We, parents do everything we can to make our children prosper in life. We want them to be smart so we play with them from birth, we pay extra tutorials for them, we do our best to get them to a top-grade college or university. However, there is a very pleasant and free way to develop our children and this is nothing more than listening to classical music! Or is there…?
Not every child will grow into a musician, but every child has the ability to benefit from listening to classical music! There are numerous researchers constantly proving that there are important and significant benefits for a child, who is exposed to classical music. Some would argue that there are benefits, but most of them has nothing to do with music, rather with brain stimulation.
What happens in our brain when we listen to classical music?
Medical brain scans show the different parts of our brain light up when we listen to music. There are many areas in the brain being stimulated, at once. It is a very fast and complicated process, the brain has to analyze what is going on and translate it into emotions. Then, distributing the experience throughout the body, with the help of the nervous system and with the help of biochemicals in the bloodstream. We start to mirror the mood of the music, our body starts to move according to the rhythm, etc.
If you are a musician or you learn to play an instrument your brain is even more active. In fact in case of playing an instrument both parts of the brain, both left and right sides are very active simultaneously. Visualization, the auditory senses and the fine motor nerves are all involved. In respect of practicing, the brain is very similar to body muscles: the more we practice the stronger it will become.
What happens to your soul and body when you listen to classical music?
There are numerous benefits for the body in listening to classical music. First of all all it relaxes the body and as a result the blood pressure drops, our stress levels will also decline. In such a relaxed mood we are able to sleep longer and in better quality.
There are benefits for the soul, too! First of all listening to classical music is a wonderful experience in itself! When we flow with the music we experience feelings of all kinds. It is a special impression since we do not see the action, we cannot touch it or smell anything, we only hear it. It is an extraordinary situation for the brain to translate music into feelings. Listening to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and experiencing the sadness it reflects, then listening to Beethoven’s 8th Symphony and it’s overflowing joy, is a serious exercise for our soul! Music helps us to to be more flexible emotionally!
What is Mozart-effect?
In a nutshell the Mozart-effect suggests that listening to classical music makes you smarter. Taking a closer look will reveal a more complicated picture. A set of research found that listening to the music of Mozart (or classical music in general) conditions the brain and our body to perform better in mental tasks. It is not only achieved by the stimulation of the brain, but also the relaxing effect it has on the body. In a relaxed mood humans tend to perform better.
What will music teach our children about dedication and hard work?
In music it is not easy to play the right way to reach perfection. There are instruments that are more difficult to play than others, but what is common in all is that you have to practice to move forward. During this process you will make mistakes, many mistakes, but in order to succeed you will have to go back and try again. So, throughout this process the children will not only learn to play an instrument, which is wonderful in itself, but also learn how to fight for and reach success. All these are very important in other areas of life such as studies, personal relationship or work.
Are there benefits for babies in listening to classical music?
Interesting fact that many infants will show preference to the kind of music they were exposed to in the womb. Mothers are encouraged to listen to classical music during pregnancy as it is believed to help developing the brain. Other studies show that music has positive effect on perceptual skills (language and literary abilities), spatial activities (needed for math) and fine motor coordination. Music also has direct influence on emotions and motivation.
Music therapy is very well known in hospitals for treating both emotional and psychical trauma.
Does classical music increase intelligence, will music make kids smarter?
Yes it does, but not in a miraculous way! Research shows that those children who were exposed to classical music will perform better in tests in the following hours. The effect seems to drop as time passes. Scientists agree that it is down to the fact that the brain is stimulated by the music and as such prepares it for action. Just as a warm-up practice for an athlete.
In this respect it is the brain stimulation that triggers a better cognitive performance and classical music happens to be a perfect and complex stimulation for the human brain!
Finally a personal note. Sometimes it is good to do things just for the fun without expecting any profit from it! Listening to classical music is a reward in itself!
A closing quote we probably can accept as general truth:
“All highly intelligent people are not necessarily musicians, but all highly musical people are intelligent.”
