Abigail Martin

Mr. Mills
English IV Honors
October 14, 2016
The Mozart Effect
Music is everywhere. It is the sound of someone jingling their keys, or the sound
of a subway passing underneath your feet. Its there, even if you dont realize it. Music
encapsulates your life. Everyday, your brain is growing, expanding, because of music. It
is healing, re-building your brain to form a better version of itself.
Music has been noted to have a sizable impact on an individuals brain when one
partakes in the activities of singing, listening to music, or playing an instrument. Music is
turned to when one wishes to pass time, alleviate boredom, relieve tension, or distract
themselves from worries. Music is an art, a pleasure, and a medicine to the soul and
body. Music has been scientifically proven to enhance the learning abilities of the brain,
avail the mentally deficient, and augment ingenious productions. It is intrinsic to all
cultures and has surprising benefits not only for learning language, improving memory
and focusing attention, but also for physical coordination and development.
Since the beginning of time, humanity has acknowledged and respected the
uplifting effects of music. It has been found that individuals trained in music, or exposed
to music at an early age, have a significantly improved learning ability, memory, and
intelligence. Individuals who lack musical training, when compared to those with those
who have been exposed to musical lessons, have increased difficulty in learning to

consolidate sequences of sound for a newly acquired language. Even minimal musical
training can result in larger attention spans as well as an intensified memory capacity.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He was a musician who started to learn a number of
instruments at the age of six. He grew to be a legendary composer and pianist. Mozart
was knew by all, and his music is still, to this day, remembered and praised for its good
quality. An enhancement of spatial-temporal reasoning performance after listening to
Mozart's music for 10 minutes has been reported by several, but not all, researchers.
Even in the studies with positive results the enhancement is small and lasts about 12
minutes. The effect varies between individuals and depends upon the spatial tasks
chosen; general intelligence is not affected. Rather more impressively, there is a
beneficial effect on some patients with epilepsy. The results are not specific to Mozart's
compositions but the exact musical criteria required have not been completely defined.
Not only does music have an affect on the brain, but it has an effect on the heart
as well. Playing the piano has been found to exercise the heart, which provides training
within the body through the physical exertion necessary to complete the action.
Whenever lively music reaches the ear, the rate of ones heart increases. Vise versa,
when you listen to slow music, ones heart rate tends to slow. Listening to music can
boost the immune function. It can also reduce the levels of stress related hormones
cortisol.
Music lyrics tell stories. Stories about love, heartbreak, death. It gives advice and
guidelines for what people should do when something happens. Music has been
implemented as a mood regulator, and over time has repeatedly been a method to
provide support to those who experience emotions that are sorrowful or lonely. Music

has been repeatedly used as a form of therapy and is diverse in many ways. It can act
as a soothing mechanism, or can otherwise be seen as a distraction. Exposure to music
can be both highly emotional as well as rewarding. Thorough research reflects
beneficial effects on cognitive functions, such as memory and attention, as one listens
to music in the background while performing other differential tasks. This is due to the
increase of one's arousal and mood during the musical engagement. Classical music is
best associated with studious behaviors. However, listening to any type of music, in
most cases, will allow your brain to process information better. In adolescence, the
concept of music is greatly associated with the augmentation of self-identity. Between
the ages of 13 and 18 years, individuals tend to listen to a large variety of music, in an
act to discover their inner selves.
Musical lessons have been noted to have a positive effect on cognitive function
and intelligence, due to the individual's active engagement. As one listens to music, the
auditory areas of the brain, as well as the brain's neural networks are largely affected.
Observation of musical rhythm, displays close correlation between music and
movement. The combination of seeing and hearing music, exercises the motor areas of
the human brain. Although the precise location as to where in the brain music is
specifically processed and interpreted from an anatomical standpoint is unknown, it is
obvious that music has an effect on an individual in both a physical and psychological
aspect.Physical relaxation, as well as the relief of physical tension, can be a result of
participation in a musical group, as well as emotional release and reduction of stress.
Participation in a musical group has reportedly shown improvements in breathing
techniques, lung function, stress reduction, and mood improvement. Research has

established an increased sense of arousal and energy when one is exposed to music.
Stimulation of cognitive capacities such as concentration, memory, learning, and
attention have also been known to increase.
Musical training has been known to contribute to adequate health, quality of life,
and mental well-being as well as increase social competencies. Differential studies have
shown other physical benefits of engaging with music. Self esteem has been noted to
increase with exposure to music and a therapeutic benefit arises in reference to one's
various social and psychological problems Performance of one with a group boosts
coordination as well as boosting interpersonal relationships. Active group performance
builds on ones ability to cooperate, as it forces each member to behave as one to
produce a pleasant sounding result. Communication skill may also be acquired or
improved as one participates in such performance. Involvement of a student in
extracurricular performance and rehearsal has been found to expedite the progression
of friendship, as well as assisting ones social contribution by establishing awareness to
those who are not participating of the show or concert. Despite the time commitment
which surely impinged on other arrangements, attendance in such activities boosted
participants sense of belonging as well as self confidence.
A number of studies suggest that musical training has benefits for various
cognitive domains, such as language and mathematics. Elena Mannes, author of The
Power of the Brain, stated, The relationship between music and language and the
potential of using music to help people is immense. (Personal Communication, October
13th, 2016). Music is connected to many areas of mathematics. Rhythm, pitch, and
dynamics, are all elements that are related to

various arithmetical

operations,

trigonometry, and geometry have been employed in musical compositions by a number

of composers. Mathematical concepts are present in melody and rhythm as musical
notation includes concepts of time.
Music making has been shown to contribute to adequate health, quality of life,
and mental well-being. Differential studies have shown other physical benefits of
engaging with music. Self esteem has been noted to increase with exposure to music
and a therapeutic benefit arises in reference to one's various social and psychological
problems. Music not only triggers a physical response within the brain, but also affects
an individuals emotion tremendously. On the table below, the results of an independent
research study on the benefits of music education in Nashville display metropolitan
students engaged in music programs in comparison to those without musical training.
Even those with a year or less experience in musical programs seem to outperform their
peers on every indicator including grade point average, graduation rate, ACT scores,
attendance and discipline.

Statistical Analysis of Musical Training

Musical Training

No
Music

Less Than One

Year

More Than One

Year

Number of Seniors 2012

3897

1169

940

Music Participation Level

65%

20%

16%

Attendance Rate (4 Year Average)

87%

91%

93%

Discipline Reports (4 Year Average)

4.34

3.75

3.23

Grade Point Average

2.51

2.61

2.89

Graduation Rate

60%

81%

91%

ACT English Score (Average, 36

Point Scale)

16.95

17.64

19.58

ACT Math Score (Average, 36 Point

Scale)

17.2

17.62

18.67

Listening and playing music makes you more susceptible to learning. In fact, the
graduation rate is higher among those who had studied music. In addition to the above
findings, students who participated in music programs reported more positive attitudes
and behaviors towards social and academic circumstances. Participants developed
positive academic habits and a strong sense of identity. Students were able to apply
musical skills to other academic courses, and reportedly became more motivated in
school. The overall conclusion of this study was that music produces positive effects
and the students essentially became happier because of music.
Individuals with learning deficiencies and mental incapacities have proven to be
greatly impacted by the exposure to music as well. Differential mental disorders prove to
have varying results in reference to the impact of music. Autistic individuals are widely
known to become quite talented musicians, despite having other mental deficits.
Pervasive research exposed the fact that focusing on sounds and music at differing
frequency levels facilitates people with mental disorders. Those with Alzheimers
disease, as well as varying types of dementias, may also be affected when they are
exposed to music. It has been conceived that hearing a familiar song could often cause
one to recoup focus, recall lost memories, or induce states of mind that would not
otherwise be experienced. Exposure to music has been proven to have a remarkable
impact on those suffering from various mental and learning disorders.

Music is intensely evocative within humans, depending on the tempo and volume
of the music. Seventeenth century poet, William Congreve alluded to its powers by
verbally expressing, "Music has charms to soothe a savage breast." Sound is the very
quintessence of creation. As such proliferation teems with energy and life; it vibrates on
a spectrum of frequencies to generate a harmonic symphony of sound. Through these
frequencies, music is created. Music has been scientifically proven to enhance the
learning abilities of the brain, avail the mentally deficient, and augment ingenious
productions. Studies reflect proof of both functional and structural distinctions between
the brains of musicians and nonmusicians. It has been revealed that music has the
capability to amend the human brains learning ability, aide the mentally challenged, and
increase an individuals ingenuity. No matter if the piece of music is recognized or not, it
can still potentially affect an individual emotionally. Music induces the release of
endorphins, a chemical naturally released in the brain to reduce pain, that in large
amounts can make you feel relaxed or full of energy. It has the ability to make one feel
sad to the point of tears, happy, relaxed, aggressive, or even angry. The study of music
and in relation to the brain has lead to many revelations about the human mind that has
furthered accumulated research, and helped humanity on a worldwide basis. From the
mentally incapacitated, to adolescence, it is certainly clear that affects the human body
in both a physical and emotional form.

Works Cited
http://www.emedexpert.com/tips/music.html
How Music Affects Us and Promotes Health.
http://bebrainfit.com/music-affects-brain/

How Music Affects the Brain for the Good.

http://www.laphil.com/sites/default/files/media/pdfs/shared/education/yola/susan-hallammusic-development_research.pdf
The power of music: Its impact on the intellectual, social and personal
development of children and young people.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/cmue/2007/00000009/00000001/art00
010
Anything goes: A case study of extra-curricular musical participation in an
English secondary school.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23141061/
Musical training as a framework for brain plasticity: Behavior, function, and
structure.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1281386/
The Mozart Effect.
http://examinedexistence.com/the-effect-music-has-on-the-brain/
The Effect Music Has on the Brain.