans. At any rate, this realization that the ability to rhythmically play begins many years before the start of formal lessons "put me on a mission" to explore teaching preschool music classes. If I wanted all my students to be successful, they would all need to have readiness.Rhythm is one of two main aspects of music, the other being pitch or melody. The actual act of producing a rhythm requires movement. Since children learn best by doing, they must be moving to music at an early age to lay the groundwork for understanding rhythm. Research from The Center for Music and Young Children has explored the idea of movement as a "vital developmental tool for children."1 To paraphrase an article in their parent newsletter, it would be very unnatural for an infant to sit quietly and still, never moving his legs, turning his head, or reaching with his tiny fingers. These movements are part of the process by which a child learns to coordinate his mind and body. By moving, an infant is stimulating both his muscles and the connection of neural pathways in his brain. When music is added to this mix, and a child experiences the movement in response to the music rhythms, there is an exchange of information between the body, mind, and emotions. In other words, the act of moving provides the experiences a child needs for rhythm learning, and this movement becomes imprinted in his muscles and neural pathways. A greater capacity for understanding and loving music is being created"1.So what should parents of preschoolers be doing? Sing to your infant and gently move his arms or legs to the steady beat. Turn on your radio and dance with him. "On a very unconscious, brain-wiring level, he will associate this tactile stimulation with the music he's hearing. Similarly, with a toddler who's experimenting with an egg shaker or a drum, just patting the steady rhythm on her back can help her internalize the beat and organize it in her body. Then, as she grows, you may see her own movements become more steady and rhythmic in response to this tapping."1 Take a music class with your child. When you become involved just like your child in a class filled with movement and song, you become the best model he can have. In addition, a class will equip you with the materials, ideas, and tools for moving and singing on a daily basis at home, and that's what readiness is all about. In later stages of rhythmic development, your child may begin to move less. He is beginning to "replace concrete doing with imagined activity and abstract thought."1 Older children are able to "audiate, that is, to hear and understand music in their mind when it is not physically present."1 At this stage, a child is ready to respond with accuracy to a steady beat of music, and to correctly perform a rhythm pattern. He is more than ready for piano lessons!!My "mission" to explore preschool music classes for prospective piano students has been a growing process, resulting in the opening of the Harmony Road Music School. The aim to provide rhythmic readiness activities for preschoolers has broadened to include tonal readiness as well. It has also broadened to encompass teaching piano to groups of students, including age-appropriate movement and tonal readiness activities in the curriculum that fits naturally with a group teaching approach. You would never expect a child to talk who has not heard language or experienced it through babbling. The babbling stage in learning the language of music should include experiences with movement, responding both to rhythm and to pitch. This is readiness, and readiness will ensure success.1(All quotes are from articles or letters written by Susan Pujdak Hoffman and Kenneth Guilmartin in "Play Along," a family newsletter from Music Together and The Center for Music and Young Children. Many thanks for their information and inspiration.)
Summer plus Music equals Fun
Summer + Music = FunThis article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.Brace yourself, parents!! Summer is right around the corner and along with it comes the question, "What can I do now?" Well, maybe not in the first week, but it truly doesn't take long for children to become bored - especially those who have been accustomed to daily structure and activity. Yet, we don't want to get so scheduled and busy that summer vacation feels like work! Summer provides a very necessary time for renewal and relaxation. Is there a way to balance the need for "down time" with the need to keep both the body and mind engaged and stimulated?The answer is YES . . . with music!!Music is good for the mind. Recent brain research indicates that music training can enhance a child's abstract reasoning skills (the ones needed for learning math and science). In addition, listening to music engages both hemispheres of the brain, as opposed to the way many other disciplines engage one side or the other. One of the most telling statistics about intelligence and music resulted from research conducted on college students taking an IQ test. Those who listened to music by Mozart before taking the test scored 8 or 9 points higher than those who listened to a tape of relaxation instructions or those who sat in silence. There's no doubt about it - music does make you smarter. And in the absence or formal academic training over the summer months, it keeps the brain engaged. Music is good for the body too. Movement and dance are natural responses to the musical experience, and summer music camps or classes provide the perfect opportunities to incorporate movement. Children just naturally feel more free to explore movement during the summer months because its "time to play!"Music activities allow for "down time" as well. Music is a great outlet for creative expression and improvisation. What could be more fun for a 4 or 5 year old than exploring the musical story of "Peter and the Wolf" or pretending to be bumblebees while listening to classical music that portrays the moods of the color yellow? Ever notice how background music adds to storytelling? Just try watching a suspenseful movie scene with the volume muted. It's just not the same without the sound effects created by auxiliary percussion and melodies. Children are fascinated with producing sounds on drums, ratchets, thunder tubes, and other pitched percussion. A summer percussion camp can provide a great fit for learning new skills while enjoying the creativity involved in accompanying a story with sound. Percussion activities for older advanced students could combine improvisation on various instruments with reading rhythms and ensemble experiences. Again, music fits the need to "play" with the need to keep the intellect active.Summer months are ideal too, for learning a new instrument. Finding time to practice can be difficult during the hectic schedule of the school year, and summer affords opportunities for success and mastery of skills simply because there is less stress. And last but not least, summer is the best time for attending outdoor concerts with your family. Paducah plays host to many performing groups, from the evening concerts during the Summer Festival to the Paducah Symphony Pops Concert, to the various artists who entertain on Saturday evenings in the "Downtown After Dinner" programs.So, if you find yourself asking, "Are we having fun yet?" don't forget to put music into the equation, because. . . .Summer + Music = FUN!!
What DOES The Research Say
What DOES the Research Say?This article was written for Paducah Parenting magazine.No matter how many times I see the research, I continue to be amazed at the results when scientists measure the effects of music on children. Time and time again, the conclusions are compelling for the idea that music is not just a nice thing for our children, but an essential ingredient of their education and development.Consider the following:At the University of Munster in Germany, scientists discovered the portions of the brain used to analyze pitch were 25% larger in children who took music lessons than in those who had never played an instrument.A 2-year study with preschoolers led by behavioral psychologist, Frances Rauscher, and physicist, Dr. Gordon Shaw, compared the effects of certain types of instruction and activities on intellectual development. Four groups of students were given either piano/keyboard lessons, singing lessons, private computer lessons, or free-play time for 20 minutes, 5 days a week. At the end of 6 months, the children were given tests to measure spatial-temporal ability. Those children who received the piano/keyboard training performed 34% higher than the other children.In another study, students with music training scored an average of 52 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT and 36 points higher on the math portions of the SAT than students with no musical experiences.EEG studies have demonstrated that the same brain regions activated by music are also used when performing spatial-temporal tasks, such as solving puzzles. A research team studying first-graders from two Rhode Island elementary schools found that the students who participated in a regular and structured music learning program exhibited dramatic increases in reading and math.In the March 1999 issue of Neurological Research, a study showed that a group of second and third-graders who learned eighth, quarter, half and whole notes, scored 100% higher than peers who were taught fractions using traditional methods.Again, Dr. Gordon Shaw conducted research with 2nd grade children who were given 4 months of piano keyboard training, as well as time playing with specially-designed learning software. Those given the training scored 27% higher on proportional math and fraction tests than children who had not received training. Dr. Shaw said of the results, "Piano instruction is thought to enhance the brain's 'hard-wiring' for spatial-temporal reasoning, or the ability to visualize ratios, fractions, proportions and thinking in space and time."Why these results? Neuroscience shows us that our early experiences, notably those from birth to age 6 determine which brain cells (neurons) will connect with other brain cells and which ones will become inactive. The more neural connections that are generated, the more learning that takes place, and the more capacity for intelligence built in the brain. The experiences with music build connections of brain cells in a way that few other disciplines will. It has been theorized that this is because it is so perfectly organized mathematically. The rhythms in music are mathematical---the meter in music is mathematical---even the frequencies of the vibrations of musical octaves are mathematically related.When looking further at the research, piano/keyboard training is often a factor for the students who outperform others. Perhaps the piano students in Drs. Rauscher and Shaw's study outperformed even the singers, because the music. . . . a set of mathematically ordered neurological information, was experienced by the largest number of senses. The seeing, hearing, and tactile-kinesthetic senses are all involved, not to mention the emotional sense - all being processed and coordinated simultaneously by the brain!!Yes, music has the power to bridge into the mind like nothing else. It is the only thing that provides multi-sensory information at the same time with the same set of perfectly-ordered (mathematical) information. By not providing musical experiences for your child, you are missing out on one of the greatest possible gifts you can give your child - a well-developed, organized neural network brought about by continuous exposure to, and participation in music. Music is not just a nice thing to do for our children. It is essential!
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