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Cameron Tenn
Per. 2
Mr. White
12 AP English Language and Composition
October 30, 2015

Music and Its Effects on the Way That People Think and Learn, and How My Senior
Project Can Help

Introduction
For My Senior Project I will be putting together a rendition of Sergei Prokofievs
Peter and the Wolf using Santa Susana High Schools very own Concert Orchestra, and
various actors from around the community. My Intention is to conduct the orchestra once I
have rehearsed them from the beginning of the year to the concert in November, while I
have actors and dancers portraying the story of the show in front of the musicians. It will
also be my duty to direct and choreograph the actors and dancers movements, while
producing both the Acting and musical side as well as the Technical aspects. This will be
especially difficult for me, considering I will need to be able to organize almost 30 people
to rehearse and practice the music and blocking (a term used for stage direction. ) My
leading of such a project will greatly help me learn more about music and musical theory,
as well as the industry that I wish to make a living in in the future. I will learn how to
conduct an orchestra, and how to lead orchestral rehearsals, while also training my ears to
hear minutia that can topple performances. If i plan to certify in instrumental music, then I
might as well attempt to be one of the best musicians on campus, and with the help of Dr.
Kuby, I think I will have no issue learning.

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Background
I first heard Peter and the Wolf when my parents had brought me to a performance
back when I was around 3. I was apparently so moved by the music that I got up and
started dancing in the aisle ways. I ran up to the front of the theatre, and before my parents
were able to stop me, a bunch of other toddlers came and started dancing too. My parents
soon after purchased me the soundtrack, and I forgot about it for a long while.
At my old school we had Ipod Days where we were allowed to have an Ipod to
listen to music fro at recess and lunch. When I got my first Ipod, my mom helped me load
it up with music. I remember being at my own lunch table listening to music while
everyone else had fun with their friends,and suddenly the music came on. I listened to that
story over and over and over, and it let me forget how sad I was feeling that day. To this
day, this piece of music bring me to a happy place, where I am free to just enjoy myself and
follow peter out into the meadow, and play in the pond.
Ive played music since I was a little toddler, banging away on things and singing as
much as I could. when I entered the 3rd grade I picked up a flute and went to town on it. I
switched my Instrument many times throughout my short life, and on each and every one
of them one of the goals I had was to play Peter and the Wolf on my new instrument. It has
been a driving force in my life, and If I can help someone else to get through their troubles,
or to just enjoy himself for a night, I will be glad.

Research
As the brain develops, it begins to create neural pathways, and learn of its
surroundings(Mattar). Playing music to young children will help them learn to recognize

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patterns in the world around them. The reliable pattern of Chorus verse chorus verse
chorus, that you find in most music helps the child learn to recognize the patterns in
the world around them. The type of music can also affect children. Atonal music, or
music that does not follow basic scale structures and key signatures, can make a child
agitated and rowdy, while Melodic music will calm a child and help them relax, and
teaches children that you can enjoy yourself without running around (Rieber).
We use music in all aspects when children are young. We use it to teach them the
colours, the days of the week, and their multiplication tables. Why do we use music in this
way? Because it helps kids remember the concepts, I still remember the music that they
played for us when we learned how to diagram a sentence! Young infants will remember
songs and try to sing them. said Andrea Felix, a babysitter at a local care taking company.
you can just hear the little ones singing their favourite songs trying to make the right
sounds, and eventually singing. Andrea concludes that children that have been played
music at a young age, tend to learn how to speak earlier than other children, and learn
faster later in life.
The Mozart Effect is the Idea that music will make you smarter (Taylor). Many
studies have been conducted attempting to find the miracle to make everyone smarter.
Even though it has been common knowledge that children should listen to music while
they grow up, The Journal of The Royal Society of Medicine found that spatial IQ scores
higher after listening to music that is to say that people were more aware of how things
function in three dimensional space. In layman's terms, coordination. It was discovered by
music researcher Don Campbell, and was majorly used as a rhetorical device. and not to
be confused with the Tomatis Effect helped people fight depression, dyslexia, and even
autism. Alfred A. Tomatis discovered the effect in an Audio-Psycho-Phonology test in the

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1980s. The effects of music on adult patients has been proven, but more research needs to
be done to fully understand how the children will react to it.
Does music make you smarter? The answer is a qualified yes. Music listening and
music lessons can lead to short-term and long-term cognitive benefits, Says E. Glenn
Schellberg, of the University of Toronto. The mechanisms driving the intellectual benefits
of music lessons remain more obscure. Similar benefits could be derived from other outof-school activities that are similarly school-like. He continues. What he means to say is
that it is not so much the actual learning to play music that has the overall positive effect
that we believe it does, but it is the participation in an afterschool activity.
However, music lessons might be special because:
(a) they are an activity that children enjoy,
(b) music lessons train multiple skills,
(c) music improves abstract reasoning and problem solving
(d) Learning music is similar to learning a second language
All this said, music is not a magic solution to all our problems many of the effects are
not lasting, and those that are come from many repeated cycles of doing said activity, not
only being music. The simplest take-home message is that extracurricular activities
benefit child development (Schellberg).
Most music teachers will recommend that you enrol your child into a music program
as early as possible. and to most people that may sound like a sales pitch, however there is
many years of experience that prove it. Many people learn to play instruments on their own
as they grow up. however younger children have a piano tutor, or a trumpet teacher, or
picked it up in their school. When you learn to play instruments, you are forced to practice
your fine motor functions, and prosses complex patterns while also keeping an internal clock
that is rigid and fluid at the same time. Learning to play music will help you in your

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literature and mathematics courses, as well as learning rhythm, and creativity. The constantly
changing Tempo of music and your task to keep up with it causes you to learn Addition,
subtraction, division, and multiplication.
The countless hours spent on practicing and honing your skill has proven to be a good
Discipline exercise. Children that have learned the piano at a young age show discipline
equal to that of a black belt in karate. Musical children have also become very patient,
having learned that perfection does not come instantly,a hard lesson to learn for children.
They learn to be patient and practice and practice, which can be difficult for most children.

Application
Understanding and having lived through the benefits of music as one grows, has
motivated me to make Peter and the Wolf the very best that It can be. It has helped me to
make the show as child friendly as I can. All of this research has confirmed my beliefs that
Peter and the Wolf can be a very helpful event to those of all ages. It has helped me devise
ideas that could help me learn how exactly I could help use the music to challenge the
audience to learn and expand their worldview if only for a little bit, and not just passively
sit around and enjoy the music. Realizing that most children need a visual as well as an
auditory stimulus, I decided to have actors, which was a rather large undertaking. I will
also work with another student to ensure that we can see the instruments, and that the
lighting and sound is most professional. But moreover all this research has helped me
believe that I am doing good works, teaching people the beauty of music in a family
friendly way. I can make people happier through music.
All people are different, and the effect was only recently discovered. Due to this lack
of time we have little long term studies of the effects of Music on the brain and how it
works, separately from whatever else we do as a person. All that can be said is that people

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who can play music or has learned it tend to be better at math and can read faster. If you
want to get a headstart on your learning experience you should come see Peter and the
Wolf, It showcases the instruments and was made to teach the orchestra to people and
children. So its not just an academic event, Its a family event.

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Sources

Rauscher, Frances H. "Can Music Instruction Affect Children's Cognitive Development?

ERIC Digest. " (2003).

Taylor, Judy M. , and Beverly J. Rowe. "The Mozart Effect and the Mathematical
Connection. " Journal of College Reading and Learning 42. 2 (2012): 51-66. ERIC.
Web. 11 Sept. 15.

Rieber, Morton. "The Effect of Music on the Activity Level of Children. "Psychonomic
Science (n. d. ): n. pag. Web.

Telesco, Paula J. Music and Early Literacy. ERIC. Public Policy, 2010. Web. 11 Sept.
2015.

Taylor, Judy M. , and Beverly J. Rowe. "The Mozart Effect and the Mathematical
Connection. " Journal of College Reading and Learning 42. 2 (2012): 51-66. ERIC.
Web. 11 Sept. 15.

Schellenberg, E. Glenn. "Music And Cognitive Abilities. " Current Directions In

Psychological Science (Wiley-Blackwell) 14. 6 (2005): 317-320. Psychology and
Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

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MATTAR, JEHAN. "The Effect Of Mozart's Music On Child Development In A Jordanian

Kindergarten. " Education 133. 3 (2013): 370-377. Psychology and Behavioral
Sciences Collection. Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

Roden, IngoKnen, Tanja Bongard, Stephan Frankenberg, Emily Friedrich, Esther Kamala
Kreutz, Gunter. "Effects Of Music Training On Attention, Processing Speed And
Cognitive Music Abilities-Findings From A Longitudinal Study. " Applied Cognitive
Psychology 28. 4 (2014): 545-557. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection.
Web. 16 Sept. 2015.

Pedersen, Nancy L. , Maison M. Balbag, and Margaret Gatz. "Playing a Musical

Instrument as a Protective Factor against Dementia Cognitive Impairment: A
Population Based Twin Study. " International Journal of Alzheimer's Disease (2014):
n. pag. Onebook. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.

Singer, Miriam J. "Accessing the Musical Intelligence in Early Childhood Education. "
Australian Journal of Early Children (2008): n. pag. Web. 14 Sept. 2015.