In recent years many studies have been conducted on the effects of classical music on learning. The results of these studies include increased I.Q.'s, enhanced spatial reasoning, and accelerated learning.
"The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift." -Albert Einstein (photo is of Einstein playing the violin)
Recently research studies have shown the effects of classical music on learning. The results of these studies are interesting and varied: increased I.Q.'s, accelerated learning, greater retention of material learned, lowered blood pressure and heart beat, and so forth.
Researchers have discovered that the corpus callosum, a band of white fibers connecting the right and left halves of the cerebrum, increases in size when humans are exposed to quiet, classical music. This increase in size increases the communication between the two hemispheres of the brain which, in turn, increases learning efficiency.
We can find real specific descriptions of what this means to children, how it affects their learning of very specific subjects. Music lessons and listening to music can enhance spatial reasoning. What exactly is spatial reasoning? It's what we use in order to see the visual world accurately, to form mental images of physical objects, and to recognize variations in objects.
These are the abilities children normally develop that take them beyond "out of sight, out of mind". Anyone with a toddler knows what this means. The toddler picks up a pair of scissors, then puts them down and turns away for mere seconds. A parent can pick them up quickly and put them out of sight; the child immediately forgets they ever existed. There is no ability to imagine or remember the scissors, the child cannot see anything that is not in view in the moment.
These spatial reasoning abilities are crucial for higher brain functions such as music, complex mathematics, chess, and progress in science, since much of music, math, chess and scientific exploration involves theory and cause/effect relationships.
An interesting side-note: one research team fount that music training - specifically piano instruction - is far superior to computer instruction in enhancing children's abstract reasoning skills necessary for learning math and science.
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